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Is it possible to identify the church found in the New Testament?
Todd Clippard
With so many forms of "Christianity" today, one may ask, "How can I know I've found the church of the New Testament?" With recent estimates showing over 2000 individual religious groups all claiming to be a form of Christianity, this is a valid question, and we can see why one would be confused. However, we can say with absolute certainty that it is possible to find the church revealed in the New Testament. As an illustration to show our certainty, consider the following:
On August 15, 2007, I will have been married to my beautiful wife for 20 years. Let's suppose I decide to take her on a cruise to celebrate our anniversary. Shortly after boarding a ship filled with more than 2000 passengers, we become separated. My wife is a petite brunette. Suppose every other woman on the ship is a petite brunette; am I to despair that I should never find her among so many others? Why, such thinking is ridiculous! Even though there may be many on board who are similar, we all understand that I can easily find her because she is unique among all the others. She has specific characteristics that will allow me to easily distinguish between her and all the others.
The same can be said for the Lord's church. In Matthew 16:18, Jesus promised "I will build My church."
Note the singularity of the church. Jesus did not promise to build His "churches," but rather His "church" (singular).
In Ephesians 5:22-32, Paul teaches us how a husband is to love his wife and how a wife is to love her husband. All through this text, Paul parallels the husband and wife relationship with that of Jesus and His church. As a husband is to have only one wife, and a wife only one husband, Jesus only has one church. In fact, throughout this particular text, there are twelve references to the church, all of which are singular< in nature:
In verse 23 we find "the church" and "the body;"
In verse 24 we find "the church;"
In verse 25 we find "the church" and "it" (a singular pronoun in reference to the church).
In verse 26 we again see "it" referring to the church;
In verse 27 we find "the church" and "it" (twice);
In verse 29 we find "the church;"
In verse 30 we find "His body"In verse 32 we find "the church."
If it is possible for me to identify my wife among thousands of other women, though they share some of her characteristics, then it is equally possible for me to find the church Jesus built though there be thousands sharing some of its characteristics.
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