The word for church in the Greek is ekklesia. It is literally “the called-out ones.” In the Roman world it could mean being conscripted for military service. When Jesus gave the call to discipleship it was, “Follow me. Take up your cross.” Paul speaks of the call to sainthood, “To those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints” (I Cor 1:2). We are called to become what we have been named. Saints! The Spirit in us works to that end.
“To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:” 1 Corinthians 1:2 (NRSV)
