What is the Church? Is it the House of God?

It’s time we clearly define what the church is, biblically.

The word "ekklesia" (ἐκκλησία) is used 117 times in the Greek New Testament.[1] It is most often translated as "church," but on a few occasions, it is translated as "assembly" or "congregation." It is never a reference to a building or any physical structure. It is always a reference to a group or body of people. So, how did the word "church" come to be associated with a physical building? And why do so many Christians refer to their church as “the house of God”?

In the Old Testament, the Temple in Jerusalem was referred to as the House of the Lord. Many of the ceremonial laws God gave the Israelites pertained to the people traveling to Jerusalem at various times throughout the year to focus their worship around a single location. This, they believed, was the place where God dwelt; where he would meet the high priest every year when he entered the inner sanctuary to make atonement for the sins of the people.

Did God actually live in the Temple? No. His presence there was symbolic of God’s desire to be an ever-present part of Israel’s life as a nation. He wanted to be their one and only God. He wanted them to be his covenant people.

Beyond that, the Temple was a foreshadowing of something much greater to come. Through God’s one and only Son, Jesus, he has forever come to live with his people. Not by dwelling in a building situated in the capital city of a specific nation. Not by living in some other structure somewhere in a neighborhood like yours or mine. But by inhabiting each member of his church via his Holy Spirit. Collectively, the people of God today are being built into a “holy temple in the Lord” (Ephesians 2:21).

This is precisely the reason why, in the New Testament, the word "church" is always a reference to people, not to a building. The people of God – those who have put their faith in and follow Jesus – are repeatedly and consistently referred to by this and several other terms, including "the Body of Christ," "the Bride of Christ," "the Household of God," and "the Temple."

The only distinction that needs to be made when it comes to the word "ekklesia" in the New Testament is whether or not it’s a reference to the universal church or to a local congregation. The word is used interchangeably for both groups.

Either way, it’s time for Christians to speak rightly about what the church is. It’s not a building, or a structure, or even a specific denomination. It’s the people of God the world over, including those saints from history who have lived and died and are now awaiting their bodily resurrection. All of us, collectively, make up the household of God, the place where he will one day make his complete presence actualized forever and ever.

[1] This is the word most often translated as 'church' in English Bibles. In the English Standard Version, it is translated this way 109 out of 117 times it appears in the Greek New Testament.

What is the Church? Is it the House of God?

Blake Barbera is the founder and Lead Teaching Minister at That You May Know Him. He has been teaching the Bible for more than two decades, and has served the Church in various capacities during that time, including as a missionary and pastor. He currently teaches New Testament and Biblical Interpretation part-time at a Bible College and Seminary, along with his work for That You May Know Him.

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