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In a previous post we considered the very important practical Christian living word “ekklaysia”, commonly translated “church” (sometimes, poorly translated as “congregation”). As we saw it is a compound work with a prefix from a preposition, ek, from which we get our English “ex” as in “exit,” appended to a Koine word meaning “called.” Hence the root idea of ekklaysia is “called out.” (And that is one important reason why “congregation” badly misses the mark).

So, if we picture ourselves at some kind of portal, like a doorway or metaphorically the signing of certain exit documents, how can be use such experience to think of Biblical ekklaysia? The central emphasis of ekklaysia is hearing / knowing a calling out with the response of necessary steps of exiting something. A secondary element is that being called out is connected with being brought into something else; calling out is not to some state of nothingness.

Recognition of an Entity Here Known as The Religion Industry (TRI)

In the previous post we saw the ‘out of’ component in the NT (New Testament) being “religion,” or as used here The Religion Industry (TRI). We seek here to distinguish TRI from piety. “Religion” could have been a useful alternative to “piety” but it has become so convoluted in use as to be meaningless or worse, deceptive. TRI as used here and throughout my other writings and domains is about an active, living institution that serves a cohering purpose, hence the “I” of TRI designates “industry.” The “R” is for “religion,” which is in common use to mean the means of a person getting to God by some behaviors, tradition-observing, venue-adhering, calendar-observing, ritual-following dedications.

TRI of the NT was exemplified by the devolution of so-called orthodox Judaism. The Gospels give us many such specific examples. Consider the below passage from Mark Ch 7:

1 Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, 2 they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, 4 and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” 6 And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,

“‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
7 in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”

Mark Ch 7:1-8, ESV (bold and bold italic highlights, mine)

Standing before the Pharisees and scribes was the very Messiah, Who gave evidence of His Being by teaching, miraculous good works, and a perfectly holy life. In the passage just prior to the one above, the fame of Jesus’s miraculous powers caused a crowd come to him seeking miraculous deliverance. Here in Mark Ch 7, the Pharisees and scribes perceive no such need. Rather they see Jesus’s disciples as being in serious need toward which is offered ‘the cure’ of the tradition of the elders. Note that the five references in the above brief passage to their traditions and commandments of men. Juxtaposed is the Lord’s most-significant reference to “it is written” (highlighted in bold italic). The simple phrase establishes the claim of governing authority. (I will be writing elsewhere much more on the subject of “Authority” and its claimants). The verb tense (aspect) of this “it is written” phrase is the Koine “perfect,” or “perfective,” meaning something that began in the past and continues (is perfected) to the very time of its being spoken.

TRI the institution that not only rejected Jesus as Messiah, they did so as to Jesus as a moral teacher, a rabbi, even a miracle-worker of good deeds. Further, TRI leadership conceived Jesus as an existential threat to its institution and, so, worthy of death! Such rejection drove them to dealmaking with even the hated Roman Government (TPI, The Political Industry) to obtain the requisite authority and means to kill, particularly the heinous, shameful killing of crucifixion (the hanging on a tree, evidencing by TRI’s claim of God’s curse on Jesus).

The calling out of ekklaysia was most-clearly and most-certainly out of TRI. (In that time and place there was no explicit need for calling out of TPI as the Romans were hated by the Jews, along with all Gentiles, and vice versa).

Let us now consider the other half of ekklaysia, namely: being called out of TRI…what are we called into?

Christians in Formed Communities

If we consider the NT after the Resurrection, those called by God, the ekklaysia, were formed into communities, but most-definitely not the congregations known as synagogues the then meeting point of TRI.

Immediately after the crucifixion, the called out communities were driven by fear of the wrath that the TRI and TPI had unleashed upon their Lord would soon come for them. Those declared to be insurrectionists, which is how both the TRI and TPI officially judged Jesus to be, would crucify first, but not stop there. They, under the lead of TRI, would come for all the followers and invoke the same judgement.

So, the apostles and closest disciples in Jerusalem were assembled in terror in hiding. Hearing word of Christ’s resurrection was not enough to comfort them, much like their having even seen Jesus walking on the stormy sea of Galilee did not comfort their souls in the storm-tossed boat. As Jesus entered that boat, and calmed the storm, so Jesus appears, just as claimed that physical storm by His supernatural authority, in that room in which the fearful were hiding from TRI and TPI, He also calmed that emotional storm, saying, again, “Peace.”

High-Level Lessons from The Book of Acts

The first 12 chapters of the Book of Acts we see the beginnings of the NT communities of Christian believers. These we not part of the religious systems and practices of both TRI and TPI. These called out ones lived and experienced a state of being, ekklaysia, not a particular building, or venue, or “religion.” Nor were they called out to some state of every-man-for-himself fleeing to the hills and wildernesses. Nor was it shrinking into patriarchal family units, as some kind of return to an Abrahamic period.

The apostles, first led by Peter, went out a proclaimed that Jesus had risen from the dead, and the great significance of such event. One dimension of such significance was that TRI had been set aside. No one was called to storm the gates of the Temple and take over, under the Authority of the Risen King, Son of David, and Redeemer (Lamb of God). No. Instead, the message was that of calling out of the incumbent TRI and TPI (the latter particularly for those Sadducee followers). The OT (Old Testament) was abrogated, but truly fulfilled. The “is is written” had fully come to pass, not be set aside.

When persecution arose, again by TPI, which was not finished seeking to exterminate Jesus’s influence and authority claim, among the called out ones were nourished there by the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, the word of God (both the OT and the emerging writings of the NT being first hear orally from witnesses), and by the faith of their fellows called-out-ones

Consider the following passage from Acts Ch 4:

¹⁹ But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you [the first two “you’s” and first two “they’s” in this passage refer to the TRI leadership sitting in judgment against the resurrection of Jesus and the Gospel itself] rather than to God, you must judge, ²⁰ for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” ²¹ And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened. ²² For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old.

²³ When they were released, they [Peter and John] went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders [the instantiation of TRI Authority] had said to them. ²⁴ And when they [the ekklaysia] heard it, they [the ekklaysia] lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, ²⁵ who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit,

“‘Why did the Gentiles [likely reference here to TPI, Rome] rage,
    and the peoples [likely reference to the TRI, Judaism] plot in vain?
²⁶ The kings of the earth [TRI] set themselves,
    and the rulers [TPI] were gathered together,
    against the Lord and against his Anointed’^[e]—

²⁷ for truly in this city [Jerusalem at the Feast Passover, where both TPI Ruler and TRI Rulers were simultaneously gathered] there were gathered together [TRI and TPI] against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles [the leadership of TPI] and [with Herod] the peoples of Israel [the leadership of TRI], to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. ²⁹ And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants [the ekklaysia] to continue to speak your word with all boldness, ³⁰ while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”³¹ And when they [the ekklaysia] had prayed, the place in which they [the ekklaysia] were gathered together [the ekklaysia] was shaken, and they [the ekklaysia]were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

Acts 4:19-31, ESV [Highlights mine]

The above passage is the crucial text that gives us the foundation for the NT church (ekklaysia). It is and will ever be an outcast community, powerfully opposed by TRI (and we see later in history, also TPI). The reader is encouraged to read and re-read the above Bible text, and ponder the significance of being called through a portal, out of something and at the same time into something else. (Hence, it is a mistake to translate ekklaysia by “congregation,” as such word only views the after effect of having been called out). (It is also, in my view, a mistake to translate ekklaysia by “church,” because such word has become irretrievably ruined by its usage).

The Book of Acts Beginning with Paul (Acts Chapters 13 – 28)

Acts Ch 13 opens with the elders, the leaders of the ekklaysia, located in a famous NT city, Antioch. Ironically, the city is named after an infamous TPI ruler. And it was one of the great cities of TPI in the NT period. It is worth learning its significance, as given below:

At one time Antioch on the Orontes was one of the three largest and most important cities of the Greco-Roman world, along with Rome and Alexandria (Egypt). …In ancient times Antioch on the Orontes was a part of Syria and thus is sometimes referred to, especially in biblical studies, as Antioch of Syria. (Fifteen other cities in the ancient world were named Antioch as well.) …

Seleucus I Nicator, one of the generals of Alexander the Great, founded the city. … Seleucus named the city, which soon became the capital of the Seleucid kingdom, after his father, Antiochus. …Tigranes of Armenia captured the city in 83 B.C.E., but in 66 B.C.E. he was defeated by the Roman general Pompey, who made Antioch the capital of the Roman province of Syria. Both Julius Caesar and Augustus visited the city, and both erected various buildings there. (The wedding of Mark Antony to Cleopatra likely took place in Antioch. Ancient sources indicate it occurred in Syria but do not specify the city. As the capital, Antioch was the likely location.) During the Roman period, Antioch was a large, cosmopolitan city, the third largest city in the Roman world after Rome and Alexandria.

“Antioch on the Orontes;” part of Oxford Academic publications, A Guide to Biblical Sites in Greece and Turkey, Clyde E Fant, Mitchell G Reddish, pp. 143ff, Nov 2003. [highlighting and excerpting are mine]

The narrative of Acts begins an important transition at Ch 13, at Antioch, this symbolic city of TPI (Roman Rule and all it entailed Roman roads and protected sea lanes: it’s 200 year Pax Romana). It begins with five elders, but no “pastor,” “priest,” human single-point authority figure. Two of the five elders–Barnabas and Saul / Paul–are then themselves called-out of that community of believers to go beyond Israel and proclaim the Risen Christ, His finished Work, the Gospel itself, to the Gentile world. The final 16 chapters of Acts tell that story in four missionary expeditions.

The first such expedition is confined to the Eastern Mediterranean region including the eastern half of the land we now know as Turkey but at the time of the NT was known as Asia. The latter expeditions extend across western Asia (Turkey) and across the famed Bosphorus into Europe, beginning at Macedonia (Greece in today’s terms), and ultimately to Rome itself in the closing chapter of Acts.

In each region that was reached with the Gospel there was formed communities of believers (ekklaysia). There was no linkage or embedding of such communities into the local instantiation of the Jewish TRI, namely its synagogues in the various cities of the Roman world. There were no building campaigns, no owned buildings. (This is confirmed by historical sources outside the Bible; the first “church” buildings do not appear prior to the 4th Century).

From Antioch in Ch 13 to Rome in Ch 28, the Gospel spreads between the great Roman (TPI) east-west ‘bookends’ of its Empire. What Rome (TPI) saw as its mighty Empire, approaching its historical zenith of power, God saw as His ekklaysia scattered about geographically, autonomously in human terms but each and all under the Sovereign leadership of The Holy Spirit. Such outposts were some blend of being objects contempt (by TRI) and unimportance (by TPI), as is the case to this day, but beloved by God.

The Pauline Epistles

In our NT Book order, Paul’s Epistles begin with Romans and ends with Philemon (or Hebrews, if Paul was its author).

What is obvious, though easily missed, is most of such letters were addressed to specific local communities:

• Rome
• Corinth (two letters that we have, but we know there were two additional letters)
• Galatia (a region in Asia with multiple locales: Iconium, Derbe, Lystra,…)
• Ephesus
• Philippi
• Colossi (and a sister sister of Laodicea)
• Thessalonica

From Paul’s “Pastoral Epistles”–addressed to Titus, Timothy, and Philemon–we see additional examples of local communities of believers, such as the island of Cyprus.

Peter’s Epistles

In 1st Peter we see other ekklaysia communities identified. Consider how they are called:

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls…

14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

1 Peter 1:1-21, ESV [highlighting and excerpting, mine]

Again we must be brief about this most-weighty passage of Scripture. But let us pause on the idea expressed by the terms “holy” and “be holy.” Such reference to “holy”is another keyword worthy of deep study. For now let us note a corrective understanding. When we hear “holy” we tend to think it means something like being “especially good.” Similarly, “being sanctified” is commonly thought to being made better, much much better, even perfected. (“Sanctified” comes from the Latin word “sanctus,” which in the Vulgate translation of the same Koine word we see in English as “holy,” or being made “holy.”)

But all such being-made-better thoughts miss the central point of “holy.” “Holy” means to be set apart, which can be applied in multiple contexts. It means to be separated. It is contrasted with “common,” meaning no-difference, or any-one-will-do-because-they’re-indistinguisable. It is a reference to distinctiveness as our being called out, and with respect to its reference to God as “Holy” it is to His distinctiveness as transcendent beyond imagination. (The book by RC Sproul titled The Holiness of God is particularly helpful in developing such understand, especially his Chapter 3).

Applying this important distinction to “holy” we see the expressions in 1 Peter Ch 1 are making the same repeated reference to ekklaysia, namely being separated. But separated from what? “The futile ways inherited from your fathers,” given above, exemplified by the TRI of Judaism in its devolved state at the time of the NT.

Such called out ones are characterized how? Exiles and the dispersion (1 Peter 1:1). Located where? Broad regions of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, all specific areas known to the NT writer and its readers. Note the absence of mention to any synagogues, which were the local repositories of Judaism (TRI), and even more notably the absence of mention of Jerusalem and the Temple. Likewise there is no reference to the great festivals–such as Passover and Pentecost–that required the attendance of every Jewish male at Jerusalem. Nor is there any mention of sabbath-keeping, which was foundational to the schedule of the weekly life of Judaism.

This above passage, as well as many others, express the clear break with the past, much as Jesus exhibited in His messages in the synagogues, and his healings on the Sabbath, and especially His cleansing of the Temple and condemnation of the scribes and Pharisees (Matt Ch 23).

“In Christ”

As discussed elsewhere, nouns in the Koine are expressed in five cases: vocative, nominative, genitive, dative, and accusative. Of particular interest in this post is the dative case, and a more specifically a particular use of such case.

The dative case is nominally used of indirect objects. A simple example is “John hit the ball to Joe.” John is the subject, the nominative case, the ball is the direct object, the accusative case, and Joe is in the indirect object, the dative case. John hits the ball, not Joe.

Such use of the dative case in Koine also encompasses the simple indirect object. But the Koine dative has a richer range of uses, primarily (1) “locative” (in space or time or both) and (2) “instrumentality / agency.” An illustration of these three uses of the dative case can be seen as follows. Considering reacting with awe to some 20 year-old who exhibits being a magnificent trumpet player. You would be led to ask: “Where did you learn how to play the trumpet like that?” He might then reply: “in high school.” “In” is a usual preposition for the dative case in both English and Koine (where it is “en”). But exactly what does the trumpet player mean by “in” and what does the questioner understand by it?

The simple form of the dative would be akin to our John and Joe example: “I learned to play the trumpet in high school.” “I” would be the subject, “play” the verb (like “hit” in the above example), “the trumpet” would be the direct object, and “high school” the indirect object (dative). But in such context, the understanding of a dative as a simple “indirect object” makes little sense.

A second interpretation would be “in” points to “location in space / time,” meaning that while attending high school (a characteristic time period) in the setting of a specific place of attendance there (location) when and where he learned how to play the trumpet. That makes more sense, but is still wanting. All of us went to high school. Almost none of us became a great trumpet player by so attending. What is really the answer to this question of “where?”

The third interpretation of “in” points to “agency / instrumentality.” High schools typically have bands that include trumpet players. But some high schools, led by exemplar teachers and programs, stimulate and create unusually talented trumpet players. In this context, it most-likely that the questioner was asking this question: “By what agency / instrumentality did your great gift become developed?” The implicit answer would then have been, “I attended a special high school that had a program for gifted musicians that shaped my interest and developed my craft.” (Thus we get a Chris Botti, though perhaps it was not high school where he got his start).

The phrase “in Christ,” which is a Koine dative case, occurs many times in the NT, especially the Pauline Epistles. It occurs so frequently and so succinctly that we tend to miss its deep significance. In so doing, we miss one of the great truths of ekklaysia. Let us now try to fix that:

The two word phrase “in Christ” never occurs in any of the Gospels, and only once in Acts (Acts 24:24), but it occurs 91 times in the rest of the NT including every writing of Paul (except 2 Thes and Titus, but including Hebrews); it also occurs in Peter’s first Epistle.

Consider the first occurrence of “in Christ” in Romans:

 ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,²⁴ and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus [expressed in the Koine dative case], ²⁵ whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

Romans 3:23-25, ESV [highlights mine]

The first verse above, Rom 3:23, is widely known and memorized. But it is not a complete sentence, and citing it misses the key point, as given in the next verse, 3:24, and further explained by 3:25. Note the phrase “in Christ Jesus,” which means literally “in Messiah Jesus” as “Christ” is not Jesus’s surname but the Koine translation of the OT Hebrew word for Messiah, the Anointed / Promised One.

Such dative case form of “in Christ Jesus” is most-reasonably understood by reference to the above third example use of the dative case, that of “agency / instrumentality.”

Why is this significant? Two primary reasons. First, we are here addressing the question of to what have we been called out of, ekklaysis’d? From the discussion earlier in this post we see the derived presence of local communities of believers (called out ones). However there is a second important significance to “in Christ Jesus.” We are both called out by the Authority and Call of God, out of TRI (and TPI) but we are also called into something else, a state of being, namely “in Christ Jesus.” And it is such state of being that we share in any local community with other called out ones.

Are We Safe and Warm Being Called Out and Called Into?

Have we been called into an unassailable fortress, safe and secure from all alarm? Yes and no.

Yes, most-definitely, as called into the Everlasting Arms we are safe both now and forever. God has promised literally “I will never never leave you.” (Hebrews 13:5, and Romans Ch 8:31-39).

Yet, at the same time, we have cautioned about the experience of being persecuted, even by the metaphor of ravening wolves (Acts 20:29). 1 Peter Ch 1 is clear on the reality of such persecution. As is made clear in the Epistle to the Galatians (Gal 1:13; 4:29; 5:11; 6:12) and the attack of the Judaizers (emissaries of TRI against the called out ones). We see the same in the cautions Paul expresses in his “Pastoral Epistles” to Titus (e.g., Titus 3:9-10) and Timothy (e.g., 2 Tim 3:1-13).

The entire Galatian Epistle, likely the first Epistle written (in the decade of the 40s A.D.) is a most-stern admonition to extinguish the inroads the Judaizers have made into the fellowship of out called ones. These were men seeking to synthesize the Judaism of TRI with the ones whom God had called out in some kind of chimera, that could appear to devolved Judaism and still incorporate something of “Grace.” Paul makes clear that there can be no such blending together, no new wine in old wine skins.

Consider also, the often neglected Epistle by Jude. It is an extremely short, even abrupt, letter entirely focused on the danger being faced by wolves seeking to kill the sheep of God’s calling. See below:

¹⁰ But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. ¹¹ Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam’s error and perished in Korah’s rebellion. ¹² These are hidden reefs^[e] at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; ¹³ wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.

Jude 10-13, ESV

(The above passage from Jude may be more of a warning about another category of invading persecutor, arising from TPI or Greek culture and and tradition).

Consider too the Book of Revelation. We see in the opening chapters something of the state of the “church,” the ekklaysia, in the decades of the 90’s A.D. when it was written. There we hear what The Spirit says concerning seven churches in Asia (Rev. 1:4): ““Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.” (Rev. 1:11, ESV) Beginning in Rev 2, John under the guidance of the Holy Spirit gives stern warning to diversions that have befallen these seven ekklaysia bodies. The Enemy, sometimes in the power of TRI, sometimes TPI, sometimes the influence of “culture”–the Enemy uses all his arsenal of weapons–endlessly is at work seeking to vandalize and destroy every form of God’s Creation, including, especially, every ekklaysia.

These seven churches (ekklaysia) in Rev Ch 1-2, were the very ones founded both by Paul’s missionary journeys and was also the object of Peter’s earlier epistolary writing.

“Religion” in all its forms did not stop with the resurrection, ascension, inaugural messages of Grace in Acts. TRI has never died off. It is alive, and continues to seek to ingulf God’s church, ekklaysia.

What Then Is To Be Our Response to The Ekklaysia Call?

Let us close here with two passages from the epistle known as Hebrews (though it is not limited to, or specific toward Jewish / Hebrew people; the word “Hebrew(s)” never occurs in the Epistle itself).

First there is the famous favorite church verse, Hebrews 10:25 below:

²³ Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. ²⁴ And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, ²⁵ not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Hebrews 10:23-25 (ESV, highlighting mine)

Such verse has been used and misused as an admonition that one has been called out of nothing into a manifestation of TRI known in our vernacular as “a church.” This is subtle and deceiving. We have not been standing as it were on a blank slate. We by nature “religious” as we seek to navigate our mortality and guilt. We are guilty and therefore mortal (mortal because we are guilty). Living within such awareness is a force that drives each of us to develop some interpretation and answer.

In such condition we do not stand in some existential vacuum. As someone has noted, and even written a book of the title: Everyone is a Theologian (RC Sproul). We all diffuse into some theology of God and then accordingly our human condition, all matters of sin’s causes and meaning, and of religion in particular as regards to piety. In our being’s deepest recesses we seem to form a universal theory of our own self-salvation by doctrine and practice, working, as it were, to erase our sin, its consequences, and impress God.

So, Hebrews 10:25 directs us to be joined into a community of fellow called out ones to help us by the working of the gifts of the Holy Spirit to come to a Biblically wise understanding of such issues. However, such verse as Hebrews 10:25 is calling us out of religion (TRI) in the community of Believers that is nothing like a religious industry or system. (More on this in the next post). This is made clear in an even more revealing verse in the same book of Hebrews:

⁹ Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them. ¹⁰ We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. ¹¹ For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. ¹² So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood.¹³ Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. ¹⁴ For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.

Hebrews 13:9-14 (ESV, highlights mine)

Notably important in the above text is the phrase “outside the camp.” This calls us back to the OT encampments of the Wilderness period after the Exodus from Egypt, and Jesus being crucified outside the City bearing His presence (Jerusalem). The encampment is a picture of the religion (TRI) of its NT embodiment. It had begun founded on what “it is written,” but have diffused away to its traditions and commandments of men so far as to become antithetical to the very heart of the OT, namely that Jesus had come as Messiah, and The Lamb of God.

Part of our kaistudies includes the careful examination of Key Words. Here we will examine an everyday word Christians use in many different contexts: “Church.” Sometimes it’s in reference to a Sunday Morning destination, sometimes a physical structure, or an embodiment of beliefs and practices, perhaps a particular denomination or tradition. “Church” is sometimes used as a universal category for all things distinct from parallel universals such as “State” (meaning, broadly, government structures and rule of all kinds) and “Business / Economics” and other such categories; in this way reference is made to “the church in Africa” of “in China” meaning a broadly encompassing category of “Christians” (Evangelicals, or some other category even of non-christian claimants to being a Church). Another distinctive use of “Church” concerns the end times (eschatology) of this “Church Age” associated with the Rapture, Tribulation, and Millennium (all of which is outside our present focus).

For taxing authorities such as income or property tax determination, the category “church” has a peculiar economic significance. We use phrases like “church goers” or “church regulars” to designate both favorably someone who has a serious dimension to their faith and others who view such people unfavorably as being self-righteous, perhaps even imperious.

The default context of “church” is its associations with “Christians” and “Christian Beliefs.” However, there are many groups, both organized and individualistic, who claim such as their being so represented but which fall outside of the Biblical / historic frame. Such matter is important but outside our present focus.

As the Bible is our foundation here, what does it say about this word we use in so many contexts, namely “Church?” As it is our focus, hereafter it will be capitalized as Church.

“Church” in New Testament Translations (NT)

Let us begin with a basic definition of Church:

Church. A group or assembly of persons called together for a particular purpose. The term appears only twice in the Gospels (Mt 16:18; 18:17) but frequently in the Book of Acts, most of the letters of Paul, as well as most of the remaining NT writings, especially the Revelation of John.

…In the Greek world the word “church” designated an assembly of people, a meeting, such as a regularly summoned political body, or simply a gathering of people. The word is used in such a secular way in Acts 19:32, 39, 41.

The specifically Christian usages of this concept vary considerably in the NT. (1) In analogy to the OT, it sometimes refers to a church meeting, as when Paul says to the Christians in Corinth: “… when you assemble as a [in] church” (1 Cor 11:18). This means that Christians are the people of God especially when they are gathered for worship. (2) In texts such as Matthew 18:17; Acts 5:11; 1 Corinthians 4:17; and Philippians 4:15, “church” refers to the entire group of Christians living in one place. Often the local character of a Christian congregation is emphasized, as in the phrases, “the church in Jerusalem” (Acts 8:1), “in Corinth” (1 Cor 1:2), “in Thessalonica” (1 Thes 1:1). (3) In other texts, house assemblies of Christians are called churches, such as those who met in the house of Priscilla and Aquila (Rom 16:3; 1 Cor 16:19). (4) Throughout the NT, “the church” designates the universal church, to which all believers belong (see Acts 9:31; 1 Cor 6:4; Eph 1:22; Col 1:18). Jesus’ first word about the founding of the Christian movement in Matthew 16:18 has this larger meaning: “I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it.”

… more specifically designated in Paul’s writings as “the church of God” (e.g., 1 Cor 1:2; 10:32) or “the church of Christ” (Rom 16:16). In this way a common, secular Greek term receives its distinctive Christian meaning….

 Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). Church. In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 1, pp. 458–459). Baker Book House.

In English translations Church occurs more than 100x in the NT (ESV 113x; NASB95 112x; KJV / AKJV 114x). What is notable is that it occurs in only one Gospel and in only two passages: Matt 16:18 and 18:17. Church occurs 21x in Acts, 25x in 1 Cor, and 19x in Rev, and in 16 of the 27 Books of the NT.

Church is distinctly a NT word, as it never occurs as an English translated word in the Koine OT, the Septuagint (LXX), nor is there a direct parallel Hebrew word which would correspond to such translation. Even the word “synagogue” does not occur in the OT, which itself is remarkable. In any case, the Koine word “synagogue” means, literally, “coming together,” where the Koine word Church, as we will see below, means exactly the opposite. It is the contrast of a state of being who locus is called to be external to that which is fallen (the Church being called out) distinct from that which draws people together into part of the the prevailing fallenness (Religion in all its forms).

Koine Source Word Translated “Church”

The Koine lemma (lemma is a dictionary form of a word) translated Church is ekklēsía. This is a compound word consisting of a ‘hinge’ word prefix, ek which corresponds to the English prefix “ex” as in “ex-it,” plus the primary part –klēsía which derives from the word for “to call.”

A lexical definition of the Koine lemma ekklēsía is:

Strong’s G1577. ἐκκλησία ekklēsía; ..feminine noun from ékklētos (n.f.), called out, which is from ekkaléō (n.f.), to call out. It was a common term for a congregation of the ekklētoí (n.f.), the called people, or those called out or assembled in the public affairs of a free state, the body of free citizens called together by a herald (kḗrux [2783]) which constituted the ekklēsía. In the NT, the word is applied to the congregation of the people of Israel (Acts 7:38). … The Christian community was designated for the first time as the ekklēsía to differentiate it from the Jewish community, sunagōgḗ (Acts 2:47 [TR]). The term ekklēsía denotes the NT community of the redeemed in its twofold aspect. First, all who were called by and to Christ in the fellowship of His salvation, the church worldwide of all times, and only secondarily to an individual church (Matt. 16:18; Acts 2:44, 47; 9:31; 1 Cor. 6:4; 12:28; 14:4, 5, 12; Phil. 3:6; Col. 1:18, 24). Designated as the church of God (1 Cor. 10:32; 11:22; 15:9; Gal. 1:13; 2 Tim. 3:5, 15); the body of Christ (Eph. 1:22; Col. 1:18); the church in Jesus Christ (Eph. 3:21;); exclusively the entire church (Eph. 1:22; 3:10, 21; 5:23–25, 27, 29, 32; Heb. 12:23). Secondly, the NT churches, however, are also confined to particular places (Rom. 16:5; 1 Cor. 1:2; 16:19; 2 Cor. 1:1; Col. 4:15; 1 Thess. 2:14; Phile. 1:2); to individual local churches (Acts 8:1; 11:22; Rom. 16:1; 1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:1).

 Zodhiates, S. (2000). In The complete word study dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). AMG Publishers.

Digging deeper on the “call” component of ekklēsía, we find it widely used as “to call,,” “calling,” and “called,” plus additionally embedded in many important NT words:

kaléō [to call], klḗsis [calling], klētós [called], antikaléō [to invite back], enkaléō [to accuse], énklēma [accusation], eiskaléō [to invite], metakaléō [to bring], prokaléō [to provoke], synkaléō [to call together], epikaléō [to call out, appeal], proskaléō [to invite, summon], ekklēsía [assembly, church]

 Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). In Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume (p. 394). W.B. Eerdmans.

The obvious, direct implication of ekklēsía is a proclamation to a designated group of people invited (“directed” or “expected”) to attend a gathering out from some broad “other.” In governmental contexts we have a similar idea of the calling of a jury to its duty in a court proceeding, or that of elected representatives to a formal deliberation and voting as with the U.S. Congress and Senate. Parallels to such use occurred in the Greco-Roman period surrounding the NT.

There exist sources who argue against such direct interpretation of ekklēsía:

[regarding the understanding of being called out]…is not warranted either by the meaning of ἐκκλησία in NT times or even by its earlier usage. The term ἐκκλησία was in common usage for several hundred years before the Christian era and was used to refer to an assembly of persons constituted by well- defined membership

 Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). In Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 125). United Bible Societies.

The above protestation makes a weak, unpersuasive claim: yes of course the word did refer to an assembly of persons but it was specific to those individual so called. It was not some universal calling but of a “well-defined membership” exactly as the above quote gives it.

Etymology of Our English Word Church

From the etymology of the word Church we find that its use began centuries after the NT period (beginning ca 300 A.D.), whose common use emerged more than a millennia later (1500).

…from Proto-Germanic *kirika (source also of Old Saxon kirika, Old Norse kirkja, … German Kirche). This is probably [see extensive note in OED] borrowed via an unrecorded Gothic word from Greek kyriake (oikia), kyriakon doma “the Lord’s (house),” from kyrios “ruler, lord,”….Greek kyriakon (adj.) “of the Lord” was used of houses of Christian worship since c. 300, …Romance and Celtic languages use variants of Latin ecclesia (such as French église, 11c.)…. After the Reformation, church was used for any particular Christian denomination agreeing on doctrine and forms of worship.

Etymologyonline dot com for “church” (Emphasis mine)

What is not to be missed is that term, Church, we most-closely identify with followers of Christ, is a modern emergence. Consider the first use of Church after the two occurrence in Matthew’s Gospel at Acts 5:11. Given below are two of the oldest English translations, first by Wycliffe (ca. 1350s, a handwritten translation from the Latin Vulgate), the second by Tyndale and his immediate successors (ca. 1540, a printed translation from the then available Koine mss) and two other landmark Bibles, the so-called Bishops Bible (1562) and the King James Bible (1611).

And greet drede [dread] was maad [made] in al the chirche, and in to alle [all] that herden [heard[ these thingis.

https://textusreceptusbibles.com/Wycliffe/44/5 [Wycliffe’s Bible 1392?, highlights mine]

And great feare came on all the congregacion and on as many as hearde it.

https://textusreceptusbibles.com/Tyndale/44/5 [Tyndale Bible 1536, highlights mine]

And great feare came vpon all the Churche, and vpon as many as hearde these thynges.

https://textusreceptusbibles.com/Bishops/44/5 [Bishops Bible 1562, highlights mine]

And great feare came vpon all the Church, and vpon as many as heard these things.

https://textusreceptusbibles.com/KJV1611/44/5 [KJV 1611, highlights mine]

Wycliffe chose to translate ekklēsía by “congregacion” (church) following the Germanic root word signifying the Lord’s, or Master’s, house. (Recall that England at the time of Wycliffe was highly tribal, without a universal “English” or spelling, whose language derived from Anglo / Saxon, that is Nordic and Germanic roots, along with French / Latin roots).

Tyndale instead chose to use the word congregacion which comes from the Latin root, meaning together (“con” or “com”) plus coming toward each other (“gregare” Latin for gather, or flock). So, Tyndale mapped the Believer’s assembly into a parallel idea to “synagogue.”

After Tyndale, the English translations almost uniformly follow Wycliffe, using “church” as the translation.

Further, such development of “Church” in language diverted from the idea of “called out” to that of being under the ruler of, as the root for “Lord” clearly designates. We have become imbred, thus, with Church (The Lord’s House) and to an extent Congregation (coming together), neither of which follows the root idea of ekklēsía as being outward, not inward, and outward not to a great place, such as would have been the idea of a great building, even a castle, as the dwelling of a Lord of the Manor.

There is nothing amiss in thinking of the Authority of the Lord Jesus Christ over any gathering of His Believers. Yet, losing the connection to ekklēsía as such gathering together loses the concept of the gathering exists as it does because some are being / have been “called out.” The NT does not make use of Koine words such as described above are etymologically the source of “Church.” Specifically, consider the Koine word that could have been used in the NT for connoting “House of the Lord:”

Strong’s G2960. κυριακός kuriakós; …, adj. from kúrios (2962), lord, master. Belonging to a lord or ruler. Only in 1 Cor. 11:20; Rev. 1:10 as belonging to Christ, to the Lord, having special reference to Him. Hence, Kuriakḗ, which came to mean Kuriakḗ Hēméra, the “Day of the Lord,” what we call Sunday. It was the day kept in commemoration of Christ’s resurrection (John 20:19–23; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2 [see Rev. 1:10]).

 Zodhiates, S. (2000). In The complete word study dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). AMG Publishers.

Arguments from silence are not fully conclusive. However, here I believe it noteworthy and reliable that The Holy Spirit who controlled the creation of the NT did not use kuriakós (Lord’s House) not synagogue (congregation) but instead did use ekklēsía. Words matter, so do the distinctions associated with these three.

How does it happen that the word Church has universal arisen? Answering why-questions is not a place of firm ground. But the text of “Who benefits?” is a useful tool of discernment.

“Church” (ekklēsía) and the Doctrine of Election

Perhaps the drift away from the ekklēsía to kyriake oikia (“the Lord’s House”) and kyriakon (“of the Lord”)–both of such latter terms form the root of the word “Church”–has happened because some aversion or concern to the concept of “Election.” The Koine word translated “elect” or “chosen” or “called” in the NT is eklektós. A lexical definition of is as follows eklektós:

Strong’s G1588. ἐκλεκτός eklektós; adj. from eklégō (1586), to choose, select. Chosen, select. In the group of three important biblical words, eklektós, eklégō, and eklogḗ (1589), choice or election, selection involves thoughtful and deliberate consideration.

Zodhiates, S. (2000). In The complete word study dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). AMG Publishers. (Highlights mine)

Here are the 10 NT occurrences of eklektós:

1	Matthew 22:14	For many are called, but few are chosen.”
2	Matthew 24:22	And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.
3	Matthew 24:24	For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
4	Matthew 24:31	And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
5	Mark 13:20	And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days.
6	Mark 13:22	For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect.
7	Mark 13:27	And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
8	Luke 18:7	And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?
9	Luke 23:35	And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!”
10	John 1:34	And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the [eklektós… but translated by “Son” by the ESV] Son of God.” [Note: several English translations, such as NET, NIV, and MOUNCE, do give us “Chosen”]

It is worth noting that the concept of “elect” occurs many more times in the Gospels than does the translated word Church. Even a phonetic or spelling comparison of these two words, one “church” and one “elect”–ekklēsía and eklektós–have a clear kinship.

And evident reason supports such close relationship. One cannot show up at a jury trial and slip into the jury box because, say, one has an interest in being on such jury and contributing to its judgment. The judge having empaneled the jury would demand of you, “Who are you? and Why are you sitting here?” Such a person would be thrown out, even by force if needed. Only the empaneled individuals are called to sit in any distinct jury. Likewise an attempt to walk onto the floor of the United States Senate, would be blocked but for being “elected.”

Regardless of one’s view of Election, the direct meaning of the NT root word for Church is “called out ones.” (The Epistles of course show us that such called out one do gather together in various locations–Rome, Galatia, Ephesus, etc.–or more generally as suggested by other Epistles (Hebrews, Peter, Jude).

Our Modern Church’s Use of Words Derived from ekklēsía

Today we have such words as Ecclesiology, the doctrine of the Church, ecclesiastical, an adjective describing aspects of the church. Ecclesiastical even has become the head word of the category of properly addressing, paying homage toward, various human authorities in “the church” such as given in the pdf below:

Ecclesiastical-Forms-of-Address-Jagoe-Nov-2022

What happened to the humility of being a slave, or bond-servant (Koine: doúlos) as used in the NT? (Pride is the obvious answer). Consider the following lexicon definition of doúlos:

Strong’s G1401. δοῦλος doúlos; masc. noun. A slave, one who is in a permanent relation of servitude to another, his will being altogether consumed in the will of the other (Matt. 8:9; 20:27; 24:45, 46). Generally one serving, bound to serve, in bondage (Rom. 6:16, 17).

 Zodhiates, S. (2000). In The complete word study dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). AMG Publishers.

The Koine doúlos occurs in 121 passages in the ESV. Consider the first verse of the first Epistle, Rom 1:1: “Paul, a servant [doúlos] of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,” (ESV, highlight mine).

Consider the first verse of the first Epistle of Peter: “Simeon Peter, a servant [doúlos] and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:” (ESV, highlight mine).

The same self-reference occurs in the Epistles of James and Jude. And it occurs again in 2 Peter, and repeatedly in the Pauline Epistles.

And, So…?

We can summarize as follows.

The appearance of the word Church is hundreds of years after the NT period, predominately 1500 years after, and derives from a Koine word that is not part of the NT.

The NT makes reference to a gathering of followers of Jesus Christ by the Koine word ekklēsía which conveys called out ones.

The Koine word ekklēsía is closely related to the Koine word from which we get “elect,” “chosen,” or “called”–namely eklektós but is distinct from it.

There is no Biblical reference to ekklēsía as in Church as to a building, or a denomination, or even a specific “Confession,” “Catechism,” or “Statement of Faith.” (Of course, with respect to the latter category of the substance and boundaries of orthodox belief we have the entirety of NT which in turn brings full life to the OT).

The Koine word ekklēsía has been ‘repurposed’ (and corrupted) over time to designate ‘churchy’ things such as the categories of honorific titles, festival practices, and general matters of “religion.”

Returning to the earlier “why-question,” and the investigative tool of “who benefits?” I can suggest two domains of gain by virtue of our having left behind ekklēsía: (1) making more obscure the doctrine we know as Election, and (2) making more natural the creation of a centralized ruling locus such as the religion industry naturally does.

Does such view, particularly the later, comport with Scripture? Consider Paul himself embodied as Saul in the early chapters of Acts ravaging the ekklēsía, even traveling to the famous ancient cross-roads city of Damascus to drag back members of it to Jerusalem for punishment even death. Likewise in the Galatian Epistle we see the same dragging-back, now in doctrinal rather than locational terms, away from Grace (NT) to Law (OT, and the religion industry that devolved from it). Likewise parallel examples continue in the Epistles of Hebrews and Jude. And finally religion will appear again, more clearly and horrifically, embodied in the Great Whore of Babylon, who emerges as the great embodiment of evil in the closing chapters of Revelation and of space-time itself. And so the great bookend to Cain’s killing Able, is the great building of Babel’s Tower, making a name for itself (IT-SELF!), even into the heavens, figuratively giving God the great fist of rebellion, lest they be scattered in accordance with His command to populate the earth.

11:1 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. ² And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.³ And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. ⁴ Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” ⁵ And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built

Genesis 11:1-5, ESV [Highlights mine]

Closing Thought on Humility

In many respects “religion”–especially in its form a The Religion Industry (TRI) a subject broader than this post can cover–is the antithesis of “humility.”

The Bible has much to say about the virtue of humility. The word “humility” occurs 80 times in 72 passages in the ESV. Noteworthy examples include:

So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me.  (Exodus 10:3; first occurrence in the Bible, before the earth’s then leading exemplar of the ruler of The Political Industry)

And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.  (Deut 2:2, God’s purpose in testing)

You save a humble people, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down.  (2 Sam 22:28, contrasting the humble with the haughty, the self-elevated)

if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land (2 Chron 7:14)

for you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down.  (Psalm 18:27)

For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.  (Psalm 149:4)

Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble he gives favor (Prov 3:34)

When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom. (Prov 11:2)

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?  (Micah 6:8, a text that could be called a great commission)

Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (Matt 18:4) 

Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.  (Matt 23:12, in the famous chapter of the Lord’s great judgment on the representatives of The Religion Industry of the NT as they sat in its judgment of condemnation of Messiah standing directly before them)

But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”  …Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. (James 4:6. 10)

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,  (1 Peter 5:6)

 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (2016). Crossway Bibles. [highlights mine]

Finally, below is an excerpt from an essay on humility in an issue of Tabletalk focused on the cardinal virtues of Christianity. a publication of Ligonier Ministries:

The Bible calls us to be humble. This means not simply an outward show of humility but true humility that goes to the heart. Yet there is perhaps no virtue more important and no virtue more elusive than humility. Pride always seems to get in the way. The battle for humility begins with the battle against pride….

In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis writes: “The essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. . . . It was through Pride that the devil became the devil. . . . It is the complete anti-God state of mind.” Pride was not only the root of Satan’s sin; it was also the root of Adam and Eve’s sin: “You will be like God.” Pride is deeply rooted in the human heart. It keeps people away from God. And it makes the ongoing battle for humility a titanic struggle.

…Humility begins with the recognition that we are not God, that we are sinners who fall short of the glory of God. It recognizes that in our sinful state, not only do we not deserve His blessing, but we deserve His curse, His wrath. “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23)—both physically and spiritually, eternally. It causes us to cry out with the Apostle Paul: “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” Yet he immediately responds to this cry of despair with the answer: “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord,” in whom there is “no condemnation” (Rom. 7:24–8:1). James puts it this way: “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you” (James 4:10). Humility is vital for salvation….

Paul exhorts the Philippians: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Phil. 2:3–4). This is the essence of humility in the Christian life. The way to attain it is to have the “mind” of Christ (Phil. 2:5).

Christ “humbled himself” by “taking the form of a servant” and obeying God “to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:7–8). Biblical scholar F.F. Bruce writes, “To die by crucifixion was to plumb the lowest depths of disgrace; it was a punishment reserved for those who were deemed most unfit to live, a punishment for those who were subhuman.” Christ stooped low to raise us on high. He sought our good even though it meant rejection, pain, and suffering.

Dr. William Barcley is senior pastor of Sovereign Grace Presbyterian Church and adjunct professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, N.C. He is author of The Secret of Contentment and Gospel Clarity. October 2022 of TableTalk, a publication of Ligonier Ministries