The church, which is of God, is an entity sanctified in Christ (1 Cor. 1:2). When God purchased the church with His own blood as the price, He immediately put this church into Christ. Now the church is not only of God but also in Christ.
In 1 Corinthians 1:2 Paul speaks of those who have been “sanctified in Christ Jesus.” To be sanctified in Christ Jesus is to be sanctified in the element and sphere of Christ. Christ is the element and sphere that separated us unto God, made us holy unto Him, when we believed in Him, that is, when we were brought into an organic union with Him through our faith in Him.
To be sanctified in Christ means that we have been put into Christ. Christ is a holy sphere, a sphere of holiness. Not only is Christ holy-Christ Himself is holiness. Because God has put us into this Christ (1 Cor. 1:30), we have been put into the sphere of holiness. Now that we are in Christ as the sphere of holiness, we are sanctified.
In Greek, the word rendered “sanctified” is actually a verbal form of the word for holiness. The word for holiness is hagios, and the verb that means sanctify is hagiazo. To be sanctified is to be made holy. Therefore, for the church to be sanctified in Christ Jesus is for the church to be made holy in Him.
Ephesians 5:25 says that Christ “loved the church and gave Himself up for her.” This reveals that Christ is a church-loving Christ. Galatians 2:20 says that Christ loved me and gave Himself for me. Although we may pay attention to this verse, we may not pay adequate attention to Ephesians 5:25, where we are told that Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for the church. The Christ into whom the church was put by God loved the church and gave Himself up for it.
Christ’s loving the church and giving Himself up for the church was for redemption and for the impartation of life. According to John 19:34, blood and water came out of the Lord’s pierced side. The blood was for redemption, and the water was for the impartation of life so that the church might come into existence. In Ephesians 5:25 we have the church coming into existence through Christ’s loving her and giving Himself up for her.
Because the church is sanctified in Christ and is loved by Christ who gave Himself up for it, the church becomes of Christ. This is the reason the New Testament tells us that the church is not only of God but also of Christ.
Romans 16:16 speaks of “the churches of Christ.” Wherever the churches are located, they must be the churches of Christ. We should never think that the church in a particular place is the church of any elder or worker. The church in every locality must be the church of Christ. With Paul we need to learn to say “the churches of Christ.”
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