The Koinonia of the Ekklesia: Part 1

Are you a Christian?  Are you a part of the Body of Christ?  What exactly does that mean?  There are many people in the world today who make the claim that they are Christians, but are Christians by name, only. The “fruit” that they bear says something completely different than the words that they say, and as we’ve probably all heard at one time or another, “actions speak louder than words.”

Last night I began a study dealing with what it really means to be a part of the “fellowship of the church,” or the “koinonia of the ekklesia.”  I’ll get to the koinonia part of this later, but first I want to deal with the ekklesia part of it.  What does it really mean to be a part of the church?  What does it mean to be a Christian?

The Greek word for church, ekklesia, says a lot.  Ekklesia is a word that means “the called-out ones.”  So, by definition, the church is not a building in any given city, suburb, or rural area.  The church is made up of the people of God.  They are “the called-out ones.”  But what does it mean to be a part of those who are called-out?  Here are some Scriptures that may make this a little clearer:

• 1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;…
• John 17:11, 16 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world,…They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.
• 1 John 2:15-17 Do not love the world or anything in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.  The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
• Romans 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world; but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…

The ekklesia are those who have been born-again (John 3:5-7).  The ekklesia are those who have walked out of darkness into His marvelous light, and are living in that Light.  This doesn’t mean that any of us are perfect, but that we have made the decision to flee from the shadows of the world and to live our lives in light rather than darkness.  For the person who has made the decision live for Christ (the Christian), we cannot say that we are living for Him and continue to live according to the world’s system.  Look at what the apostle, John, says in 1 John 1:3, 6-7:

• “…that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ…If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.  But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

There it is!  To be a Christian; to be counted among the “called-out ones;” to be a part of the ekklesia, means that we are living every day in the Light. 

I know what it’s like to live in darkness.  But I also know what it’s like to live in the Light. And can I just tell you, there is nothing like living in the Light of God.  I don’t claim to have it all figured out.  I don’t claim to be perfect.  I don’t claim to be better than anyone else.  But I do claim to have accepted Jesus as my Savior and Lord.  I do claim that I strive to live “in the light of His glory and grace” each and every day of my life, and there is no better place to be.