What is the Church?

Paul's delineation of the church in 1 Thess

1.) It is a community beloved and chosen by God in a past eternity,

2.) a community rooted in God and drawing its life from him,

3.) a community exhibiting this life of God in
a faith which works,
a love which labours and

a hope which endures.
4.) it is a community which receives and transmits the gospel.

What stands out of Paul’s vision of the church is its God-centredness. He does not think of it as a human institution, but as the divine society. No wonder he could be confident in its stability!

--Stott