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a
church...the church...or THE CHURCH?
It seems to me that Christian local church members
have a hard time remembering the distinctions in this arena of discussion...do some even
know? How many are not yet "born again" (indwelt by the Holy Spirit), "new creation" (the saved) members of THE CHURCH (see chart, below)?
And, keep in mind that Jesus is the bridegroom; and THE CHURCH is His bride [see DaVinci got it right!]. Will you do all
that you are able to do..."be" The Church...in order that you reflect the love of Jesus and act as salt and light
that might draw more into decisions to "join" THE CHURCH? I've listed some comparisons,
prompted by a book by H. Wayne House, Charts of Christian Theology and Doctrine, Zondervan
Publishing House, 1992. This (THE CHURCH) is different from that body of "the chosen of God",
The Kingdom of God. Paul spoke
often against disunity of the local church (II Corinthians 5:16), the spiritual THE CHURCH
not being prone to disunity.
THE CHURCH...this is the entire & universal body of
those believers saved (more) by
their personal relationship to Jesus the Christ. It is the mystical Body of Christ of which Jesus is the
head (Ephesians 1:22-23), being a "holy temple" for the habitation of God through the Holy
Spirit. It began on the Day of Pentecost with the arrival of the Holy Spirit, through whom
the church would be formed into one body by the baptism of the Spirit into each new true believer. All
other "churches" are man's best effort to a greater or lesser degree, and you can find
timelines at "tredway" (from ancient to medieval to reformation and to modern times). With
these timelines, one can easily see that there were many opportunities for various church
histories to bypass the Church at Rome (the Catholic Church), historically. The seven churches
of the book of Revelation were all in modern day Turkey. The churches Paul speaks of were from
west of Turkey (above the north-east corner of the Mediterranean Sea) all the way westward to
Rome, Italy.
| |
a church (the building) |
the (a local) church body |
THE
CHURCH
(bride of Christ) |
| 1. Is there physical structure? |
yes, a building only |
people plus the building |
no (just true believers, both alive & deceased) |
| 2. Is it influenced by "man"? How about Satan? |
yes |
yes, both |
yes to both, people; no to both, souls
|
| 3. membership composition, re: salvation? |
no members |
saved and lost (wheat & tares) |
saved only
|
| 4. membership duration? |
n/a |
only the living |
both the living and dead in Christ, eternal |
| 5. number of distinct units? |
great numbers |
great numbers of units & denominations |
only a single, universal group
|
| 6. has factions, groups, denominations? |
n/a |
many |
only a single, universal group
|
| 7. Is it the Body of Christ? |
n/a |
partly |
entirely & is the Bride of Jesus |
| 8. type of government? |
n/a |
varied |
Jesus the only HEAD |
| 9. administers care and fellowship? |
n/a |
yes, partly |
yes, mostly
|
| 10. spreads the Gospel? |
n/a |
yes, should be chief function |
is the RESULT of "yes" decisions on hearing the Gospel |
| 11. status of ordinances? |
n/a |
ministers to members |
fulfilled in members |
***Discussion: Christ's
Church***
***give me your comments about this
page***
check out the Highest
TRUTH
[posted 29 July 1998; lastest adjustment 2 Jan
2016]
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