Transformed Together: Why Every Believer Needs the Local Church
John R. Carter

John Carter is committed to helping people reach their potential in life through spiritual transformation. Known for his engaging and practical teaching style, he is the senior pastor of Abundant Life Christian Center, a culturally diverse church located in Syracuse, NY. He is the founder and president of Mercy Works, a charitable organization that creatively meets the practical needs in distressed urban communities. John and his wife, Lisa have three sons – Jordan, Joshua and Caleb.

This article is an excerpt adapted from The Transformed Life, by John R Carter. The Transformed Life is powerful discipleship tool that is designed to help believers experience personal transformation through a dynamic relationship with Jesus and the local church. The Transformed Life will be available for sale on December 14, 2012. If you are interested in per-ordering the book, please email transformedlifenow@gmail.com. 

You and I cannot do it on our own. In fact, God never intended for us to try. God designed you for a family.

“For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named” (Ephesians 3:14).

In the passage above, God is called the Father of the whole family in heaven and earth. The family in heaven are those believers throughout history who have finished their earthly lives and are now with the Father. As we learned in lesson seven, when the physical body wears out and dies, the eternal spirit that is the true you departs to be with Christ (Philippians 1:23). In God’s presence we will be consciously united with our loved ones who know the Lord and every other believer who has left the earth.

The question then is, “exactly who is my family on earth?” In this lesson we are going to learn that when you were born again, you were joined to the Father and His family. Understanding the nature of God’s family on earth is absolutely essential to living the transformed life.

While times of fasting and private devotion are essential to spiritual growth, they are not in themselves the path to spiritual maturity.

You Were Created for Relationship

One of the first things we have learned about our Father is that He is a relational being. You and I were made in His image, and therefore we are relational beings too. However, we were not designed to be in a relationship with God alone. In His wisdom, God made us to also live in loving connection with one another.

You cannot reach your full potential in Christ by developing your personal relationship with God privately. Some believers consider their faith a private affair between themselves and God and have no interest in sharing their spirituality with others. Sometimes you may hear sincere believers say things like, “All I need is Jesus. I have no interest in having a relationship with people.” They imagine that true spirituality is achieved by withdrawing from others and going “inside themselves” to find God. While times of fasting and private devotion are essential to spiritual growth, they are not in themselves the path to spiritual maturity. In fact, personal isolation is a sign of spiritual weakness and immaturity.

Jesus came for one primary purpose. Everything He did in His earthly ministry, everything He did for us on the cross and resurrection, and everything He has done for us ever since, has been for this purpose: to build His church. Everything Christ does on the earth today is through, and for, the church. The church is the New Testament family of God. Just as salvation in the Old Testament joined you to the family of Israel, salvation in the New Testament joins you to the family of Jesus: His church.

Jesus said that He would give His church the keys of the kingdom of heaven—keys that would carry the authority of Jesus to carry out God’s will on earth. These keys are given not just to individual believers, but to the church collectively. This is why it is essential to understand that when you are born again, you enter a relationship with God and His church.

Saved Together

It is impossible to read the New Testament letters and not see that everything Christ did for us personally, He also achieved for us collectively. Most of the time when Paul or Peter spoke of Christ’s work in their writings, they used the plural pronouns “we,” “our,” and “us.” They understood that our individual salvation was accomplished as part of something Christ was doing collectively. Just as God saved Israel as one related community from the bondage of Egypt, so Jesus secured us individually and collectively through His finished work on the cross.

Did Jesus Really Die “Just for You”?

Becoming a Christian is a very personal experience. Because we come to Christ as individuals, each of us has a testimony or story of how and when we received Jesus as our personal Savior. Our self-esteem soars when we hear that Jesus died for us individually. Sometimes people say, “If you were the only person on the planet, Christ still would have died just for you.” We say such things to emphasize the personal love God has for each of us.

It is true that Jesus knows each of His sheep by name, loves us individually, and calls each of us to Himself personally (John 10:3). The Bible, however, almost never refers to salvation in this manner. In nearly every instance where the New Testament speaks of Christ’s work on the cross, it uses the language of community. We are saved together with others. We are not just a group of individual believers. We are a team of faith.

Jesus did not die for us one by one. He redeemed us as a community—purchasing salvation for all of us at once. We were saved together. When writing to the churches about salvation, the apostles almost always used the term you in reference to the entire community of the local church. Grammatically, it is the plural form of the pronoun, “you.” It was not unlike the common expression found in the southern United States today, “y’all.” Notice how the word you in the following verses speak to the entire local church collectively:

“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:4-8).

“To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you” (Colossians 1:2-3).

“For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;…giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:9-10, 12-14).

Jesus died for us together. We were raised with Christ together. We are called to live our Christian faith together.

You are Not Alone!

There is a joy in knowing, embracing, and understanding our collective salvation. This joy is found in the wonderful comfort of realizing that we are never alone! Jesus designed you for a family, and a family for you. Embracing Jesus means embracing His family. No matter what you or I face in life, both the Lord and His church are there to help. As Peter taught, “You are a chosen generation…His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God” (1 Peter 2:9-10).

In fact, many of the things God has planned for you as an individual, He designed for you to receive through a relationship with His church. The church of Jesus Christ is the only environment God has given for us to experience the transformed life. That’s why we need to teach believers to develop a loving relationship with Jesus and His church.

Consider this: Most New Testament teaching about the church refers to the visible local church. The word “church” is used 118 times in the Greek New Testament. Only 14 times is it used to describe the universal and invisible church. All of the other 104 references are speaking of the visible, or local, church. Just as Israel was God’s visible family in the Old Testament, the local church is His visible family in the earth today. When Jesus said He would build His church, He indicated that He would give her the keys to the kingdom of heaven. He said we were to use them on earth (Matthew 16:19). Therefore, Jesus was talking about building the visible church.
Seven Characteristics of the Visible Church

1. The Visible Church is Local

The first fact about the visible church is that you can see it. That means it is near to where you live. For this reason we speak of the church as being local. The word local comes from the Latin word locus, which means “place.” A location is a particular place. A locomotive is a vehicle that moves you from place to place. The local church is a place. It exists in a geographic area. Because the church is a place where you actively participate, it needs to be in the region in which you live. Every believer needs to discover the place near them where they can participate in God’s church (Acts 4:23, 15:22).

2. The Visible Church is a Community of Regenerated People

The local church is more than property, buildings, and a parking lot. It is not a social club, an educational center, a non-profit corporation, or a relief agency. The church is a community of people who have been born again by faith in Jesus and called together into loving relationship. Attending church does not make you a part of this community. You must have had the genuine work of the Holy Spirit creating a new heart inside you in order to authentically belong to the local church.

The word “community” comes from the Latin word communis which means “to share a place intimately with others.” God has called the church to be a community who follow Jesus and experience his transforming life together. Members of our Father’s family need to commune and share their lives with one another. This requires that we develop a genuine personal relationship with both Jesus Christ and His church.

The local church is also a community of faith within a community of darkness. Every church is to be a witness to the world around them. Jesus referred to His people as a “city that is set on a hill” and a “lamp” that gives light to those in the darkness (Matthew 5:14-16). As believers grow in the local church, their faith becomes a witness to the greater community in which they live. He also said, “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples” (John 13:35 NLT). The local church evangelizes the world by loving each other. It is impossible to show the world your love for other believers unless you are in a visible genuine relationship together.

3. The Visible Church is a Gathering

“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25).

The word church in ancient Greek was used to describe a special assembly of people called out of their homes to a public meeting or council. In fact, the word church could be translated “those called to meet together.” This is the word Jesus chose to describe the new family of God He had come to establish. That tells us something essential about God’s ideal purpose for the church. Of all the things the church might be and do, it is first and foremost a physical gathering of people. In other words, every believer is supposed to go to church.

From the very beginning of Christianity, believers understood that being a church meant regularly meeting together. The first church meetings were on the Sunday of Christ’s resurrection (John 20:19), and the Sunday of Pentecost, seven weeks later (Acts 2:1). From that time forward, Christians would gather each weekend to worship God and hear the teaching of His Word (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2).

There are some Christians who do not understand the importance of being physically present with their fellow believers each week. Some think that because they have a personal relationship with the Father, they have no need of a commitment to a particular local church. They have failed to understand that many of the things God has designed for their lives can only be received through a living connection with others in the local church.

The church describes both a people and an event. It is both a group and a gathering. When you become a part of the group, you are supposed to gather. By coming each week to the event of local church worship, you build real connections with the people God has given to be your spiritual family. In this environment, there are special gifts that are exercised, practices that we participate in, and ministry we receive. When we go to church, we are not going to a building, but rather going to the body. Where we gather is not as important as the fact that we gather.

4. The Visible Church Has a Creed

A “creed” is a set of beliefs that are designed to guide one’s actions and shape one’s thinking. While we may have our own ideas about music, movies, politics, and food, to be a part of the church, the members must be committed to a set of beliefs that are non-negotiable. There is room in the Christian faith for differences about many things, but each local church must decide what is essential for their individual community.

For a local church to be effective, it must be unified around a set of core doctrines, beliefs, and key values that guide its mission. The Transformed Life has been developed to help local churches teach powerful truths that will instruct believers and cause local churches to grow into transformational communities together.

5. The Visible Church is Organized

Heaven is an organized place. God is not just figuring things out as He goes. The angels don’t just do whatever they want, whenever they feel like doing it. Through the eyes of God’s prophets, the Bible allows us to capture a glimpse of what heaven is like. In each case, we see that our Father lives in a place that is highly organized. Every detail is planned and its beauty and order is overwhelming. There are specific numbers of angels that surround God’s throne—each executing specific details in perfect harmony. When the Prophet Isaiah saw this, he was “undone” (Isaiah 6:5). God showed Moses a vision of heaven and he built a replica of what he saw (Hebrews 8:1-5). The details of God’s sanctuary, and its furnishings and dimensions as described by Moses, reveals that our Father’s home is a place of unmatched beauty and exquisite detail. Why would His church on earth operate otherwise?

God actually commands us to worship and do everything in the local church with planning, organization, and excellent execution.

Today many people have rejected “organized religion” because of the elaborate rituals and controlling structures of some church denominations. In many cases, these Christians have imagined that following Jesus is purely a personal matter, and have confused organization with unnecessary oppression and control. But the New Testament commands believers to worship God in organized local churches.

“For He…is not a God of confusion and disorder but of peace and order. As [is the practice] in all the churches of the saints (God’s people),…But all things should be done with regard to decency and propriety and in an orderly fashion” (1 Corinthians 14:33, 40 AMP).

The Greek word translated “decency” comes from two root words. The first is the word eu which means “of good quality.” The second word is schema from which we get the word “scheme” or “well-formed plan.” The Lord is telling us that all things in the local church are supposed to be developed according to a well-formed plan of high quality.

The word “orderly” in verse 40 is the Greek word tasso which was a military term that means “to systematically organize people according to rank and file.” It also means “to arrange in order and according to a fixed time.” This verse could be read like this:

“Let everything in the local church be developed according to a well formed plan and with attention to a process of quality organization.”

In other words, the local church is not supposed to be a loose, unplanned environment. God actually commands us to worship and do everything in the local church with planning, organization, and excellent execution. While each local church may have its own particular flavor, approach, and methods, all local churches are called to be well-planned and organized.

Organization does not mean stuffy and predictable. Good organization enables the local church to maximize its creativity by increasing its quality.

6. The Visible Church Has a Structure of Authority

There is no such thing as a biblical church without biblical leadership. We are going to study this in depth in the next chapter, but the principle of church leadership was established by Jesus Himself. He chose twelve men and trained them as leaders. It is clear from the book of Acts that wherever people responded to the gospel, these apostles appointed leaders for the local churches. The earliest word that was used to describe the role of the pastor was “elder.”

“So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed” (Acts 14:23).

“For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you” (Titus 1:5).

There is not a single example in the New Testament of a church that was without authorized spiritual leadership. There are no exceptions in Scripture. That means a group of Christians meeting in a living room does not constitute a local church unless it is meeting under qualified spiritual leadership. Believers may gather in kitchens, public places, coffee shops, rented auditoriums, or elaborate cathedrals for prayer, Bible study, sharing, and testimony. These fellowships are expressions of the church. But if there is not a qualified, God-appointed pastor or minister present to lead, it is not a complete expression of the New Testament local church. The New Testament knows no spiritual ministry outside of local church authority. It is the sole agency of God’s work on earth today. All scriptural Christian ministry is either under the covering, or in service of the visible local church.

7. The Visible Church Pursues the Mission and Purposes Given by Jesus

Every local church has particular purposes and assignments that are unique to their mission in the community. But all churches share the responsibility to pursue the main mission given to us by Jesus Christ. We call this the Great Commission.

“‘Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen” (Matthew 28:19-20).

The mission that God has called the church to perform above all others is to reproduce ourselves by sharing the life and teaching of Jesus Christ in our generation. All local churches are called to expand by sharing the gospel with the world, baptizing those who believe, and turning them into passionate disciples (Christ-followers) through teaching and instruction.

This article is an excerpt adapted from The Transformed Life, by John R Carter. The Transformed Life is powerful discipleship tool that is designed to help believers experience personal transformation through a dynamic relationship with Jesus and the local church. You can obtain "The Transformed Life" by calling 888.367.2523 and asking for "The Word Shop."