The three principal names of the church – the church, the body and the bride – in themselves reveal a great deal about her nature.

The word “church” translates the Greek word ecclesia. It means the “called-out assembly” – those among mankind who have been called by God to be His people and who belong especially to Him.

The word “body” describes the relationship of the members of the church to Jesus Christ, the head of the body, and to each other. In one body, the members are intimately joined to the head and at the same time are indivisibly joined together. The church functions as a body.

The word “bride” speaks of the future of the church as the wife of the Lamb, for which she is called now to active preparation. She will be joined to Christ forever, sitting with Him on His throne, sharing His authority and glory. (Revelation 19:7; also 3:21 and 2:26,27; John 17:22)

The word “church,” however, presents a semantic problem, since there is a difference between what the word normally means and what the New Testament speaks of. Nowadays, church can mean either a building where people meet for public worship or the people themselves. People usually “join” a church or “belong” to one. Some members may be born again and others not. But the church in the New Testament was quite different. All of its members were born again. We must distinguish the true church of Jesus Christ from various associations of people who are called “Christians” even though they may lack salvation. To avoid confusion, we will speak more often of the “body” of Christ, meaning the church in the New Testament sense of the word.

In the New Testament, we find that the body was composed of members gathered in local churches. Often they met in the houses of believers. (Romans 16:5; Colossians 4:15; Philemon 2) Most members remained in their own localities, while others moved about as God led them in ministry, establishing and nourishing local churches. Together, these made up the whole church, and they maintained a marvelous combination of liberty, order, and power.

But the church did not develop as the expression of man’s best estimate of what would work. It burst into being on the day of Pentecost, and was brought by a God-given pattern into spiritual maturity. The church began with supernatural power and it was endued with supernatural gifts by the Holy Spirit.