How Many Churches Are There Really?
Based on the Christian landscape visible throughout the world today, it appears that there are thousands of churches. There seems to be a church on every other street corner in city after city. But if we consider the truth in the Bible, how many churches are there really?
The Truth of the Church As Seen in God’s Word
According to the Bible, there is only one church.
The Bible clearly reveals that the church is the Body of Christ, and it also reveals that Christ has only one Body. Since the church is the Body of Christ, and since Christ only has one Body, then there can only be one church. We’ll see this clearly in the following verses.
The first set of verses is Ephesians 1:22-23:
(22) And He subjected all things under His feet and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church, (23) Which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all.
These verses clearly show that the church is the Body of Christ based on the phrase “the church, which is His Body.” According to this, whenever we speak of the church, we can also speak of the Body of Christ because, in this sense, the two terms are interchangeable.
Ephesians 4:3-6 goes on to discuss the one Body of Christ:
(3) Being diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace: (4) One Body and one Spirit, even as also you were called in one hope of your calling; (5) One Lord, one faith, one baptism; (6) One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
In these verses, the apostle Paul speaks of many marvelous ones—the oneness of the Spirit, one Body, one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father. These ones include the one Body, revealing that, according to God’s point of view, on the earth and in the universe today, there is only one Body of Christ.
We can continue to read verses on the church as the one Body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12:12-13:
(12) For even as the body is one and has many members, yet all the members of the body being many, are one body, so also is the Christ. (13) For also in one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body, whether Jews or Greek, whether slaves or free, and were all given to drink one Spirit.
Based on these verses, we can see that all of the believers were baptized into one Body, and, according to Ephesians 1:22-23, this Body is the church and the fullness of the One who fills all in all.
So What Does It Mean for Christ to Have One Body?
So what does it mean for Christ to have one Body and one church on the earth today? How do we reconcile this with the fact that there are so many “churches”?
What this means is that, according to God’s point of view, and even though there appear to be many “churches,” there is really only one church, the universal church which is the one Body of Christ. This universal church is composed of all of the redeemed and regenerated believers who are born again and have received Christ as their life.
In order to obtain His church, our wonderful Lord Jesus came to the earth, became a man, lived a human life for thirty-three and a half years, died on the cross to shed His blood, accomplished redemption, and released His life to regenerate man. Through this process, He both purchased and produced the church, His one Body.
John 19:34 reveals that after Christ’s side was pierced on the cross, out came blood and water. With Christ’s shed blood, God purchased the church (Acts 20:28). With Christ’s released, divine life (the flowing water), God produced the church (Eph. 5:29-30).
What we see from all of these verses is that there is only one church, and this one church is the one Body of Christ, the fullness of the One who fills all in all (Eph. 1:22-23). This Body is composed of every redeemed and regenerated Christian who has believed into the Lord Jesus and has received Him into their heart.
Once we have believed into the Lord Jesus and have received Him into our heart, we are members of the Body of Christ, members of the universal church of God, and members one of another (1 Cor. 1:2; Romans 12:5). As members of the Body of Christ, we share the same life and the same nature, and we can fellowship together as members of the one Body of Christ. Hallelujah for these marvelous facts!
Now that we see these facts, we’re left with one question: how should this universal church be expressed practically on the earth today? However, due to the greatness of this subject, we’ll need to discuss the practical expression of the church in a later post.
Additionally, if you’re having difficulty understanding these verses, remember that we need revelation from God to understand His Word. In Ephesians 1, the apostle Paul prayed that God the Father would grant the believers in Ephesus to have “a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him” (Eph. 1:17). Today we can ask the Lord to grant us a spirit of wisdom and revelation so that we can fully understand the truth in God’s word concerning the church. In order to do so, you can pray the following prayer:
“Dear Lord, thank you for Your Word and for the truth contained in Your Word. Lord, reveal to me more concerning this matter of the universal church and the one Body of Christ. I love You, and I love Your Word. Reveal more to me what is on Your heart and what is conveyed in Your Word, especially concerning Your church. Thank You for Your speaking, and continue to speak to me, dear Lord.”
About Joe Putnam
Hi, my name is Joe Putnam. I live in Lubbock, TX, and contribute posts here on Holding to Truth from time to time. Please leave a comment to let us know what you enjoyed from this post. Thanks!
I was also enjoying the portion in Eph. 4:4-6 today and I was impressed with the ONEness – One Lord, one God, one Spirit, one Body, one faith, one baptism… seven one’s! We have only ONE God, one Lord, and there is also only ONE Body for His expression – one church! The fact that there are “so many churches” shows that God’s enemy, Satan, brought in division to a certain extent… but there is only ONE CHURCH, the Universal Church as the Body of Christ, and all the believers in Christ are part of THE CHURCH!
Thanks for this helpful post. We all need to be brought back to God’s view, that there is only one universal church, and that He would have a corporate expression without any kind of divisions. As members of the Body of Christ, we cannot be divided and detached. We’re joined together in this eternal life! May the Lord bring us more to this truth and reality of His Body! Looking forward to your future postings on how the universal church can be practically expressed!
JW, I agree–we all need to be brought back to God’s view and perspective. Many Christians are busy wondering what God’s will is for their life, but very few take the time to ask what God’s purpose and view is.
Thanks for the comment!
Excellent article! Looking forward to the next installment.
Thanks! 🙂
Amen!
Very clear post! I think it’s important to see that there’s one church because this is paramount to seeing God’s eternal purpose, which is for this church. The church is not something to ‘do’ while waiting for the second advent. The church is not a time filler until heaven. The church is the means and the end of God’s work. To see this changes everything.
I really like how your comment mentions that seeing that there’s one church helps us to see God’s eternal purpose. Since God’s desire is to have the church as Christ’s one Body, it’s essential that we see more concerning the church.
Without the one church, the Lord’s prayer in John 17 will not be fulfilled.
What a privilege to be part of God’s purpose!
Thank You, Lord!
I appreciate your direction here Joe. Of course your readers should understand, as I’m sure you do, yet perhaps haven’t had the chance to point out just yet, that these thousands of gatherings, even hundreds in each city, do indeed consider themselves as, and they are, part of the one Body of Christ. Their shortage is not in regard to a basic seeing that there is only one Body of Christ, one universal Church, but rather in it’s practical carrying out locally. It sounds like you may touch on this later. Therefore, this particular article is not an indictment of those believers gathering in so many separated groups, as the commenting Stefan took it to be, but rather a point of spiritual education for younger believers.
Actually, Stefan’s comments appear to expose a bit of a lack of understanding concerning the universal and local aspects of the one Church, as he seems to confuse these two by implying a Satan caused divided state of the universal Church. The Church in it’s universal aspect can not be divided; it is impossible. Despite how many divisions with regard to the local aspect of the church there may be, there is still one undivided universal Church consisting of all believers. All divided, denominated groups of believers are part of the one Body of Christ, the one Church, no matter how they choose to practice. The universal Church does not depend in any way upon any type of practice, rather merely upon all believers sharing the same life of Christ which can never be divided.
Furthermore, despite how many divisions, groups, or denominations there are in a city, all of these believers are part of the one local church. It is impossible for there to be more than one local church in a city, and in fact there is not. I hope Joe can continue to lead us in a good direction and perhaps provide further clarity for honestly the many many believers among us who are in need of such.
In the coming days on my blog (http://unknownwellknown.wordpress.com/) I will be posting a similar article concerning a clear view of the two aspects of the one Church.
Keep up the good work Joe!