Church

The church is the body of all true believers, both today and over all of history. It is all the people who have been saved by the death of Jesus, and who meet together in His name to worship Him. The Greek word that is translated ‘church’ is ekklesia which means ‘gathering’. It derives from the Greek word for ‘call’ so suggests something like ‘called out ones (who have gathered)’. It could refer in those days to any assembly or gathering of people (e.g. the riotous assembly in Acts 19:32). However, over time it became particularly associated with the Christian assembly - what we call ‘church’. The same word is used in the Bible both of the local church (e.g. 1 Corinthians 1:2) and the universal church (e.g. Ephesians 5:25). (See Ecclesiology)