To clear up any misunderstanding as to what the church is, the Greek word from which our word 'church' comes means 'belonging to the Lord.' The church is that which belongs to the Lord. Whatever belongs to the Lord is the church. To be more specific, whatever personally owns the Lord's sovereign sway and has been redeemed by His precious blood, is the Church. It is the Church of the redeemed.
Conversely, whatever, or whoever, does not belong to Christ, is not the church. If church members do not belong to Christ the Lord, they are not of the church! If the church of Christ on earth does not order its affairs, its beliefs and its practices according to Christ's Word, it does not belong to Him! What Christ owns, He rules. If a church member does not own Christ's rule over his life, he is not a Christian; a man cannot profess Christ as his Saviour who does not submit to Him as Lord of his life.
You see, what decides what the church is is not what professions people might happen to make or not make; it's not how many attend the services. What decides the definition of the church is not something subjective at all, but something objective. Does this body of people belong to the Lord? Do these members belong to the Lord? Does this minister or elder belong to the Lord?
If you claim to be a church member, ask yourself this question: do you belong to Christ? Have you given yourself to Christ as your Lord and Saviour? If you do not, then whatever you might try to claim, this is quite clear, you are not of the church
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