In many Bible translations, the Greek word ecclesia is rendered as church. In Christian terminology, people also speak of the church, local churches, house churches, and all kinds of different denominations. But what does Scripture actually mean by the word ecclesia?
an assembly
The Greek word ecclesia refers to an assembly or gathering. This becomes very clear in Acts 19. There, a riot breaks out in Ephesus because of Paul’s proclamation. The inhabitants of the city gather in the theater, and three times this gathering is called an ecclesia.
Acts 19 (based on ISA)
³² So the ecclesia was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together.
(…)
³⁹ But if you seek anything concerning other matters, it shall be settled in the lawful ecclesia.
(…)
⁴¹ And having said these things, he dismissed the ecclesia.
not only for believers
This is not a gathering of believers, but a public assembly of the people of Ephesus. Scripture uses the word ecclesia for such a gathering as well. In Acts 7:38, we read about “the ecclesia in the wilderness.” There, it refers to the assembly of the people of Israel.
The word ecclesia therefore has no religious meaning in itself. It simply means an assembly. The context determines which assembly is being referred to.
the ecclesia, His body
When Paul speaks of the believers whom God is gathering in this present time, he calls them the ecclesia, His body.
Ephesians 1 (based on ISA)
²² And He subjects all things under His feet and gives Him as Head over all things to the ecclesia,
²³ which is His body, the complement of Him who is completing all in all.
Christ is the Head, and the ecclesia is His body. Head and body belong together. Wherever Christ is spoken of, His body is also included.
The ecclesia, then, is not a human organization. A body is not an organization, but an organism. Just as a body is directed by its head, so the ecclesia has one Head: Christ.
Colossians 1 (based on ISA)
¹⁸ And He is the Head of the body, the ecclesia.
one body
When someone comes to believe, they are not placed into the ecclesia through a human act, such as becoming a member of an organization. It is God Himself who joins the believer to Christ. Paul says that believers, upon hearing and believing the evangel, are sealed with the holy spirit of promise.
Ephesians 1 (based on ISA)
¹³ In Him you also, having heard the word of truth, the evangel of your salvation; in Him you also, when you believed, were sealed with the holy spirit of promise.
And elsewhere he writes:
1 Corinthians 12 (based on ISA)
¹³ For in one spirit we all were baptized into one body.
This is not joining a denomination, nor is it having one’s name entered into a membership register. It is a spiritual matter. God places the believer into the one body of which Christ is the Head.
the ecclesia gathers together
The ecclesia is one body, but believers also gather together locally. In Paul’s day, this happened, for example, in people’s homes.
Romans 16 (based on ISA)
⁵ Greet also the ecclesia in their house.
Colossians 4:15 also speaks of the ecclesia that gathered in a house.
It is noteworthy that Paul does not speak of various religious organizations, each forming its own ecclesia. Instead, he speaks, for example, of the ecclesia in Corinth and the ecclesia in Cenchreae. The location indicates where the ecclesia gathers.
Even when only some of the believers in a particular place are gathered together, that assembly is still called the ecclesia. The part represents the whole.
not a denomination
Today, the words church and congregation are generally used to refer to organizations. People speak of evangelical churches, Pentecostal churches, Reformed churches, and many other denominations.
These often involve membership, statutes, governing boards, synods, and other forms of organization. That is something different from the Scriptural concept of ecclesia. The ecclesia is not founded or established. It is gathered together by God. Its members are not united because their names appear on the same membership list, but because they belong to the same body.
Christ is the Head.
church?
The English word church may serve as a translation, but because it is almost automatically associated with a religious institution or organization, much of the original meaning has been lost.
That is why I generally use the word ecclesia. Not because it is a special or religious word, but precisely because it helps us return to what Scripture says. An ecclesia is an assembly. And when Scripture speaks of the ecclesia which is His body, it refers to those whom God joins to Christ and baptizes in one spirit into one body.
They have one Head: Christ.