I Believe In The Holy Catholic Church

“I Believe In The Holy Catholic Church.” (Matthew 16:13-19) "I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. (Matthew 16:18) Some are bothered by the word “catholic” when we say, “I believe in the holy catholic church.” They think it has something to do with the Roman Catholic Church. This is not so. Note that the word “catholic” is always spelled with a small “c.” If it were spelled with a large “C” that would refer to the Roman Catholic Church. But catholic with a small “c” simply means “universal.” If we take the basic meaning of ekklesia (the Greek word we translate church), and add the meaning of the 2 words “holy catholic,” we get something like this: The church is the … 1) Worldwide body of true believers in Jesus, 2) Who go against the flow of society as they follow the Lord Who has called them to come out of the world J. I. Packer calls the church the “supernatural society of God’s redeemed people.” I like that phrase because it reminds us that the church is not an organization like the Rotary Club or the Lions Club. Because the church belongs to God, it is truly a supernatural society of those whose lives have been transformed by Jesus Christ.