The word Ekklesia, translated as “church” in English Bibles, especially in the King James Version, carries a much deeper and more powerful meaning than a religious gathering or building. In its original Greek context, ekklesia referred to a governing assembly—citizens of a city authorized make decisions that shaped public policy. It was a political term, not a religious one, used in ancient Athens and other Greek city-states to describe legislative bodies.

When Jesus said in Matthew 16:18, “I will build my Ekklesia,” He didn’t say synagogue or temple. He was declaring His intent to raise up a ruling body of believers—empowered to represent Heaven’s government on earth. His ekklesia would operate with Kingdom authority, binding and loosing, stewarding spiritual and societal transformation.

However, during the translation of the Bible under King James I in 1611, the word ekklesia was deliberately mistranslated as “church.” Historical records suggest King James instructed the translators to us “church” to maintain the authority of the institutional Church of England. “Church,” derived from the Old English cirice or kirk, referred to a building or religious structure, not a governing assembly. This shift gutted Jesus’ original intent for His followers.

Restoring the original meaning of ekklesia reveals a radical calling for believers—but to function as Heaven’s ambassadors on earth.

What puts real fear in to the forces of darkness is that Jesus established the authority of the ekklesia in groups as small as two or three. Matthew 18:18 says, “If two of you on earth agree bout anything you ask for it will be done by Father in heaven.” Every school, office, business, factory, neighborhood, city and state needs an ekklesia that shuts the gates to promoters of evil and establishes the peace and goodness of Jesus’ kingdom on earth.