Church or Bride of Christ/Living Stones
Jul 29, 2023 2:44:23 GMT -5
Post by Radrook Admin on Jul 29, 2023 2:44:23 GMT -5
The Church or Bride of Christ/Living Stones
It doesn't take very long for persons who sincerely wish to serve God by becoming Christians, to realize that there are a lot of people calling themselves Christians who are not really Christians.
But this should not come as a surprise since The book of Jude tells us that this phenomenon was to be expected.
Jude 1:
4 For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
4 For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
Also Jesus tells us that the Devil sows weed among the wheat. However, the church of Christ is compared to a virgin.
2 Corinthians 11:2
For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy; for I have espoused you to one Husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
Ephesians 5:27
So that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy; for I have espoused you to one Husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
Ephesians 5:27
So that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
In other words, God does not consider such immoral persons as part of his symbolic, chaste bride, because they disqualify themselves via their evil unrepentant comportment.
In short, Christ's Church is not a building, nor any visible organization per se. God's Church, or the Bride of Christ, is composed of individuals whom Jesus chooses from among mankind, because they have chosen to manifest a Christ-like personality.
In contrast, these others, who go about committing and approving immorality, are identifying themselves with God's enemy Satan
John 8:44-45
44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
1 Peter 2:4–5
4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
These others who reject God's moral standards automatically disqualify themselves:
Matthew 7:16 ►
By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
Matthew 7:21 ►
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
Matthew 7:21 ►
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.