What Makes A Church - A Real Spiritual Church Of God?

CallingInTheDesert said:

The set identifier is that the churches need to teach salvation by grace by the Truth, but this is where the churches are all messed up. Most have some truth to proclaim, but they are also teaching and preaching lies as well - which end up nullifying each other. Without God's full Truth, there will be no unity between or in the churches.

All these things you mention are trivial things of God's Truth. Some churches have made these things into one of their idols, others have decided to not believe in them at all. These things might be part of God's Truth, but most often people are missing the big picture by not coming to God's fuller Truth, which is all about Love, Knowledge of God (Truth), obedience to the Truth in Love, and everything being for God's glory and not theirs.

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Amen. If we center our faith on Christ, we can never go wrong. It is unfortunate that many don't teach that.

ViaCrucis said:

In theory, then, a cook out with grandpa, my uncle, and my cousins would constitute having church? Or does there need to be something more than just Christians in relative proximity to one another?

Why do we gather? Why do we come together?

Is it simply a social function, or does something actually transpire when the Faithful come together in the name of Christ?

My vote is the latter. Hence why I said without Word and Sacrament we don't have church. Without the purpose of gathering, it's just social niceties.

-CryptoLutheran

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Well said.

Christ said "where two or more are gathered in my name, there I am with them". He didn't say "where two or more are gathered in my name that's 'church'". The assumption is that this gathering is already happening within a church setting.

And I agree with you on the point that the Sacraments are an imperative facet of Church.

truth does not need protection, truth can not be destroyed. lies need to stop being protected, lies need to be destroyed. we have to let go or we will never see the beautiful hands that God created, we will be grasping onto things designed for men and not men for them.

I see what you're saying, the truth endures by nature of being the truth.

If truth didn't need to be protected then those pesky heresies that cropped up in the first millennium of the church (and tend to crop up again every now and then) would just wither out on their own rather than be addressed directly.

I would say that the truth incinerates all those false doctrines. the key is being united to the truth who is God Himself. it is true we are put in this world to change it. bad doctrines come out of the evil in peoples hearts, this is a problem that each of us must deal with. I would not so much say "protect truth" as if it is we who protect truth but rather 'truth protects us.' we have to speak the truth in the Spirit of truth which is active and moving. if we defend truth in any kind of worldly manner, we too become guilty of distorting truth. a huge problem for us can be in between understanding what ways are worldly and what ways are of God when we ourselves are in a struggle with the flesh nature.

many good teachers have come and gone over the 2000 years or so but we must not forget that their words too are subject to distortion just as much as they are subject to helping us. anyone who does not understand that we interpret truth when we read or learn of it is at a disadvantage. we have to become spiritual to dwell in truth. we have to get rid of the dross and get the nasty weeds out of our own heart and then there will be all the more room for the kingdom of heaven to grow and it will then be able to support many birds. without God we fail at all things. it is not us who build God temples, it is God who builds us.

so yeah... we protect truth when we are beside Christ as his bride.

CallingInTheDesert said:

So, where is this ONE church? Is this ONE church leading the other churches into the Truth, or is it sitting on the sidelines and watching the corrupted truth destroy people?

I know the ONE true church is in the hearts of righteous men, but where are they in protecting and proclaiming God's real Truth?

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Sadly, many people do not care about the truth. The truth angers them because they are forced to look at themselves and provoked to make changes.

Many seek a "feel good" religion to satisfy their itching ears. Their belief's are based off emotion and not truth.

3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. - 2 Timothy 4:3-4

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If you were Satan how would you keep people from finding the one true church?

Imagine this with me. If I took a quarter and marked it with an "X" then tossed it on the floor. Knowing what a quarter is and looks like you could easily identify it and pick it up. Now let's say I dump 38,000+ quarters on top of it (number of estimated denominations) and told you to pick up the quarter with the "X" on it, how easy would it be to find that quarter with the "X" on it?

29 I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. - Acts 20:29,30

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These verses in Acts (cf. 2 Thess 2:1-4; 1 Tim 4:1-3) make it clear that an apostate church would grow out of the true church.








I'd like to offer some examples that we can see today in our time. Let's look at some of the titles used today:

1. "Reverend" - The word reverend is found only one time in the English translation of the Bible; however it is found many times in the original language. But it is not used as a title for man. For a person to apply this as a title to himself when the Holy Spirit never used the word in this manner is to be guilty of perverting the Word. There is no mention in the Scriptures of "Reverend Paul," "Right Reverend James" and "The Right Reverend Peter." They looked upon themselves as weak creatures, needing the help of God, and refused "to glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Galatians 6:14).
2. "Pastor" - The minister or evangelist of the church is not a pastor unless he has been appointed to "the office of a bishop," overseer or elder. The New Testament provides for a plurality of bishops, overseers, elders or pastors in each congregation (Acts 14:23). These terms, as used in the New Testament, all refer to the same position. (Qualifications can be found in 1 Timothy 3:2-7 and Titus 1:6-9)
3. "Father" - This word is often used as a religious title in direct opposition to the teaching of Christ: "And call no man your father on the earth for one is your Father, he who is in heaven" (Matt. 23:9). This is speaking of a religious usage rather than a physical relationship, because the Holy Spirit often uses the word "father" in speaking of one's parents. Isn't it strange that millions will use a title that is positively forbidden by Christ?!

Let's take a look at organization in view of ecclesiasticisms.

1. The denominations are ruled by their ecclesiastical forms of government. They have ignored the head of the church and have assumed the right of self-government. They confess with the mouth that Christ has "all authority," but the heart is far from it and is set on a democratic form of government. Therefore, we hear much of "synods," "presbyteries," " councils," "general assemblies" and "conferences." In these delegations men legislate rules and laws to govern the various ecclesiasticisms.
2. This power to legislate was never given to any group of uninspired men. No group of men has authority from the Bible to decide how many times a year the Lord's supper is to be taken, to change the act of baptism, or to make any other changes in the divine order. Any man who has assumed the authority to change the government of the church or the laws given by the apostles has rebelled against Christ, the head and supreme authority.

Listen to Paul, "18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything." - Colossians 1:18

And again, "22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all." - Ephesians 1:22,23

I'd like to offer a few quotes....

• Martin Luther (founder of the Lutheran church): “I pray you leave my name alone. Do not call yourselves Lutherans, but Christians.”
  [*]John Wesley (founder of the Methodist church): “I wish the name Methodist might never be mentioned again, but lost in eternal oblivion.”
  [*]Charles Spurgeon (famous Baptist preacher): “I say of the Baptist name, let it perish, but let Christ’s name last forever. I look forward with pleasure to the day when there will not be a Baptist living.”
  [*]Paul, the apostle:“Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?” - 1 Corinthians 1:12-13

I believe in my other post I listed some identifiers of the one true church in addition to some links pointing to a better explanation of the one church that Jesus built.

There are many men who proclaim and defend the whole truth. But there are many more teachers of half truths who satisfy itching ears.

If you would like to hear some of these men who proclaim and defend all the truth visit:

The Gospel Broadcasting Network
gbntv.org

It's a 24/7 live feed of these proclaimers and defenders.

If you would like further help in identifying the one church that Jesus built visit this article:

christiancourier.com/articles/470-identifying-the-church-of-the-new-testament

It apparently never occurs to many that there is a solution to religious division. It is possible to return to the source of the pure spiritual refreshment (God’s Word), therefrom to slake the spiritual thirst. - Wayne Jackson, Christian Courier​

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CallingInTheDesert said:

It seems that men keep on desiring to go back to the law instead of dying to themselves and the law and becoming one with Christ.

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Which law are you referring to?


Keep in mind that sectarianism is carnal. And that to be carnal is to not be spiritual. Here is what Paul wrote to the church at Corinth.

3 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; 3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? 4 For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal? - 1 Corinthians 3:1-3

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