Where did the Body of Christ begin ?

But to Abraham was given the promise for us, the seed which was to come.

hismessenger

The Husband (Christ) is the Head of His Wife, the "Church".
She is the Heavenly Jerusalem Bride that was Promised to be redeemed back to Her widowed and divorced Husband as per all the prophets foretold and the Law itself foretold.
Christ with this "Jerusalem from above" wife, have been producing Israelite Sons of God for 2000 years now, fulfilling the O.T. Prophecies of Israel saved.

That is the Gospel.

So easy and of such joyful Blessings!

May all be so Blessed with the Simplicity in the Gospel of our dear Jesus,
Son of Israel

Act 15:14Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.

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A gentile saved by grace was Abraham so it began with the promise to Abraham about the seed who was Christ and Christ in us the church made up of all tongues, nations and kindred. It was at one time a mystery but has been revealed so now we as His children ought to be able to see the truth set before us in His word.

hismessenger

oops!

Hismessenger said:

A gentile saved by grace was Abraham so it began with the promise to Abraham about the seed who was Christ and Christ in us the church made up of all tongues, nations and kindred. It was at one time a mystery but has been revealed so now we as His children ought to be able to see the truth set before us in His word.

hismessenger

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I do not think it is accurate to say Abraham was a gentile. Here is the reason for that in bullet points.

• All the earth was overspread by the 3 sons of Noah after the flood
• They were Shem, Ham, and Japheth
• After the judgment of the tower of Babel some 250 years after the flood, Shem migrated east, Ham to the south, and Japheth to the west.
• God determined this for them, see Acts 17:22-31 (God lives in the North and it is not habitable for humans)
• That makes Japheth to be the western nations, by and large.
• Abrahamic tribes are called Shemites
• Abraham was a son of Shem

Now, pay attention to the table of nations in Genesis 10. We will look at Japheth only for now.

1 Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood. 2 The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. 3 And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah. 4 And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. 5 By these (sons of Japheth) were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.

In the NT, Paul said he was sent specifically to the gentiles. One need only to look in scripture to see where he went and it will give a good indication who the gentiles were. You will need to see this in writing:

Ac 22:21 And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.

Apostle means "sent one".

Ro 11:13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:

In the very beginning of his ministry, he was looking east to the Asians and God sent him west, and yea, he went on three missionaries journeys, not east, north, or south, but west. The gospel has always gone west.

6 Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, 7 After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not. 8 And they passing by Mysia came down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, (Europe) and help us. 10 And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.

When the gospel exceeded the bounds of the Jews, it went to Samaria in Acts 8, Shemites, and to an Ethiopian eunuch later in Acts 8, a Hamite, but it went to Cornelius in Acts 10 and this is what is said.

16 Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. 17 Forasmuch then as God gave them (the household of Cornelius) the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God? 18 When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.
This is after the Semetic Samaritans and the Hamitic Eunuch in Acts 8 had been saved, but these westerners in Acts 10 were gentiles. I am not guessing because the text says it. Peter said this a few years later at the Jerusalem counsel regarding the gentiles and he said the beginning of their conversion was the incident in Acts 10, which he references in this defense: Pay close attention.

Acts 15:6 And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter. 7 And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. (A reference to his dealing with Cornelius in Acts 10) 8 And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them (the gentiles) the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; 9 And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.

Paul said this is God opening the door of faith to them:

12 Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them. 13 And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: 14 Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. 15 And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, 16 After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: 17 That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. 18 Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. 19 Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God:


Ac 14:27 And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he (God) had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.

There is no way Abraham could be a gentile.
He was a Shemite.
He lived in the East.

Non Jews are sometimes referred to as gentiles but technically, the western Japhetic nations are gentiles.

I hope this helps to clear this up soon because I have seen this claim many times without addressing it.

Now, this is just the tip of the iceberg of my argument, so to speak, and I can continue with this theme and make the truths I am preaching so clear for anyone who will believe the bible literally, that they can not deny them, and would not if they could. I am not going to right now. I am waiting to see if there is any interest in right division first.

Gentiles:
(Heb., usually in plural, goyim), meaning in general all nations except the Jews. In course of time, as the Jews began more and more to pride themselves on their peculiar privileges, it acquired unpleasant associations, and was used as a term of contempt.
In the New Testament the Greek word Hellenes, meaning literally Greek (as in Act 16:1,3; 18:17; Rom 1:14), generally denotes any non-Jewish nation.

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When did the Jewish nation begin. Was it not at the calling of Abraham and wouldn't that make them also gentiles before they were chosen. This is the irony of the Jews for Christ told them that they were once strangers in the land which they did not understand but in fact and in truth, the ones whom they came to despise were the very people they came from. The scripture is simple and straight forward. It wasn't talking about the new testament gentiles but truly showing them that they were no better than their brothers from which they came. They were all from the same blood line of Noah. God chose one sect of Noah's offspring and made them His people but they could not see the relationship to this truth.

hismessenger

Even until now!

hismessenger

So the truth is before you. Since Abraham was a Shemite and now He is the father of the nation Israel, what does that make the Shemites? The answer goes back to where I began with Acts 15:14 Since they are not Jews, they are considered gentiles since this is the term for all who are not called of God.

hismessenger

Hismessenger said:

But to Abraham was given the promise for us, the seed which was to come.

hismessenger

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Heb 11:1-38 notice the acts of faith and of whom

then read heb 11:39-40 .... US

Anyone who claims that Paul was superior to Cephas [and by implication James and John] are in Paul's own words mere men of flesh, babes in Christ, unskilled in handling strong meat but needing still to be fed milk .
*
1 Cor.2:12-13
Now this I say that everyone of you says I am of Paul or I am of Apollos and I of Cephas or I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were you baptised into the name of Paul?
1 Cor.3:4
For while one saith I am of Paul and another I am of Apollos are ye not carnal?

TehMill said:

Anyone who claims that Paul was superior to Cephas [and by implication James and John] are in Paul's own words mere men of flesh, babes in Christ, unskilled in handling strong meat but needing still to be fed milk .
*
1 Cor.2:12-13
Now this I say that everyone of you says I am of Paul or I am of Apollos and I of Cephas or I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were you baptised into the name of Paul?
1 Cor.3:4
For while one saith I am of Paul and another I am of Apollos are ye not carnal?

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Hi Tehmil , and lets see what 2 Peter 3:15-16 has to say about Paul !!

In verse 15 , Peter says that our bother Paul has written to unto you and I believe that it is the book of Hebrews .

Then in verse 16 , Peter says that what Paul has written some things are HARD to understand ;

And you do not understand Paul , you are Un-learned ;
And you are Un-stable ;
And you will twist the scripture , unto your own destruction .

So , it pays to be Pauline !!!

When did the Body of Christ begin.

It could not begin until the work of Jesus on the Cross was accomplished and He was resurrected.

The Body of Christ consist of those at any given time since then of those who are born again.

The first ones to have that honor were the 11 Apostles.

It happened here:

John 20:22
And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
KJV

Optimax said:

When did the Body of Christ begin.

It could not begin until the work of Jesus on the Cross was accomplished and He was resurrected.

The Body of Christ consist of those at any given time since then of those who are born again.

The first ones to have that honor were the 11 Apostles.

It happened here:

John 20:22
And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
KJV

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Hi Optimax , and where in John 20:22 do you believe that the Body of Christ is mentioned , since Paul is the FIRST Apostle to write ABOUT the Body of Christ !!!!

Is there any other verses where John wrote about the Body of Christ ???

dan p

dan p said:

Hi Optimax , and where in John 20:22 do you believe that the Body of Christ is mentioned , since Paul is the FIRST Apostle to write ABOUT the Body of Christ !!!!

Is there any other verses where John wrote about the Body of Christ ???

dan p

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When a person receives the Holy Spirit they are born again.

The Body of Christ are those on earth who are born again(saved).

The 11 were the first to be born again(saved) after the resurrection.

Paul revealed the truth of the Body of Christ with what He wrote, however it existed before.

Soon after the day of Pentecost was fully come. Peter preached and about 3,000 were saved.

The body of Christ is built on the foundation of Jesus and the disciples.

Therefore the body of Christ began when Jesus declared, "on this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it". (matt 16)

If the body of Christ began with the disciples, where from come the twenty four elders. A clue- by faith the were called.

hismessenger

LovedofHim said:

The body of Christ is built on the foundation of Jesus and the disciples.

Therefore the body of Christ began when Jesus declared, "on this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it". (matt 16)

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Hi LoveofHim , Paul in 1 Cor 3:10 says , He laid the foundation !!!

Can you believe that there are 2 foundations , One for Israel and One for the Body of Christ !!

Can you explain this ?? dan p

Speak to the rock. Old testament foundational teaching. Christ was there, yet to be manifested in the flesh.

hismessenger

Grace believer-saints have the heavenly places as our target as we perform God's business on this earth in order to repossess the evil angelic realm back to God. The Body of Christ is that mystery revealed of God - Romans 16:25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began. The Body of Christ did not begin with Peter, Romans 16:25 was not given to Peter to preach, Peter was a minister to known Prophecy for Israel: Peter was not give the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began. The Body of Christ only began after God revealed the mystery of the body and the Church, which is His body, and Christ the head of the Church.