What is the Church

Body of Christ

To the church in Corinth, Paul wrote:  Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.(1 Corinthians 12:27) He also wrote to the Ephesian church, And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. . (Ephesians 1:23) Paul also wrote about ministers who dedicated their lives to build up the the church:  So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up (Ephesians 4:11-12) Therefore, Gospel Baptist Church is the body of Christ. 

Head of the church

Paul wrote to the church at Colossae: He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. (Colossians 1:1-18) Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.. (Colossians 1:24) Therefore, the head of the Gospel Baptist Church is Christ. Just as the body functions under the leadership of the head, so must this Church fuction through the leadership of Christ, who is the head. 

Owner of the church

When Simon Peter was able to say to Jesus that he was Christ, the Son of the living God, Christ said to Peter, And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[b] will not overcome it. (Matthew 16:18) Because Christ said my Church, the owner of the church is Christ. Because the church belongs to Christ, The church must do the will of the owner. Because many churches do not belong to Christ, they do not do the will of Christ at all. A church owned by the pastor follows what the pastor dictates. The church owned by the elders of the church functions according to the decision made by them. A church owned by the Church members do things according to the consent of the majority. Because Gospel Baptist Church belongs to Christ, it must only follow the will of Christ.

Church builder

Because Jesus said, I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it (Matthew 16:18),  the person who builds the church is not the pastor, the deacons, nor members of the Church. It is Jesus himself. A pastor is a leader who does the will of Christ, the owner of the Church. Deacons are line leaders. The members are workers who will do Christ's will. Therefore, do not act according to the wishes of the pastor; Do not do according to the wishes of elders; And do not do according to the votes of the members. Christ the owner must build it himself. In order for Jesus himself to build according to his will, the pastor must understand Jesus' will and explain it to the deacons and members. The building project of the first temple in Jerusalem was led by King Solomon, so it is often called Solomon's Temple. In reality, King Solomon would not have built it himself; It would have been built through his leadership. In the same way, Gospel Baptist Church needs to know Jesus' will in order to build it. Jesus has already written His will in the Bible. Therefore, the church must be built according to the instructions found in the Bible.

Responsibility of the church

Jesus said, I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. (Matthew 16:18) Through the gates of Hades, many people have gone down into Hades every day. The church must close that gate. How can the gate be closed? It must be closed by telling the good news of Christ's salvation. Christ said to Peter, I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven (Matthew 16:19) The Lord Jesus said that Peter had been given the keys to the kingdom of heaven. With that key, the door of heaven must be opened for the people on earth so that they may be able to enter the kingdom of heaven. The key that was given to Peter was the good news of Christ's salvation. This church must preach and witness THAT good news to everyone. That is the mission and the most important work of this church.  

Who is Peter?

Christ gave Peter the key to heaven, so who is Peter? The word Peter comes from the Greek word Petros, which means small stone. The Lord Jesus gave the name Peter to Jonah's son Simon. Peter was given the opportunity by Christ to close the gates of hell and open the gates of heaven. The reason for giving hime that key is because he knew and was able to answer Jesus who He was. 

Peter wrote letters to the Churches in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, saying As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:4-5). Peter said not only him but every believer who has come to know and believe in Christ was called small living stone, Even though he did not call them Peter the small stone, but instead small living stone, the implication is the same. He said the Church is built by those living stones. Therefore, the church must be built by Peters the living stones. It must not be built with dead stones. A living stone does not mean an active person. It means those who accept Christ as their savior and thereby being born a second time by the spirit, He who has eternal life means one who has assurrence of salvation. And so, the Church must be built with Peters the living stones. However, because there are also family members who are not saved, not every Church member essentiallly is a living stone. 

Churches widening the gates of hell

Most churches in the world are not alive. It is because they are built with dead stones. They are churches in name only and do not belong to Christ but led by Satan. Therefore, Instead of closing, most of the world's churches are widening  the gates of hell; instead of opening, they are closing the gate of heaven. How are the churches opening the gates of hell? They do that by not preaching about Christ's salvation. They are only talking about how to prosper in the world. Man, by nature, already has the love for this world. And when the church only talks about blessings the world has to offer, the members by following the world are widening the gates of hell. Heaven's door is closed when you don't preach the truth about going to heaven. 

Gospel Baptist Church

Gospel News Baptist Church must be built only with living stones with Christ as it's owner, and according to the will of the owner, the gates of hell must be closed and the gates of heaven must be opened. For that purpose, the pastor must lead the deacons and elders, women and youth leaders, sharing salvation news to everyone. Every person who has been saved must be nurtured to grow spiritually. And those who have matured spiritually must share the good news of salvation to others.