Characteristics of the Church

The church is the assembly of the "saints," or holy ones, a people called out of the world by God. The early church was an urban movement. It held a world view which differed from that of the prevailing culture, yet it came to include people of all social classes in its radical fellowship. Terms for the Church The most common word for the church in the New Testament is ekklsia, or "assembly. " It is a derivative of the verb kale,"call," in the sense of those who are "called out. " The word was a general word for assemblies, but as used by the apostles it also has a theological significance. The church is the body of those who are called out from the "world," or surrounding culture, but primarily from traditional Judaism, which the New Testament theologians considered to be unfaithful to the genuine thrust of the Lord's covenant. Paul spoke of the new covenant community as the "Israel of God" (Gal. 6:16); he asserted that not all those who are descended from Israel are really Israel…