Words of Faith: The purpose of the church

Ephesians 1:12(NIV): “In order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.”

Why does the church exist? Is it here to help meet the needs of you and your family? Is it here to win the world for Christ? Is it here to right the world of social wrongs? You might be surprised by the Bible’s answer. According to Scripture, the church has a three-fold purpose: the exaltation of God, the edification of the saints, and the evangelization of the world. The primary purpose of the church is the exaltation of God. No other agenda or purpose.

God has called us to live “for the praise of His glory”. We are here to glorify and know the God who created us. “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” (1 Peter 2:9).. We are here to glorify and know the God who created us. “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” (1 Peter 2:9).

The secondary purpose of the church is the edification of the saints. Paul said that his own goal was not merely to evangelize, but to “present every person [mature] in Christ” (Colossians 1:28). “He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head, Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 4:11–15).

The third purpose of the is the evangelization of the world. If we are glorifying God and edifying the saints, we will naturally want to share the hope of salvation with others. We will also want to obey the Lord. Since Jesus has specifically told us to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15), we should do just that. “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” (Matthew 28:19–20). These principles in their proper balance are the purpose of the church.

Earl W. Hughes Jr. is Director/Founder of Works of Faith Ministries.