Meditations in Matthew Sixteen: Building the Church

What did Jesus mean when he said, “I will build my church”?

In last week’s post (here), we defined the terms “church” and “kingdom” as Jesus used them in Matt 16:18–19. The church (Gk. ekklēsia) comprises all persons in covenant relationship with God during the messianic age. The kingdom is Jesus’s rule, reign, and dominion over that church.

This post will consider how Jesus constructs or erects his church. It will use three English words to translate ekklēsia: church (e.g., Matt 16:18), congregation (e.g., Acts 7:38 NKJV), and assembly (e.g., Acts 19:32).

The Church

To show how Jesus builds the church, we will make a few more comments about our definition. The word ekklēsia means “assembly duly summoned.”¹ In secular use, it can refer to “those called out or assembled in the public affairs of a free state.”² The idea of a people gathered for some purpose is always present.

Our definition excludes some things. One is the idea of a universal invisible church. How could we observe Jesus building the church if it is invisible? Paul said that before his conversion, he “persecuted the church of God” (1 Cor 15:9). One cannot torment an invisible entity.

Our definition of ekklēsia does not imply an ecclesiastical organization. The church is not a world-wide institution like the “Roman Catholic church.” Neither is it a national entity, as the “church of England.” Even less does it apply to a denomination, as the “Methodist church.”

One more negative. The word church never means a physical building. The New Testament never uses ekklēsia in this way.

Hebrews 12:22–24 gives some important information about the New Testament ekklēsia. In the messianic age, we have come to

Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church (Gk. ekklēsia) of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant.

John tells when and where God wrote the membership list for this assembly. Their names were “written in the book of life from the foundation of the world” (Rev 17:8; cp. Rev 13:8). So, the members of this church have their names “written in heaven.”

This congregation includes “the spirits of righteous people made perfect” (Heb 12:23 HCSB). John Gill says this congregation “consists only of God’s elect, and of all of them, in all times and places; and reaches even to the saints in heaven.” It includes “the saints on earth, who are just men.”³

Jesus created a unity that pertains to this assembly. He prayed that all who believe the gospel might be one (John 17:11). We may ask, “one what?” The New Testament provides several answers: “one body” (1 Cor 12:12, 20; Eph 4:4; Col 3:15); one temple (1 Cor 3:16–17; 2 Cor 6:16; Eph 2:21); one “holy nation” (1 Pet 2:9; cp. Matt 21:43); one “bride of Christ” (Eph 5:27; Rev 19:7; 21:2, 9–14; cp. 2 Cor 11:2); one “house of God” (1 Tim 3:15; Heb 10:21; 1 Pet 2:5). The Scriptures apply all these images to the church.

Paul said God had

purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance. (Eph 1:9–11; emphasis added)

Adam Clarke said, “I believe that the forming one Church out of both Jews and Gentiles is that to which the apostle refers. This agrees with what is said, [Eph 2:14–17].”⁴ Expanding Clarke’s reference to Eph 2:14–22 makes his point clearer.

This is the church to which Jesus referred in Matt 16:18.

The Churches

In order to show how Jesus is building his church, we need to make another observation.

The New Testament applies ekklēsia most often to a local congregation of God’s people. The followers of Christ in a particular city are “the church.” Paul speaks of “the church of God which is at Corinth” (1 Cor 1:2). He mentions “the churches of Christ” (Rom 16:16) and “the churches of Judaea” (Gal 1:22).

We have said the church is a unity and that there is only one church. How can there be multiple churches and only one church at the same time?

W. A. Jarrell gives us a hint. Speaking of ekklēsia, he says,

In 99 instances . . . it denotes local congregations; in 12, by synecdoche, it means all the local congregations. It is used by synecdoche in Matt. 16:18; Eph. 3:10, 21; 5:23, 24, 25, 27, 29, 32; Heb. 12:23, and, possibly, one or two other instances.⁵

E. W. Bullinger says synecdoché is “the exchange of one idea for another associated idea.”⁶ He lists four kinds, two of which impact our discussion. These are figures of speech where 1.) the whole is put for a part and 2.) a part is put for the whole.

The Pharisees provide an example of the first kind. They said, “behold, the world is gone after him” (John 12:19). They did not mean everyone in the entire world had gone after Jesus. Only a part had done so. They put the whole for a part using synecdoché.

Jarrell says Matt 16:18 is an example of a-whole-for-a-part synecdoché. But he then denies that the whole exists! He quotes E. J. Fish: “the actual church [is] a local society and never anything but a local society.”⁷ If so, in Matt 16:18, Jesus cannot mean the whole church for a part (i.e., a local congregation). According to Jarrell and Fish, the whole does not exist.

Still, Jarrell is right to say synecdoché explains the relationship between “the church” and “the churches.” He applied synecdoché in the wrong place—Matt 16:18 does not use this figure of speech. Other passages—like Rom 16:5, 16 and 2 Cor 8:23—do. They use synecdoché to put a part for the whole. In them, “the individual congregation represents the whole body. . . . The congregation [is] representative of the whole Church.”⁸ So, for example, the congregation at Corinth is “the church of God” by synecdoché.

Karl Schmidt says more about this use of ekklēsia:

On the basis of the OT use of ekklēsia for the total community of Israel, it speaks of the “saved community of the NT” which finds expression first as the total community and then as the same community in “local circumscription.”⁹

This understanding makes sense of other Scriptural figures for the church. The whole church is the temple of God. By synecdoché, a part of that church—a local congregation—represents the whole temple (e.g., 1 Cor 3:16–17). Otherwise, God has as many temples as he has churches.

The whole church is the body of Christ. Scripture applies this truth to a part. A local church is Christ’s body (e.g., 1 Cor 12:12, 20) by synecdoché. If each local congregation is the body of Christ in some other way, then he has many bodies. This cannot be true (Eph 4:4).

The same is true for the “holy nation,” the “bride of Christ,” the “house of God,” and other images of the church.

So, each local church is “the church” by synecdoché. A part—the local congregation—represents the whole. Both the whole and the parts are actual entities.

Building the Church

We are now ready to see how Jesus builds his church. He does so by establishing and adding to local congregations. The best way to show this is through scriptural examples. 

Let’s begin with Luke’s account of the day of Pentecost. We will pick up his story after the Holy Spirit came with “a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind” (Acts 2:2).

This event caused the Jews to ask what it meant. Peter answered by preaching the gospel (Acts 2:14–36). When they heard his message,

they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. (Acts 2:37–41)

Luke says “the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved” (Acts 2:47; emphasis added).

In this narrative, we see how Jesus builds his church. God issues a powerful “call.” He opens the hearts of people so they can respond to it (cp. Acts 16:14). Those thus called receive the word of God, repent, and submit to baptism. They then take part in the life of a local church—continuing “stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42).

A short while after Pentecost, more believers joined themselves to the church in Jerusalem (Acts 5:11–13). This meant they were “added to the Lord” (Acts 5:14).

In Antioch, Jesus’s disciples preached the Lord Jesus. “And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord” (Acts 11:21). As a result, “much people was added unto the Lord” (Acts 11:24). They then “assembled themselves with the church” (Acts 11:26). 

Later still Paul took missionary journeys, “teaching and preaching of the word of the Lord” (Acts 15:36). Through his ministry, the churches were “established in the faith, and increased in number daily” (Acts 16:5).

Conclusion

The Lord builds his church by building individual churches. The Scriptures show how he does this. We can draw conclusions and make deductions from what they reveal.

First. Local “churches” are essential to the growth of Christ’s “church.” The word of the Lord goes forth from them as they send forth ministers. The Holy Spirit uses the local church to send men to preach the gospel (cp. Acts 13:3–4; 1 Thess 1:8).

Second. If we have not come to “the church,” we have not come to Christ as the mediator of the new covenant. If we have not come to the Mediator, we are not in covenant with God (Heb 12:22–24; cp. Heb 8:6–13).

Third. We come to “the church” by joining a particular “local church.” That local church is “the church of God” by synecdoché (e.g., Acts 20:28).

Fourth. We come to the local church by believing the gospel, repenting, confessing Christ, and submitting to baptism. 

Fifth. Christ will “present [us church members] holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: If [we] continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which [we] have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven” (Col 1:22–23).

Sixth. Our confession of faith says the church “consists of the whole number of the elect, that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one, under Christ, the Head thereof.”¹⁰ This refers to Christ building “the church.” He has gathered some of the elect. He will gather the rest before the resurrection at the end of the messianic age.

We also need two caveats.

First. Unless God gives us grace, we cannot do any of the things listed above. By nature, we are “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph 2:1). God must first give us spiritual life, then we can believe the gospel, repent, etc. We should remember Paul’s admonition:

Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. (Phil 2:12–13; emphasis added)

Without God working in us, we cannot please God in any way.

Second. We built our description of how Christ builds his church on God’s revealed will. He is free to make exceptions to this revelation. We will not speculate as to whether he has done so. “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deut 29:29).

Lord willing, our next post will show how Peter uses the keys of the kingdom (Matt 16:19).

1. Henry George Liddell et al., A Greek-English Lexicon (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996), 509.
2. Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000), s.v. ekklēsia.
3. John Gill, An Exposition of the Old and New Testaments, 9 vols. (1809–1810; repr., Paris, AR: The Baptist Standard Bearer, 1989), 9:480.
4. Adam Clarke, The Old and New Testaments With a Commentary and Critical Notes, 6 vols. (Nashville: Abingdon, [1970?]), 6:433.
5. W. A. Jarrell, Baptist Church Perpetuity (Dallas, TX: Self-published, 1894), 5.
6. E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech Used in the Bible Explained and Illustrated (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1968), 613.
7. Jarrell, Baptist Church Perpetuity, 5.
8. Karl Ludwig Schmidt, “Καλέω κτλ,” in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. Gerhard Kittel and Geoffrey W. Bromiley, trans. Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964-76), 534–35.
9. Schmidt, “Καλέω κτλ,” 503. Emphasis added. Greek transliterated.
10. The Baptist Confession of Faith and the Baptist Catechism (Birmingham, AL: Solid Ground Christian Books, 2010), 26.1.