After Jesus dies and reveals himself after his resurrection to his disciples, Peter and other disciples and later Paul begin meeting with assemblies of believers who organized themselves into churches. But what is the church? Revelation 19:7 says that the church is the bride of Christ and Colossians 1:24 and Ephesians 1:18-23 says that the church is the body of Christ. 

1 Peter 2:9 says that the church is all who belong to the community of faith in Jesus, because Colossians 1:18 says that the church is founded on Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:1-23 says that Jesus founded the church, not Peter, not modern congregations or Christian leaders of denominations. So then the church is not a place, but is made up believers where God’s Spirit can live (1 Corinthians 3:16).

1 Corinthians 3:3-4 says that if you do not know your creator, then you do not know yourself. We are not only humans, we are also spiritual beings living in earthly bodies. Ephesians 2:22 says that the church, as a people, is the dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. So if we as believers are a place where the Spirit of God lives, then we have become the building, built on God’s foundation: that he is God and exists and that this God has performed a supernatural wonder on earth through his Son, Jesus. 

God is all powerful and yet he has chosen to function through the church, spirits in human form to perform wonders on earth. Jesus is the model of this practice of God. Paul writes that when you don’t know who you are and believe that you are only human and have no spirit or connection to God, you are like an infant that is incapable of doing for itself or anyone else anything of value. 

But when you grow in your faith through scripture and understanding who God the spiritual Father is, you develop and mature to be of service to him and can minister to the building of believers, the church, teaching about who God is and to God by doing what his will is for your life, to build upon what he is building, to bless the world. 

The church is founded on Jesus, the supernatural wonder of God that makes humans blameless and righteous, and their faith and belief in this wonder, Jesus, allows his Spirit to dwell in them like a building to also perform wonders. 1 Corinthians 3 says that the church is to be built up for works of service, built up meaning mature and able to do work and not infantile or incapable due to their lack of understanding of themselves, their purpose and lack of faith.

As we get to know our Spiritual Father, we can be of service to him. Our lives are not our own, we were created by God. God, in his wisdom, has given his creation the choice to be a part of what he is doing to bless the entire earth. When you are mature and connected to the spiritual power of God, then you can be in service to his kingdom. 

When you are immature, and not associated with what he is building, you are separated from God. This separation is worse for you than the emotional heartache of the loss of a loved one, someone you cherish out of love and also out of the support that they provide for you. This separation from God is worse for you than being like an infant who is neglected and alone. When you get to know God as creator you come to understand his authority and that he allows you to live and grow. 

A message to the spiritually mature leaders in the church helping to teach people about God.

Paul describes them as only workers in God’s vineyard or gardeners in his field, planting and watering, because “God is the one who makes things grow” (1 Corinthians 3:7). You leaders are fellow workers in God’s service, you are not the foundation (1 Corinthians 3:9). “For no one can lay a foundation other than the one already built, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11). 

Paul writes that if anyone builds using their own building materials, that is their own beliefs, the Day will bring the truth of their message to light (1 Corinthians 3:13). If what they are teaching is built on the word of God, it will survive, but if it is not, their teachings will be “burned up”, meaning destroyed by the fire of the light of truth and they will only escape their own destruction like a person escaping a building that is in flames: with nothing but their life (1 Corinthians 3:15). 

The church as a building and a body is built and matures so that God’s character can be revealed through them. Evidence of maturity and a strong building are replicating God’s character including being loving, “have sincere love for each other, loving one another deeply from the heart” (1 Peter 1:22). 

Be holy because I am holy 1 Peter 1-2:2

1 Peter 1:22 says, “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth” be holy, meaning operate in the truth that Jesus has done the holiness work for you and that your work is to believe that you are holy. Jesus’ sacrifice said to all mankind ‘don’t be condemned, be holy’. 

Holiness is not through actions; it is through grace. The action, if there is one, is to be obedient. Not to the world and its way but obedient to faith in Jesus. Not conforming to the world does not mean that there is a lifestyle that will make you holy. The lifestyle that makes you holy is faith in Jesus. If you put your faith in your actions and the things that you do as making you an acceptable member of the body of Christ, how can you teach about the riches of God’s grace? 

A mature Christian relies more firmly on this faith than any other message from the world, this includes messages that doing good is what pleases God. As you grow in your understanding of who God is through reading scripture, you will come to understand that it is God who has purified out of you, like a refiners fire, anything that would make you immature or incapable of being at service to him. 

Evidence of the Spirit of God being at work in a person’s life, or purification, holiness and maturity is obeying the truth of the word of God that Jesus has paid the price for your acceptance in God’s kingdom. Growth in this way leads to spiritual maturity.

We have been saved from perishing and born again into the life that Jesus has given us through his sacrifice. Growing up in this faith will rid you of all condemning beliefs from society and the church. Growing your faith in Jesus’ power to save you, not your own, is the spiritual food given to the infant believer so that by it, you will grow up in your salvation. The Lord is not the one who condemns, but the one who was gracious to us and by his own actions has purified us. When you taste this truth you will taste and see that he is good. 

God’s final word: his Son.

“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty” (Hebrews 1:1-3). 

“This is the message we have heard from HIM and declare to you: God is light (truth and illumination) in him there is no darkness (deception) at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk (deceived) in the darkness (of condemnation), we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light (truth), as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 John 1:5-7). 

“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin (the sin of not acknowledging the purification work that Jesus has done for us all). But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 1:8-2:2).