The Family of God

       One of the confusing and controversial teachings in the New Testament revolves around the identity of the Family of God and the distinction of the Church of God from this Family.  Hopefully this study will shine some light on the subject and minister grace to the heart that chooses to believe the Word of God over the traditions of men. 

First consider Ephesians 3:15, which gives us the following statement, “Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth” to introduce the importance of local church unity by emphasizing the fact that all believers have the same heavenly Father.  Thus all truly born again believers are brothers and sisters in Christ–family.  That is, "the whole family" of the redeemed including those who have gone before to heaven and those who are still alive here on earth—are under one Father, the same Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (Gal. 4:6; 6:10: 1Jn. 3:1).  This does not mean that all of these saved individuals are a part of a church nor comprise an imaginary universal church, it just simply means that all believers belong to the same family of God.   The phrase "the whole family" clearly identifies all and everyone belonging to the one family of believers everywhere.  

In the book of Galatians, Paul spoke of the “household of faith” in chapter 6 and verse 10. This "household" or "family" refers to all who have become God's children by "faith"--believing in Christ-- thus, it includes believers only and excludes all other human beings.  This household does not refer to the lost multitudes or every creature of God.  In fact the believers are clearly distinguished from "all men" in the very same verse.  This clearly indicates that the Family of God does not include every person ever born only those who have been born again from above--born of God (1 John 3:9; 4:7; 5:1; 5:4; 5:18).  Again when a person is saved they do not enter an imaginary universal church, nor do they become a part of a worldwide body of Christ, they simply are admitted into the Family of God based on their "faith" in Christ.  

The obvious implication is that all of God's spiritual children are related and belong to the same "household" like a family should (Eph 2:19). Yes, the Family of God extends far beyond the walls of a particular church or the limits of a specific denomination to include all true believers.  Thus the whole family of God (Eph. 2:19–“household of God” also Heb. 10:21) derives its “name,” or exists as a family with one loving father, because of Him.  Again this includes all genuine believers, but God did not refer to this group as 'the household of the universal church.'  "House of God" (Heb. 10:21; 1Pet. 4:17) is not a figure of speech for the local church in these verses, but for the Family of God.  In Hebrews Christ is presented as the Great High Priest over the "House of God" and not the church of God.  Though Christ is in view in Hebrews 10:21, the term associates believers with God who has a "house" or 'children' implying the Family of God.  This is an important distinction because Paul is addressing believers regarding their privileges as believers.  Christ is the High Priest over individual believer priests, so the imagery of a household here matches.  These privileges belong to believers by virtue of their relationship with Christ—salvation. Thus they are the children of God.   There is one instance in the N.T. where "the house of God" clearly refers to the local churches in 1 Timothy 3:15.  But bear in mind also that it is used to refer to the Temple in Jerusalem also in the O.T. and N.T.  The emphasis in such usages is primarily on the dwelling place of God and it appears some 90 times throughout the Bible.

Back in Ephesians 3:15 we find this phrase "Is named" (Eph. 3:15) in relation to the "whole family" of God.  This of course refers to a practice in ancient days where a name would reveal a person's basic character–love in this instance. The entire context of this passage is the "love of Christ" as experienced by the believers one toward another (Eph. 3:14-19).  This must be the significance here of possessing our Father's name and character of love. Clearly God is presented in the New Testament especially as a loving heavenly Father with love as an outstanding trait (1Jn. 4:8, 16).  All the saved individuals in Heaven and on earth look to this same Father as Head and Provider for His family—the Family of God. Since we have a common LOVING Father, we should be able by His love to live together in the Lord’s individual churches.  Love one for another should mark each Christian fellowship of believers in an obvious way and as a testimony to the world of genuine conversion and discipleship (Jn. 13:35; 1Jn. 3:10-14; 4:20-21). These passages in no way encourage spiritual, moral, ecclesiastical, or doctrinal compromise.

The Lord Jesus himself both taught and exemplified the truth of the Family of God.   In Matthew 12:50, He makes this shocking statement, “For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.” Here the Lord asserts that spiritual family ties and obligations are just as binding as physical families.  Jesus recognized that the family of God was not based on natural biological relationships but spiritual union with the Heavenly Father.  Thus He refers to His disciples as being ‘family’ while excluding his biological family from such a relationship at this point and time in Scripture.  Believers likewise should view each other as spiritual family members, but such is not true of all human beings.

Then again in Matthew 28:10, The Lord Jesus refers to His disciples as His “brethren,” "Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.  Clearly the Savior recognized these alone as His “brethren,” not merely because they were Jews, but genuine believers and thus the sons of God.   In these statements, the Lord distinguished God’s Spiritual Family from all Jews and all unbelieving Gentiles also.  All of humanity does not belong to the Family of God in the spiritual sense, only in the creature sense.  Everyone is not a child of God automatically; it only includes those who obey the Gospel.  Jesus used this same kind of language in Jn. 20:17.                                                   

The Apostle Paul was also a strong teacher of the Family of God.  Paul in the book of Hebrews express the fact that Christ, our great high priest, is the brother of believers and believers are referred to as “brethren” (Heb. 2:11-17), thus implying the Family of God.  Again Paul distinguishes Christ as the superior brother of believers in Rom. 8:29 and it should be remembered that he is the Son of God in the most unique way.  Likewise Christ is the believer’s big brother in the most unique sense.  All believers are sons of God, but Christ is The Son of God, all believers are brethren in the Family of God, but Christ is “The Firstborn among many brethren.”  Nevertheless, we find more sound support for the teachings of the Family of God.  Again this is referring to all believers and not church members.
 

While it is true that all church members should be saved, but it is possible to be a member of a church and still actually be lost.  But, it is absolutely impossible to be a part of the Family of God without being saved.  We must be born into this relationship with God according to John chapter 3, and we are at the same time adopted into the family of God and immediately given the status of intimate adult sons in the Family of God (Rom. 8;14-17; Gal. 4:5-7). Paul championed this teaching on many different occasions.  It is important to recognize once again that this relationship with God is established upon believing on Christ as Savior (Eph. 1:5, 11-14).  In contrast, a person becomes a part of a church at the time they are baptized or when they transfer their membership to a church from the one they currently belong to.  Church membership is temporary, but membership in God’s family is eternal and permanent—you will always be a son of God, you may not always be a church member.  It is also vital to understand that the Family of God is not based on the fact that we are all creatures of God, but redemption through Christ.

The Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology stated this truth in these glowing terms, “For Paul this fatherhood is based not so much on God's role in creation but rather on the redemption and reconciliation he has made available in Jesus Christ. This is why Paul refers to "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom 15:6; 2 Cor 1:3; 11:31). It is through the work of Christ that God invites us to call him "Abba, Father." It is through Christ that grace and peace have resulted and we have become God's children (Rom 8:12-16; 1 Peter 1:3-4; 1 John 3:1).”

Then finally, these teachings of the Universal Body of Christ Church are popular in this generation of Christians as well as among the last generation of believers.  But it is still an unnecessary and unbiblical teaching.  The concept actually originated with the Catholic Church centuries ago.  In fact the term catholic literally means universal. The teaching survived the Reformation in Europe and continued in just about every mainstream denomination. Like some of the other errors that entered the Protestant movement this one survived and is still around today. 

But when one is honest with the Bible alone, we have to conclude that the church is the Body of Christ, but not a worldwide church, but a local assembly of believers.  Every time the term “body of Christ” is used in the context of the epistles it is referring to the physical body of the Lord Jesus or to a local assembly of baptized believers who have organized to carry out the great commission from their respective locations in the world. Notice how the term is used in 1 Cor. 12:27, “Now ye [the individual church at Corinth] are the body of Christ, and members in particular.” The word “ye” refers to the church collectively and the word “members” refer to the people as individuals within the church membership.  In both respects the church was located in Corinth and not all over the world.  It included only the people there in that specific assembly and not every believer both in Heaven and in earth.  There is no need to confuse the Church of God with the Family of God.  Things that are different are not the same though they may share similarities it does not prove they are the same thing. You can take two men and dress them in identical suits and stand them right beside each other in the same room.  Though they may be identical twins, dressed identically, in the same location and share the same mother and father, they are still in the end two different men.  So it is with the Family of God and the Church of God.  There are wonderful similarities, but they are different groups. Clearly Paul in 1Cor. 12:27 believed that the Body of Christ was the church at Corinth.

He believed the same thing about other individual N.T. churches. For example consider what he said to the Ephesian Church in  Ephes. 4:12, “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:” Paul was explaining to them the purpose of the local church ministry and the spiritual gifts that Christ gave believers to serve effectively in their church. The body of Christ that they needed to be concerned with edifying was the one in Ephesus. Not every saved person on earth at the time…not every believer in the world, but simply in the context of their own church family.  Therefore, Paul believed that the church at Ephesus was also the Body of Christ in that location just like the Church of Corinth was in its location.   Once again when Paul addressed the believers of the Church in Colosse, he calls them the “body” of which Christ is the “head.”  He also stated that he had suffered must for “his [Christ] body’s sake, which is the church.” This is what he actually says in Col. 1:18, “And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.” Then later he went on to say in Col. 1:24 “Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you [Colossian church], and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's [Christ’s body] sake, which is the church:” Coupled together we learn that Paul believed that Christ was the head of the church in Colosse and he viewed this local assembly as Christ’s body.  He also equated the local assembly with the body of Christ in both of these passages. He was not referring to all believers everywhere, but specifically to the church in Colosse.  These passages obviously have application to every true N.T. local church. Just as Paul views the church at Corinth and Ephesus as the Body of Christ so did he consider the one in Colosse likewise.

In conclusion the Family of God includes all the redeemed people of God and it does not matter if they are in heaven or on earth. They have a permanent place as a child of God in His family because of faith in their Savior.  The Lord Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul and the Apostle John believed in and taught the truths and implications of the Family of God.  Every true believer everywhere is a part of this great family; through faith in Christ we are the sons of God. The church of God, however, is very different from the Family of God though they are similar in many ways.  Paul believed that the local church assembly and the “Body of Christ” were one and the same with the Lord Jesus as the Head and Leader of each church.  He is not presented as the Head of all churches collectively as one body, but as the Head of many individual bodies in different locations.  Each of them performing the Lord’s will and work with Christ as the Leader through the Holy Spirit. 

Let us once and for all rid ourselves of old false teachings and misconceptions to fully and more completely embrace what God actually and plainly stated in the New Testament about his churches and the Family of God.  Let us pledge our allegiance to Christ and the church He has placed us in to fulfill the role he has prepared and gifted us to fulfill among your local body of believers.  Indeed it is a high and honorable thing in both respects to be a son in the Family of God and a member of Christ’s body— the Church of God.  As sons, let us honor our Father through faith and obedience to Him.  Then as church members, let us respond faithfully to every directive of our Head, the Lord Jesus Christ, to do his service in our respective areas.  As the sons of God let us exercise love one for another as brethren.  Then as the members of Christ’s body let us serve in our local assembly to edify one another in love.  But, always bear in mind that things that are different are not the same.