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It is sad that today, many Christians, including those who are educated, cannot explain simple Christian terms. One day, I spoke with some university students about the Lord Jesus in Kumasi, Ghana’ second largest capital.
Two of them were members of an Orthodox Church while the other one worshipped with a Charismatic Church.
In the course of our conversation, I asked them to explain the term “church” if they could. Surprisingly, none of them was able to give a convincing answer. Their response was that “we can’t explain it because we have not been taught.”
They understood the word “church” as a building in which Christians meet to worship the Lord. They did not know that a building in which believers gather to worship is an auditorium or a meeting place.
They had no idea that the Greek word “ecclesia” which is translated church refers to people called by God, an Assembly of God’s elect.
They had no understanding that they themselves were part of the church of God. They lacked knowledge that their bodies were the temple of God and that God’s Spirit dwelt in them if truly they were born again.
When the Lord Jesus said in Matthew 16:18 that He would build His church, He did not literally mean that He would mould cement blocks to build auditoriums or cathedrals. Even though buildings are very important for the church, they were not and are not Jesus’ main focus.
The Lord meant that He would build up human beings who would believe in Him into spiritual houses to conform to His image as man was before he fell.
You must know that as a Christian you are being built into a spiritual house. Peter and the early believers had this understanding so Peter wrote:
“You also, like living stones, ARE BEING BUILT INTO A SPIRITUAL HOUSE to be holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1Peter 2:5, NIV).
Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit if you are truly born again. This means that the Spirit of God lives right in your heart. A person’s heart is also called his spirit.
By James Quansah
