The word church
simply means "the called out." The term is used in the New Testament to refer to the people who have been "called
out" of the world into a relationship with Christ. God calls us by the Gospel, for Paul wrote, "Whereunto
he called you by our gospel" (2 Thessalonians 2:14). Those who hear and obey, the Gospel are "delivered from
the power of darkness" and are "translated into the kingdom (the church)" of Christ (Colossians 1:13).
This means that those who are in the church of Christ have been delivered from sin and have entered into a spiritual relationship
with Christ. This is why it is so important to be a member of the Lord's church--those of the church have been "called
out" of sin and into Christ.
