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GRACE TO YOU
Grace Fellowship Bible Church
"The Church of God"
When the Apostle Paul writes his letters to God's church at Corinth, he doesn't address it as "the Church of Corinth". God through the Apostle addresses the church "…the Church of God which is at Corinth…" (I Cor. 1:2; II Cor. 1:1). A great difference can be made by understanding this. If one would read both letters there is a lot that can be learned and applied to our every day lives concerning what God's Church is and what it is to be doing.
First of all, God doesn't call it "the Church of Corinth" because it is not to be defined by Corinth. It is not to blend into Corinth. The Corinthian life style, morals, standards, behavior, politics, peer pressure and values are not to determine who the church is and what it's to be doing. It is "The Church of God which is at Corinth" and it is to be there representing God and making an impact for God on its community, not visa versa.
The "Church of God" being addressed is a local church, but it is also a corporate church made up of all believers in Christ for salvation. "Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ… to the Church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified (set apart) in Christ Jesus, to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…" (I Cor. 1:1-2). Later in the same letter the apostle says "For by One Spirit we were all baptized into One Body…" (I Cor. 12:13).
"The Church of God" in this "Dispensation of the Grace of God" (Eph. 3:2) made up of every one that is saved, is called "…The Church which is His Body…" (Eph. 1:22-23). If God were sending a letter to His saved here in Sheridan or Grant County, He wouldn't address us as "the Church of Sheridan" or "the Church of Grant County", but as "the Church of God which is at Sheridan or at Grant County".
"The Church of God" made up of all of God's saved people in this community is to have a positive, eternal, unified impact for God on the saved and the unsaved in this community. Therefore it is paramount that we get our instructions from God found in His holy word as to what His Church is today and as to what we are to be accomplishing as brothers and sisters in Christ.
If you call yourself a Christian, will you make a serious effort to understand who God's Church is today, and to be a source of encouragement to "All those who in every place who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ"?
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