Pictures of the Church
How the Scriptures Picture the People of God

Executive Summary

The New Testament does not describe the church with one picture. Paul calls it a body, Peter calls it a flock, a house, and a priesthood, Jesus calls it a flock and a company of branches, and John sees it as a bride. This first study gathers eight of those pictures into one view: the body of Christ, the fellowship of the saints, the flock, the household and family, the temple and building, the vine and the branches, the bride, and the royal priesthood. Each has its own full study in this ten-study series (the fellowship of the saints has two, one on the κοινωνία word group and one on the practice of fellowship), and each is introduced here in a few pages so that a reader can see the whole before entering the parts. The study that stands behind them all is The Body of Christ, which treats the body image itself.

The study reaches eight conclusions.

1. The church is too large for one picture. Each image shows a different side of the same people. The body shows union and interdependence, the fellowship shows a shared life, the flock shows care and dependence, the household shows belonging, the temple shows God’s presence, the bride shows love and faithfulness, the vine shows life and fruit, and the priesthood shows access and service.
2. Every picture has its roots in Israel. The Lord is Israel’s shepherd (Psalm 23:1), Israel is God’s son (Exodus 4:22), the tabernacle is God’s dwelling (Exodus 25:8), the Lord is Israel’s husband (Isaiah 54:5), Israel is God’s vine (Psalm 80:8), and Israel is a kingdom of priests (Exodus 19:6). The church receives what was promised to the people of God and does not begin from nothing.
3. Every picture is centered on Christ. He is the Good Shepherd (John 10:11), the Son over God’s house (Hebrews 3:6), the chief cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20), the Bridegroom (John 3:29), the true vine (John 15:1), and the great High Priest (Hebrews 4:14). The pictures describe the church by describing its relation to Him.
4. Every picture is plural. Sheep are in a flock, children are in a family, stones are in a building, branches are on one vine, priests are in one priesthood, and the bride is one bride. The pictures leave no room for a solitary believer.
5. Every picture carries a calling. The flock follows, the family obeys and loves, the temple is holy, the bride is faithful, the vine abides and bears fruit, and the priesthood offers sacrifices and serves. The pictures describe what the church is and ask it to live accordingly.
6. The pictures correct each other. Flock and priesthood balance dependence on leaders with access for all, and household and temple balance warmth with holiness. Vine and bride join life with love, and the body keeps all of them from becoming private.
7. Pictures are not to be pressed at every point. A picture is chosen by the writer for a purpose, and details that the text does not use should not be forced.
8. The pictures end in the same place. The flock is one under one Shepherd (John 10:16), the family dwells in the Father’s house (John 14:2), the temple is the dwelling of God with men (Revelation 21:3), the bride is married to the Lamb (Revelation 19:7), the vine is fruitful, and the priests reign with Christ (Revelation 20:6).

The study is arranged in three parts. The first introduces the series, explains why Scripture uses many pictures, and shows how to read them. The second gives a short portrait of each of the eight, with the key passages in the New King James Version, the main Greek words, the Old Testament background where there is one, and what the picture adds. The third brings the pictures together, asks what a congregation should do with them, and closes with questions for reflection and discussion, a practical summary, and a bibliography. It is written for adult study in a Mennonite congregation, and where a position is given from general knowledge, the footnote says so.

Welcome to the Study

When the apostles wanted to say what the church is, they did not use one word. Paul called it a body and a fellowship, and Peter called it a flock, a house, and a priesthood. Jesus called His followers sheep and branches, and John saw them as a bride. Each picture was chosen for a purpose, and each shows something that the others cannot. Taken together, they give the fullest portrait of the people of God that the New Testament offers.

This set of ten studies follows eight of those pictures: the body of Christ, the fellowship of the saints, the flock of God, the household and family of God, the temple and building of God, the vine and the branches, the bride of Christ, and the royal priesthood. There is a full study for each picture, a companion word study on the vocabulary of fellowship, and this overview, which brings them all together. The set belongs beside the other studies on the unity of the body that are posted on this site.

1 Peter 2:9 (NKJV): But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

Introduction: Living Pictures of the Church

The New Testament letters almost never pause to define the church in the language of a dictionary. Instead, they picture it. Paul, Peter, and John reach again and again for images drawn from ordinary life — a human body, a family in its home, a temple under construction, a flock on the hillside, a partnership of shared goods — and each image opens a different window onto the same reality. No single picture says everything. A body speaks of organic union but not of holiness; a temple speaks of holiness but not of warmth; a family speaks of belonging but not of mission. Laid side by side, the metaphors form a composite portrait that no lone image could carry.

This series traces eight of these portraits across ten studies: the body of Christ, the fellowship of the saints (with a companion study of its vocabulary of sharing), the flock of God, the household and family of God, the temple and building of God, the vine and the branches, the bride of Christ, and the royal priesthood. This opening study surveys all eight; the studies that follow take up each picture in depth. Along the way it attends to the Greek words the writers chose, because the images are carried by particular terms — σῶμα, κοινωνία, ποίμνιον, οἶκος, ναός, ἄμπελος, νύμφη, ἱεράτευμα — each with its own weight and history. The Greek is a doorway, not a destination; every term is given in plain English so that no reader is left dependent on the alphabet to follow the argument.

One conviction governs the whole. Behind every metaphor stands a single reality: the union of believers with the risen Christ and, in Him, with one another. The church is not first an organization that people join but a body into which they are baptized, a family into which they are born, a building into which they are fitted, a flock the Shepherd has purchased. The pictures are not decorative. They are the New Testament’s way of teaching a congregation who it actually is.

Why Study the Pictures?

Most believers hold their idea of the church from one or two images. Some think of it as a building, since they go to it. Some think of it as a family, since they were raised in it, and some as a community of friends. Each is partly right, and each can be wrong when it stands alone. A church thought of only as a building becomes a place and not a people. A church thought of only as a family can become closed and resistant to correction. A church thought of only as a company of friends can become a social club.

The New Testament gives the church many pictures so that no one of them has to carry the whole weight. The study of the pictures is therefore a safeguard for understanding, and it is also an enrichment, since each picture gives the reader something to love.

Scripture gives many pictures so that no single one has to carry the whole weight. Each picture corrects the others and enlarges them. The body teaches us that every member is needed, and the fellowship teaches us that we hold our life in common. The flock teaches us that we need to be led, and the priesthood teaches us that each of us may come directly to God. The household gives us warmth, and the temple reminds us that we live in the presence of the holy God. The vine tells us that our life comes from Christ, and the bride tells us that He loves us and that we are called to be faithful. Together they tell us who Christ is to us, who we are, how we are to live, and where the story is going.

The Method

The method is that of the earlier studies in this series. Each picture is studied in its own document, beginning with the Old Testament roots, then the key terms, then five to nine teaching sections. Each section gives the significance of the theme, the key passages in the New King James Version quoted in full, exegetical observations, implications for the local church framed as Align and Adjust, and questions for reflection and discussion. This first study follows the same order in outline and then sets the eight pictures side by side.

Sources and Cautions

Greek and Hebrew words appear in their own script. Definitions are taken from standard lexicons and are marked for confirmation in BDAG, TDNT, NIDNTTE, HALOT, and BDB, which could not be consulted this session. Scripture is quoted from the New King James Version from memory, and should be verified against the printed text before it is taught. Statements of the positions of commentators are widely known ones, given from general knowledge and not verified from the books, and no page numbers are given. This study relies on the nine studies that follow it for detail.

The Series at a Glance

The set has ten documents. The ten studies are designed to be read in order, but each can also stand on its own. This survey introduces every picture; the remaining nine develop them one at a time, each working through the image’s main uses in Scripture and asking after each what the truth requires a believer to adjust or align.

Study	Title	What It Explores
1	The Church in the Epistles	An overview of all eight pictures and how they fit together
2	The Body of Christ	One body of many members, every member necessary, Christ the head
3	Sharing in Common	The κοινωνία word group: sharing, partnership, and contribution
4	The Fellowship of the Saints	Fellowship with God and one another, at the Table, in giving, and in mission
5	The Flock of God	The Chief Shepherd, His undershepherds, and the calling of the sheep
6	The Household and Family of God	Belonging, adoption, family conduct, and family discipline
7	The Temple and Building of God	God’s dwelling, the cornerstone, living stones, holiness, and edification
8	The Vine and the Branches	Israel the vine, Christ the true vine, abiding, the Father’s pruning, fruit, and love among the branches
9	The Bride of Christ	The covenant Husband, the Bridegroom who has come, betrothal, Christ’s sacrificial love, readiness, faithfulness, and the marriage supper
10	The Royal Priesthood	The kingdom of priests, Christ our High Priest, access to God, spiritual sacrifices, and the ministry of every believer

Every study but this overview follows the same pattern in each of its teaching sections: the significance of the theme, the key passages quoted in full from the New King James Version, exegetical observations on the text and the original words, implications for the local church framed as Align and Adjust, and questions for reflection and discussion. Each study opens with an Executive Summary and closes with a summary, a note on sources, and a bibliography. The studies of the flock, household, temple, vine, bride, and priesthood begin with the Old Testament, since each of those pictures was first given to Israel, and close with a chapter on what that picture adds to the body of Christ.

What You Will Find

The overview (Study 1). The eight pictures side by side, and how they fit together. Main question: How do the pictures fit together? Key passages: 1 Peter 2:4–10; John 10; John 15.

The body (Study 2). The church is one body of many members, every member is needed, one Spirit gives the gifts, and Christ is the Head. The study asks what it means to belong to one another, to grow together in love, to discern the body at the Lord’s Table, and to share Christ’s sufferings. Main question: How do we belong to Christ and to one another? Key passages: 1 Corinthians 12; Romans 12:3–8; Ephesians 4:1–16; Colossians 1:18–24.

Sharing in common (Study 3). A word study of κοινωνέω, κοινωνία, κοινωνός, μετοχή, and συγκοινωνέω, the New Testament’s vocabulary of a shared life. It asks what believers share, with whom, and where fellowship must stop. Main question: What does the Bible mean by “fellowship”? Key passages: 1 John 1:3–7; 2 Corinthians 6:14–16; 2 Corinthians 8:4; Philippians 4:14–15.

The fellowship (Study 4). Fellowship with God, with one another, at the Table, in giving, and in the gospel and its sufferings. The study asks how a congregation actually holds its life in common. Main question: How do we share a common life in Christ? Key passages: 1 Corinthians 1:9; 1 John 1:3, 7; Acts 2:42; 1 Corinthians 10:16–17; Philippians 1:5; 3:10.

The flock (Study 5). The Lord is the shepherd of His people, Christ is the Good, Great, and Chief Shepherd, and those who lead the church are undershepherds who serve under Him. The study asks what it means to be led, to lead without lording, and to follow the voice of the Shepherd. Main question: Who cares for us, and whose are we? Key passages: Ezekiel 34; John 10; Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5.

The household (Study 6). Strangers have been made members of God’s household, and God has adopted them as sons and daughters. The study asks what it means to belong, to live as brothers and sisters, and to accept the discipline of a Father who loves. Main question: Where do we belong? Key passages: Ephesians 2:19; Galatians 4:4–7; Hebrews 12.

The temple (Study 7). God no longer lives in a building made with hands, but in His people by His Spirit. The study asks what it means to be built on Christ, to be living stones, to be holy, and to build one another up. Main question: Where does God live among us? Key passages: 1 Corinthians 3; Ephesians 2:19–22; 1 Peter 2:4–5.

The vine (Study 8). Israel was a vine that failed, and Christ is the true vine. The study asks what it means to abide in Him, to bear fruit, and to be pruned by the Father, and it asks how the branches belong to one another. Main question: Where does our life come from? Key passages: Isaiah 5; John 15.

The bride (Study 9). The Lord was Israel’s covenant Husband, Jesus came as the Bridegroom, and Christ loves the church and gave Himself for her. The study asks what faithfulness means, and how a congregation lives while it waits for the marriage supper of the Lamb. Main question: How does Christ love us, and how do we answer? Key passages: Hosea 2; Ephesians 5:22–33; Revelation 19.

The priesthood (Study 10). All believers are priests who have access to God through the great High Priest, and who offer spiritual sacrifices. The study asks what it means to worship in daily life and to serve one another and the world. Main question: How do we come to God and serve? Key passages: Exodus 19:5–6; Hebrews 4:14–16; 1 Peter 2:9.

How to Use the Studies

For personal study. Begin with this overview, and then take one picture at a time. Read the key passages slowly, work through the questions, and let the Align and Adjust statements prompt you to ask what in your own life should be kept and what should change.

For a class. Each study can be taught one teaching section to a session. The questions at the end of every section are arranged in four groups: worldview questions about the relationships of believers with one another, discussion questions, analysis questions on the text, and a personal evaluation. A class may use the groups it needs.

For a congregation. The pictures can be taken up one at a time over a year, with each given a season in teaching and worship. A congregation that does this will hear the church described from eight sides, and will find that the sides agree.

A note on order. The studies are numbered in the order they are best read, but each stands alone and can be taken in any order. A reader who is new to the subject may begin with the body, the flock, and the household, which are the most familiar, and then move to the temple, the vine, the bride, and the priesthood. A reader who is interested in the life and work of the church may begin with the fellowship and the priesthood.

How to Read a Picture

Significance. A picture is a figure of speech, and reading it well requires attention to what the writer does with it. The same word may be used in a different way by two writers. The picture should be read in its own context, and its meaning should be allowed to come from what the passage says, not from what the reader imagines about shepherds, vines, or brides.

Principles.

1. Begin with the Old Testament. Almost every New Testament picture of the church has an Old Testament background, and the New Testament writers assume it. A reader who knows Psalm 23, Isaiah 5, and Hosea 2 hears Peter, Jesus, and Paul more clearly.
2. Ask what the writer does with the picture. In Ephesians 5 the marriage picture is used to show Christ’s love for the church. In 1 Corinthians 12 the body picture is used to show the value of every member. The use determines what is intended.
3. Do not press every detail. The shepherd’s picture does not say the church is stupid. The temple picture does not say the church is made of stone. A picture makes a point, and the details that the text does not use should not be forced.
4. Hold the pictures together. No picture is complete. Each says something the others cannot say, and each is limited in what it can say.
5. Let the pictures lead to the person of Christ. Every picture is, at heart, a picture of the relationship of a people to Christ, and the pictures are best read with Christ in view.

For Reflection and Discussion

Worldview Questions

1. Which picture of the church was most prominent in the congregation where you grew up, and what did it leave out?
2. How would your relationships with the people of your congregation change if you thought of them as fellow sheep, fellow stones, or fellow branches?
3. What image of the church do you think people outside your congregation have?

Discussion Questions

1. Why do you think the New Testament gives so many pictures of the church?
2. What is the danger of relying on only one picture?
3. How can a picture be misread?

Analysis Questions

1. Compare how Paul uses the body picture in 1 Corinthians 12 with how Peter uses the house and priesthood pictures in 1 Peter 2.
2. Choose one picture and show how it is rooted in the Old Testament.
3. What principle for reading pictures can be drawn from John 15:1–8?

Personal Evaluation

1. Which picture of the church do you hold most firmly, and which do you need to learn to hold?

The Body of Christ

Of all the images, the body is the most developed and the most distinctly Christian. It appears wherever Paul wants to hold together two truths that pull in opposite directions — that the church is genuinely one, and that it is genuinely many. The word is σῶμα (G4983), the ordinary Greek term for a physical body, which Paul lifts into a description of the corporate life of believers united to Christ.[1]

The clearest statement of the paradox comes to a divided Corinthian congregation:

1 Corinthians 12:12 (NKJV): For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:27 (NKJV): Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.

The logic runs in both directions at once. Because the body is one, no member may be dispensed with or driven out; because the body is many, no member may be uniform with every other. Paul presses each side against a different Corinthian failure — against the member who feels useless (“Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body”), and against the member who feels self-sufficient (“I have no need of you”). The single organism has no room for either despair or contempt.

What makes the members one is not shared temperament or common background but a shared baptism in the Spirit:

1 Corinthians 12:13 (NKJV): For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body — whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free — and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.

The same picture appears in Romans, where Paul draws from it a plain conclusion about how members are to regard one another:

Romans 12:4–5 (NKJV): For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.

In Ephesians and Colossians the image gains a further dimension. The body is not merely an organism; it is an organism with a head, and the head is Christ:

Colossians 1:18 (NKJV): And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

Ephesians 4:15–16 (NKJV): but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head — Christ — from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

Three convictions emerge. First, the church’s unity is organic, not merely organizational — members belong to one another the way a hand belongs to an arm, not the way names belong on a roster. Second, every member is necessary: the argument of 1 Corinthians 12 exists precisely to dignify the parts that seem least impressive. Third, all life and growth flow from the head: the body does not generate its own vitality but receives it from Christ and grows up “into Him.” A congregation formed by this picture will neither tolerate spectators nor idolize its most visible parts; it will expect every joint to supply something, and it will look for its increase to Christ rather than to technique.

The Household and Family of God

If the body speaks of union, the household speaks of belonging. The governing term is οἶκος (G3624), which means both the house as a dwelling and the household as the family that lives in it — and the New Testament exploits both senses.[2] Paul tells Timothy that his very purpose in writing is to shape conduct within this household:

1 Timothy 3:15 (NKJV): but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

The church is “the house of God” — His household, the family that bears His name and lives under His roof. Ephesians makes the same point to Gentile believers who once stood outside, using the related word οἰκεῖος (G3609), a member of a household:

Ephesians 2:19 (NKJV): Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.

The movement of the verse is from exclusion to family membership: not guests, not resident aliens, but household members with a place at the table. This is why the letters so naturally call believers “brethren” — ἀδελφοί (G80), brothers and sisters — hundreds of times.[3] The word is not a formality; it assumes that conversion has made strangers into siblings who share one Father. Paul can therefore reason from the family bond to concrete obligation:

Galatians 6:10 (NKJV): Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.

The household image also carries a note of accountability. A family under one father lives by that father’s order, and Peter can speak of God’s discipline beginning within His own house:

1 Peter 4:17 (NKJV): For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?

Belonging, then, is not sentimental. To be in the household of God is to be genuinely at home — cared for, named, seated among brothers and sisters — and at the same time genuinely under the order of the Father’s house. A congregation shaped by this picture treats its members as family rather than clientele: it practices hospitality, bears one another’s burdens as kin, and holds one another with the affectionate accountability that belongs to a well-ordered home.

A further passage frames the picture:

Galatians 4:4–7 (NKJV): But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

In brief, the central claim of this picture is that believers have been brought by grace into a family, with God as Father and one another as brothers and sisters. The main Greek words are οἶκος (“house, household”), οἰκεῖος (“member of the household”), υἱοθεσία (“adoption as a son”), and ἀδελφός (“brother”).[4] The root is in God’s word to Israel, “Israel is My son, My firstborn” (Exodus 4:22). The household adds belonging: a settled place, a Father who loves and disciplines, and siblings who owe one another love and honor.

The Temple and Building of God

The household is where the family lives; the temple is where God lives. Here two related terms come into play. ναός (G3485) is the sanctuary, the inner dwelling where deity was believed to reside, and Paul uses it to describe what the gathered church has become.[5] οἰκοδομή (G3619) is the building or the act of building it up.[6] To a Corinthian church tempted to treat itself casually, Paul issues a startling reminder:

1 Corinthians 3:16–17 (NKJV): Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

The “you” here is plural: Paul is not yet speaking of the individual believer’s body (that comes in chapter 6) but of the congregation as God’s sanctuary. The Spirit who once filled the tabernacle and the temple now indwells the assembled people, and that indwelling makes the community holy — which is why defiling it is no small matter. The same passage opens with the building under construction:

1 Corinthians 3:9 (NKJV): For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.

Ephesians completes the picture, naming the foundation, the cornerstone, and the ongoing construction:

Ephesians 2:20–22 (NKJV): having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

The chief cornerstone is ἀκρογωνιαῖος (G204), the stone set at the building’s angle to align every course that follows.[7] Everything is measured against Christ. The apostolic and prophetic testimony forms the foundation; the believers are the stones; and — remarkably — the building is not static but “grows,” a living temple still rising. Peter presses the same image and adds that the stones are alive:

1 Peter 2:5 (NKJV): you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Three themes stand out. First, God’s presence now rests on a people rather than a place — the Spirit indwells the community, and that is where God is met. Second, that presence demands holiness; a temple is by definition set apart, and a church that forgets this treats as common what God has made sacred. Third, the temple is built together — no stone is a temple by itself; each is fitted to the others and to the cornerstone. The congregation that grasps this guards its corporate holiness, resists whatever would defile the common life, and understands every act of building one another up as work on the dwelling place of God.

A further passage frames the picture:

1 Peter 2:4–5 (NKJV): Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

In brief, the central claim of this picture is that God now lives among His people by His Spirit, so that the congregation is His temple, built on Christ the cornerstone. The main Greek words are ναός (“temple, sanctuary”), οἰκοδομή (“building” or “building up”), θεμέλιος (“foundation”), and ἀκρογωνιαῖος (“cornerstone”).[8] The root is in the tabernacle (Exodus 25:8), Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 8:10–13), and Isaiah 28:16. The temple adds God’s presence and holiness: the church is the place where God is found, and it is to be kept set apart.

The Flock of God

The pastoral image reaches back through the whole of Scripture — the Lord as the shepherd of Israel, the promised Shepherd of Ezekiel 34, and supremely the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep and gathers “one flock” under “one shepherd” (John 10:16). The Epistles take up this inheritance and apply it directly to the leadership and care of the congregation. The key word is ποίμνιον (G4168), the flock.[9] Peter charges the elders:

1 Peter 5:2–3 (NKJV): Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.

Every phrase guards the flock from a particular danger in its shepherds: reluctance, greed, and domineering. The elders are undershepherds, and their authority is the authority of an example rather than a lord. Their accountability is fixed by the One over them:

1 Peter 5:4 (NKJV): and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.

Two things anchor the image. First, the flock is not the shepherds’ own; it is “the flock of God.” Paul makes the ownership explicit and grounds it in the cross:

Acts 20:28 (NKJV): Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

Second, human shepherds serve beneath a single Chief Shepherd (ἀρχιποίμην). The sheep finally belong to Christ, who bought them, and the elders will answer to Him for their care. The flock image therefore says two things at once to a congregation: leadership is shepherding — patient feeding, guarding, and leading by example, never lording — and the people are sheep who may entrust themselves to that care because behind the undershepherds stands the Shepherd who gave His life for them.

A further passage frames the picture:

John 10:14–16 (NKJV): I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

In brief, the central claim of this picture is that the church is God’s own flock, bought with Christ’s blood and cared for by Christ the Chief Shepherd through undershepherds who serve under Him. The main Greek words are ποίμνιον (“flock”), ποιμήν (“shepherd”), ποιμαίνω (“to shepherd”), and ἀρχιποίμην (“Chief Shepherd”), and the Hebrew roots are צֹאן (“flock”) and רָעָה (“to tend”).[10] The root is in Psalm 23 and Ezekiel 34, where the LORD promises to shepherd His sheep Himself. The flock adds care and dependence: the church is not self-sufficient, and its members are known by name and led. It also adds the idea of leaders who are accountable and who do not own what they tend.

The Fellowship of the Saints

The final image is less a picture than a shared life. The word is κοινωνία (G2842), which the older versions render “fellowship” or “communion” and which means participation together — a common holding, a partnership, a sharing-in.[11] It is more than friendly association; it names the deep mutual participation of those who share the same Christ. Its root is vertical before it is horizontal — first fellowship with God, then fellowship with one another:

1 Corinthians 1:9 (NKJV): God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 John 1:3 (NKJV): that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.

Because believers share in Christ and in His Spirit, they share a common life with each other. John makes the two inseparable:

1 John 1:7 (NKJV): But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Paul appeals to this shared participation as the ground of unity, listing “fellowship of the Spirit” among the deepest motives for a congregation to be of one mind:

Philippians 2:1 (NKJV): Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy.

The same word carries a strongly practical edge. κοινωνία can name the partnership of shared work and the contribution of shared goods — Paul thanks the Philippians for their “fellowship in the gospel” (Philippians 1:5), meaning their partnership in the mission, and elsewhere uses the word group for the offering gathered for the poor. Fellowship, biblically, is never merely a feeling. It is participation that shows itself in shared conviction, shared mission, and shared possessions. A congregation formed by this word will measure its fellowship not by the warmth of its gatherings alone but by the reality of its partnership — in the gospel, in one another’s burdens, and in tangible generosity.

The vocabulary itself rewards close study. Around κοινωνία stands a whole family of words — κοινωνέω (G2841), to share or contribute; κοινωνός (G2844), a partner; συγκοινωνέω (G4790), to share together with — and the companion study Sharing in Common traces each of them through the letters.

The Vine and the Branches

The body pictures union; the vine pictures dependence. This is the one image in the series drawn from the Gospels rather than the letters, but it stands behind everything the Epistles say about life “in Christ.” On the night before His death Jesus took up Israel’s old picture of herself as God’s vine — planted with care, yet so often yielding wild grapes — and claimed it for Himself. The word is ἄμπελος (G288), the vine, and Thayer notes that Christ calls Himself a vine because, “as the vine imparts to its branches sap and productiveness,” He imparts His own life to His followers.[12] The disciples are the κλήματα (G2814), the branches, and the bond between vine and branch is a single verb repeated again and again: μένω (G3306), to abide or remain.[13]

John 15:1 (NKJV): “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.

John 15:4–5 (NKJV): Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

The goal of the vine is fruit, and the fruit glorifies the Father:

John 15:8 (NKJV): By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

And the branches that share one vine are bound to one another by one command:

John 15:12 (NKJV): This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

Three convictions emerge. First, the believer’s life is drawn from Christ moment by moment; “without Me you can do nothing.” Second, the Father is actively tending the vine, pruning the fruitful branches so that they bear more. Third, the vine is never private: every branch draws on the same life, and the evidence of that shared life is fruit and love for the other branches. A congregation formed by this picture will measure itself by fruit rather than activity and will look to its union with Christ, not to its own resources, for anything good it produces.

A further passage frames the picture:

John 15:5 (NKJV): I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

In brief, the central claim of this picture is that Christ is the true vine, and the church lives by abiding in Him and bears fruit by His life. The main Greek words are ἄμπελος (“vine”), κλῆμα (“branch”), καρπός (“fruit”), and μένω (“to remain, to abide”), and the Hebrew words are גֶּפֶן (“vine”) and פְּרִי (“fruit”).[14] The root is in Psalm 80, Isaiah 5, and Hosea 10:1, where Israel is the vine that failed. The vine adds life and dependence: fruit comes from connection to Christ, and the Father prunes the branches so that they bear more.

The Bride of Christ

The vine speaks of dependence; the bride speaks of love. Of all the pictures it is the most intimate, describing the church not by its structure or function but by Christ’s love for it and its devotion to Him. The word is νύμφη (G3565), a bride or betrothed woman.[15] Paul pictures himself as the friend who arranged the match, using ἁρμόζω (G718), to join or betroth:[16]

2 Corinthians 11:2 (NKJV): For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

The love behind the betrothal is the love of the cross, and its aim is a holy bride:

Ephesians 5:25–27 (NKJV): Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

And the story ends with a wedding:

Revelation 19:7–8 (NKJV): Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

The bride image says three things. The church is loved — loved first, and loved at the cost of Christ’s life. The church is called to single-hearted devotion — betrothed to one Husband, and warned that friendship with rival loves is unfaithfulness. And the church lives in expectation — between the betrothal and the wedding, making herself ready. A congregation shaped by this picture will refuse to despise the church Christ cherishes, will guard its first love, and will long for His coming.

A further passage frames the picture:

Revelation 19:7 (NKJV): Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.

In brief, the central claim of this picture is that Christ loves the church with a covenant love, has given Himself for her, and will present her to Himself at the marriage of the Lamb. The main Greek words are νύμφη (“bride”), νυμφίος (“bridegroom”), γάμος (“wedding”), and the Hebrew words כַּלָּה (“bride”) and אָרַשׂ (“to betroth”).[17] The root is in the prophets, where the LORD is the husband of His people (Isaiah 54:5; Hosea 2:19–20). The bride adds love and faithfulness: the church is loved, is called to be faithful to one Husband, and has a joyful future.

The Royal Priesthood

The last picture describes what the people of God do in His presence. In Israel only the family of Aaron served as priests, and only the high priest entered the Most Holy Place. Peter applies to the whole church the calling once given to all Israel at Sinai: every believer is a priest. The word is ἱεράτευμα (G2406), a priesthood or body of priests; Thayer explains that Christians are so called “because they have access to God and offer not external but ‘spiritual’ sacrifices.”[18] Peter has already joined the image to the temple (“a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices,” 1 Peter 2:5), and he extends it to the church’s witness:

1 Peter 2:9 (NKJV): But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

The priest’s first privilege is access, opened to every believer through Christ:

Hebrews 10:19–22 (NKJV): Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

The priest’s work is sacrifice, and the believer’s offering is the whole self:

Romans 12:1 (NKJV): I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

And the priesthood serves one another:

1 Peter 4:10 (NKJV): As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

The priesthood of believers changes the way the church sees itself. It is not a few ministers serving many spectators but a people of ministers gathered around one High Priest. Every believer draws near to God without any mediator but Christ; every believer has offerings to bring — praise, good works, sharing, the whole self; and every believer has a ministry to fellow believers and to the world. Leaders do not replace this priesthood; they equip it.

In brief, the central claim of this picture is that all believers are priests who have access to God through Christ, the great High Priest, and who offer spiritual sacrifices and serve others. The main Greek words are ἱεράτευμα (“priesthood”), ἀρχιερεύς (“high priest”), θυσία (“sacrifice”), and λειτουργία (“service”), and the Hebrew words are כֹּהֵן (“priest”) and מַמְלֶכֶת (“kingdom”).[19] The root is in Exodus 19:5–6. The priesthood adds access and service: every believer may come to God, and every believer is sent to serve.

Synthesis: One Church, Many Pictures

Set side by side, the eight images do not compete; they interlock, each supplying what the others leave unsaid.

The body teaches organic union and mutual necessity — many members, one organism, Christ the head. The household teaches relational belonging — strangers made family, seated in the Father’s house as brothers and sisters. The temple teaches holy indwelling — a people made God’s dwelling place, set apart, built together on the cornerstone. The flock teaches shepherded care — a people purchased by Christ, led and guarded by undershepherds beneath the Chief Shepherd. The fellowship teaches shared participation — a common life in Christ that overflows into shared mission and goods. The vine teaches dependent life — branches that bear fruit only by abiding in Christ. The bride teaches loved devotion — a people loved to the death by Christ and kept for Him alone. And the royal priesthood teaches shared ministry — a people who all draw near to God and all serve.

Certain threads run through them all. Every image is irreducibly corporate: not one of them can be lived alone. A solitary member is a contradiction, a single stone is not a temple, one sheep is not a flock, a branch cut off withers, and there is no fellowship of one. Every image is Christ-centered: He is the head of the body, the cornerstone of the temple, the Chief Shepherd of the flock, the true vine, the Bridegroom, the great High Priest, the Son into whose fellowship believers are called, the Lord whose household they are. Every image is Spirit-indwelt: the one Spirit baptizes into the body, dwells in the temple, and constitutes the fellowship. And every image issues in mutual responsibility: members supply what every joint needs, family members do good to the household, living stones are built together, sheep follow the shepherd’s example, partners share the load, branches love one another, and priests minister to one another.

Behind all eight stands the single reality they were chosen to express — union with the risen Christ. The pictures are the New Testament’s patient way of teaching a congregation to see itself as it truly is: not a voluntary society of like-minded individuals, but the body, the household, the temple, the flock, the fellowship, the branches, the bride, and the priesthood of God.

How the Pictures Work Together

Significance. The pictures answer four questions that every believer asks. Who is Christ to us? Who are we? How do we live? Where is it all going? The pictures answer them from different sides, and the answers agree.

Who is Christ to us? He is the Head of the body, the One in whose fellowship we are called, the Chief Shepherd, the Son over God’s house and the elder brother in the family, the cornerstone and the foundation, the Bridegroom, the true vine, and the great High Priest. Each title says that He is the one on whom the church depends, and that what the church has, it has from Him.

Who are we? We are members of His body, partners in a shared life, His flock, children in His family, stones in His temple, His bride, branches in His vine, and priests in His service. Each description is plural. The church is a people, and the individual believer finds his identity inside it.

How do we live? The members serve one another, the partners share what they have, the flock follows the Shepherd’s voice, the family obeys the Father and loves its brothers and sisters, the temple keeps itself holy and builds one another up, the bride is faithful, the branches abide and bear fruit, and the priests offer sacrifices and serve. The pictures are not suggestions for the spiritual life but descriptions of ordinary Christian conduct.

Where is it going? The body will grow up into the Head, the fellowship will be complete in His presence, the flock will be one under one Shepherd, the family will be in the Father’s house, the temple will be God’s dwelling with men, the bride will be married to the Lamb, the vine will be fruitful, and the priests will reign with Christ.

How the pictures correct each other.

• Flock and priesthood. The flock stresses dependence on shepherds, and the priesthood stresses that every believer has direct access to God. Together they teach that leaders have a real role and that no leader stands between a believer and God.
• Household and temple. The household stresses warm belonging, and the temple stresses God’s holiness. Together they teach that a church is both a home and a sanctuary, and that love and purity are not rivals.
• Vine and bride. The vine stresses life received, and the bride stresses love given. Together they teach that devotion to Christ grows out of union with Him.
• Body and all the others. The body stresses that members are joined to Christ and to one another, and it keeps the other pictures from being read privately.

A comparison.

Picture	Who Christ is	Who we are	Main call	Main root passage
Body	Head	Members	Serve, honor every member	None (a New Testament image)
Fellowship	The Son in whose fellowship we are called	Partners and sharers	Share, give, suffer together	Exodus 16:18
Flock	Chief Shepherd	Sheep	Follow, trust, submit	Ezekiel 34
Household	Son and elder brother; the Father’s love	Children and siblings	Obey, love, accept discipline	Exodus 4:22
Temple	Cornerstone and foundation	Living stones	Be holy, build up	Exodus 25:8
Bride	Bridegroom	Betrothed	Be faithful, be ready	Hosea 2
Vine	True vine	Branches	Abide, bear fruit	Isaiah 5
Priesthood	Great High Priest	Priests	Offer, intercede, serve	Exodus 19:6

For Reflection and Discussion

Worldview Questions

1. Which picture best describes the way you relate to the people of your congregation, and which least?
2. How do the pictures of flock, family, and priesthood together shape how you treat a leader and a fellow member?
3. How would your congregation look different if all eight pictures were held together?

Discussion Questions

1. Which picture adds the most to your understanding of the church, and why?
2. How do holiness and warmth belong together in a congregation?
3. How does each picture make clear that the church depends on Christ?

Analysis Questions

1. Compare John 10:14–16 and John 15:1–5. What do the two “I am” sayings teach together?
2. How do 1 Peter 2:4–5 and 2:9 combine the pictures of temple, priesthood, and nation in one passage?
3. What does the comparison table show about the way each picture relates to Christ?

Personal Evaluation

1. Which picture speaks most to your present need, and which asks the most of you?

For Reflection and Discussion

Discussion Questions

1. Eight pictures were surveyed — body, household, temple, flock, fellowship, vine, bride, and priesthood. Which one most naturally describes how our congregation already thinks of itself, and which one feels most foreign? What might that reveal?
2. Paul argues in 1 Corinthians 12 that the members who feel useless and the members who feel self-sufficient are both mistaken. Where do you see each of those temptations in church life today?
3. To belong to the “household of God” is to be family, not clientele. In practical terms, what is the difference between a church that treats people as family and one that treats them as an audience?
4. The temple image insists that God’s presence now rests on a people and makes that people holy. How should knowing that “you (plural) are the temple of God” change the way a congregation conducts its common life?
5. Peter tells shepherds to lead “not as being lords” but “being examples.” What does example-based leadership look like in contrast to control-based leadership?
6. If every believer is a priest with access to God and a ministry to others, what would change in the way our congregation thinks about leaders and members?

Analysis Questions

1. Each metaphor emphasizes something the others do not. Take any two images (for example, temple and family) and state precisely what each contributes that the other lacks. Why might the New Testament need both?
2. In 1 Corinthians 12:13 the members are made one “by one Spirit… into one body.” Trace how the Spirit functions across the images — in the body, the temple, and the fellowship. What does this suggest about the source of the church’s unity?
3. The building in Ephesians 2:21 “grows,” and the body in Ephesians 4:16 “causes growth of the body… in love.” Compare these two pictures of growth. What kind of growth is in view, and how does it happen?
4. κοινωνία (fellowship) is used both for communion with God and for a financial contribution to the poor. What is lost when “fellowship” is reduced to sociability, and how do the two uses correct one another?
5. In each image, locate where Christ stands — head, cornerstone, Chief Shepherd, true vine, Bridegroom, High Priest, the Son whose fellowship we share. What is the cumulative effect of these placements on how we understand the church’s dependence on Him?
6. The vine stresses dependence (“without Me you can do nothing,” John 15:5) and the bride stresses love (“Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,” Ephesians 5:25). How do these two pictures together correct a church that relies on its own strength?

Personal Evaluation

Honestly, which of these eight pictures describes the way I actually live in this congregation — and which one is God inviting me to enter more fully: to function as a needed member, to belong as family, to be built in as a holy stone, to follow as part of the flock, to share as a true partner, to abide as a fruitful branch, to love Christ as His bride, or to serve as a priest?

Appreciating the Pictures: A Response

The pictures are given to be loved and lived. A congregation can respond in several ways.

1. Teach them in turn. Give each picture a season of study, using the full study for each, and let the congregation hear the church described from each side.
2. Use them in worship. The psalms of the shepherd, the hymns of the vine, the songs of the Lamb and the bride, and the language of the household and priesthood all give worship a larger vocabulary.
3. Let them shape leadership. Leaders who see themselves as undershepherds, stewards of a household, builders in a temple, friends of the bridegroom, and fellow priests will lead with humility.
4. Let them shape membership. A member who sees himself as a sheep, a child, a stone, a branch, and a priest knows that he belongs, depends, and serves.
5. Let them shape discipline and reconciliation. The family disciplines in love, the vine prunes, the temple is kept holy, and the flock is guarded. Correction is for restoration.
6. Let them shape mission. The priesthood proclaims, the flock gathers others, the vine bears fruit, and the temple invites the nations to the place where God is.
7. Let them shape hope. The pictures all end in the presence of God, and the church can face present trouble with that end in view.

One-degree shifts. A member who thinks of the church mainly as a building may begin to greet one person each week as a sibling. A leader who thinks mainly in terms of duties may begin to think of the flock as bought with the Shepherd’s blood. A member who feels outside may remember that the branch is on the vine and not on its own.

For Reflection and Discussion

Worldview Questions

1. Which relationship in your church would change if you treated the other person as a sibling in the household of God?
2. How could your congregation make room for the weak, the new, and the troubled as sheep in the flock?
3. What would it mean for your congregation to be known as a holy and welcoming temple?

Discussion Questions

1. How might a congregation use the eight pictures in its worship and teaching?
2. What do the pictures say about leadership?
3. What do the pictures say about the way a congregation should face suffering?

Analysis Questions

1. Choose two pictures and show how each is fulfilled in Revelation 19–22.
2. How does the New Testament use the same passage of Isaiah or Exodus for more than one picture?
3. What is the relation between the many pictures and the one Christ?

Personal Evaluation

1. Which picture will you take up for a season of study, and what will you ask God to show you from it?

Practical Summary

1. The church is described by many pictures because it is too rich for one.
2. Each picture is rooted in the Old Testament and fulfilled in Christ.
3. The body shows union and interdependence, and calls every member to serve.
4. The fellowship shows a shared life, and calls the church to share, give, and suffer together.
5. The flock shows care and dependence, and calls the church to follow the Shepherd.
6. The household shows belonging, and calls the church to love as a family.
7. The temple shows God’s presence, and calls the church to holiness and edification.
8. The bride shows Christ’s love, and calls the church to faithfulness.
9. The vine shows life, and calls the church to abide and bear fruit.
10. The priesthood shows access, and calls the church to worship and service.
11. The pictures are plural, and leave no room for a solitary Christian.
12. The pictures end in the presence of God, and give hope for the present.

An Invitation

The pictures are not meant only to be studied. They are meant to be lived. A member serves, a partner shares, a sheep follows, a child belongs, a stone is built into the wall, a branch abides, a bride is faithful, and a priest serves. As you read, ask which of these is the next step for you and for your congregation.

Pictures of the Church is part of a larger set of studies on the unity and life of the body of Christ. May the Lord use them to deepen love for Him, for His church, and for one another.

A Note on Sources

Scripture is quoted from the New King James Version, with each reference given in full. Greek terms appear in the original script; the Strong’s number in parentheses is a lookup aid only, never the source of a definition. Lexical glosses are drawn from standard reference works — Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon, Vine’s Expository Dictionary, and the Liddell-Scott-Jones lexicon — and are cited by word (s.v.) rather than page. Thayer’s entries for the vine, bride, and priesthood sections were consulted through Bible Hub, and the Scripture in those sections should be proofread against a printed NKJV before the material is taught. Definitions that would benefit from confirmation in BDAG or TDNT are marked accordingly and should be verified against those works before the material is taught. No citation, quotation, or reference in this study has been invented; where a source could not be independently confirmed, the point rests on the biblical text itself. The studies are written for adult learners in a congregation, and they are built on the text of Scripture. Statements about what scholars hold are widely known positions, and they are flagged as such in the footnotes. Each full study ends with a bibliography in three tiers that tells the reader which sources were consulted directly and which were not.

Bibliography

Directly Retrieved/Verified This Session

No source was retrieved for the overview portions of this study. It rests on the nine studies that follow it, which themselves note any lexical entries that were retrieved, including Thayer’s entries consulted through Bible Hub.

Located Only Through Secondary Summary

No source is listed in this tier.

Not Directly Consulted This Session

Danker, Frederick W., ed. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (BDAG). 3rd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000.

Kittel, Gerhard, and Gerhard Friedrich, eds. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964–1976.

Silva, Moisés, ed. New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2014.

Koehler, Ludwig, and Walter Baumgartner. The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (HALOT). Leiden: Brill, 1994–2000.

The commentaries and works named in the footnotes of the other nine studies.

Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The quotations were supplied from memory and should be verified against the printed text before use in teaching.

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[1] Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon, s.v. σῶμα (Strong’s #G4983), “the body… used of a (large or small) number of men closely united into one society, or family as it were; a social, ethical, mystical body”; so of the church as the body of Christ. Confirm in BDAG before teaching.

[2] Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon, s.v. οἶκος (Strong’s #G3624), “a house… the inmates of a house, the family; the family of God, of the Christian Church.” Confirm in BDAG before teaching.

[3] Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, s.v. “Brother,” ἀδελφός (Strong’s #G80), used of fellow believers as members of one spiritual family.

[4] The glosses of οἶκος, οἰκεῖος, υἱοθεσία, and ἀδελφός are standard, given from general knowledge, and should be confirmed in BDAG. See The Household and Family of God.

[5] Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon, s.v. ναός (Strong’s #G3485), “the sanctuary… used of the temple; metaphorically of a company of Christians, a Christian church, as dwelt in by the Spirit of God.” Confirm in BDAG before teaching.

[6] Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, s.v. “Build, Building,” οἰκοδομή (Strong’s #G3619), “the act of building,” and metaphorically the church as God’s building and the edification of believers.

[7] Liddell-Scott-Jones, s.v. ἀκρογωνιαῖος (Strong’s #G204), “at the extreme corner,” the cornerstone that sets the alignment of a building; applied to Christ in Ephesians 2:20 and 1 Peter 2:6.

[8] The glosses of ναός, οἰκοδομή, θεμέλιος, and ἀκρογωνιαῖος are standard and are given from general knowledge. See The Temple and Building of God, where Thayer’s entries for several of these words are noted.

[9] Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon, s.v. ποίμνιον (Strong’s #G4168), “a flock (little flock)… metaphorically, the body of Christians, the church.” Confirm in BDAG before teaching.

[10] The lexical glosses of ποίμνιον, ποιμήν, ποιμαίνω, and ἀρχιποίμην and of the Hebrew צֹאן and רָעָה are standard and are given from general knowledge. They should be confirmed in BDAG and HALOT. See the study The Flock of God for the fuller treatment.

[11] Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, s.v. “Communion, Fellowship,” κοινωνία (Strong’s #G2842), “a having in common, partnership, fellowship,” used of participation with God and with fellow believers, and of a contribution shared for others.

[12] Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon, s.v. ἄμπελος (Strong’s #G288), “a vine”; on John 15, Christ so calls Himself because “as the vine imparts to its branches sap and productiveness,” so He imparts His life to His followers. Confirm in BDAG before teaching.

[13] Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon, s.v. κλῆμα (Strong’s #G2814), “a tender and flexible branch; specifically, the shoot or branch of a vine,” used only in John 15:2–6; and s.v. μένω (Strong’s #G3306), of mutual indwelling: “one is said μένειν in Christ… and conversely Christ… μένειν in one” (John 15:4). Confirm in BDAG before teaching.

[14] The glosses of ἄμπελος, κλῆμα, καρπός, μένω, גֶּפֶן, and פְּרִי are standard, given from general knowledge, and should be confirmed in BDAG and HALOT. See The Vine and the Branches.

[15] Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon, s.v. νύμφη (Strong’s #G3565), “a betrothed woman, a bride,” citing John 3:29; Revelation 21:2, 9; 22:17. Confirm in BDAG before teaching.

[16] Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon, s.v. ἁρμόζω (Strong’s #G718), “to join, to fit together,” and in the marriage sense “to betroth,” citing 2 Corinthians 11:2. Confirm in BDAG before teaching.

[17] The glosses of νύμφη, νυμφίος, γάμος, כַּלָּה, and אָרַשׂ are standard, given from general knowledge, and should be confirmed in BDAG and HALOT. See The Bride of Christ.

[18] Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon, s.v. ἱεράτευμα (Strong’s #G2406), “the office of a priest” and “the body of priests,” on 1 Peter 2:5. Confirm in BDAG before teaching.

[19] The glosses of ἱεράτευμα, ἀρχιερεύς, θυσία, λειτουργία, כֹּהֵן, and מַמְלֶכֶת are standard, given from general knowledge, and should be confirmed in BDAG and HALOT. See The Royal Priesthood.