THREE QUESTIONS
1. What does it mean to be "in Christ?"
2 Corinthians 5:17.... "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."
2. Can one be "in Christ" and not be in the "body of Christ?"
Romans 12:4,5.....
"For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another."
Romans 16:7.... "Greet Andronicus and Junia, my countrymen and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me."
Galatians 3:26-28.... "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave not free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (The baptism spoken of here is defined in 1Corinthians 12:13).
In 1 John 1:1-3 John declares that which he personally saw and heard to those who received his epistle. He states that he wrote these things in order that they (and we) "...also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ."
The word "fellowship" here is the same word as found in 1 Corinthians 10:16, translated "communion," and is the Greek word koinonia, the definition of which is: a joint participation with someone else, in things held in common by both.
Kenneth Wuest translates this verse: "The cup of the blessing [which our Lord consecrated by giving thanks] which we consecrate with prayer, is it not a symbol of our joint-participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a symbol of our joint-participation in the body of Christ?"
3. Can one be "in Christ" and a joint participant in the blood and body of the Lord Jesus Christ and not be in the Body/Church?
John goes on (in 1 John 5:11-13) to state that "He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God."
Every genuine believer may know that he or she has, as their present possession, eternal life.
Verse 20 of the same chapter states that John and other believers "...are in Him that is true, (even) in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life."
These scriptures are totally incompatible with the teaching of Grace School Of The Bible, of Bloomingdale, IL, that none of the twelve Apostles were in the Body of Christ, and that the books of Hebrews through Revelation are not to be understood as applicable to those who are in the Body Church, but are reserved for the Millenium.
Unless one is committed to a position that would be impossible to support if these scriptures are taken at face value, how can these folks ignore or explain away these truths? The old saw "dont confuse me with the facts" comes to mind.
Unfortunately, whether deliberately or not, the positions of G.S.O.T.B. play right into the teachings of those who are anti-Semitic and white-supremacist, both of which positions are completely contrary to Scripture. See Romans 9:1-5 and Numbers 12.
Recently, the pastor of a local church here on the Big Island of Hawaii has stated that he does not believe that the Church/Body of Christ is now in existence, but that it is "...in prospect..." i.e. not now in existence, but to come.
If one takes the plain words of scripture referenced above, one can only come to the conclusion that anyone not now in the Church/Body of Christ, is not a genuine Christian at all. That one may have an intellectual appreciation of the Bible, but if he/she is not now a member of the organism (not organization) known as the Body of Christ, the Church, or the Bride of Christ, that mental assent will prove to be insufficient in the Day of Christ.
Shalom... WAB
1. What does it mean to be "in Christ?"
2 Corinthians 5:17.... "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."
2. Can one be "in Christ" and not be in the "body of Christ?"
Romans 12:4,5.....
"For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another."
Romans 16:7.... "Greet Andronicus and Junia, my countrymen and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me."
Galatians 3:26-28.... "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave not free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (The baptism spoken of here is defined in 1Corinthians 12:13).
In 1 John 1:1-3 John declares that which he personally saw and heard to those who received his epistle. He states that he wrote these things in order that they (and we) "...also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ."
The word "fellowship" here is the same word as found in 1 Corinthians 10:16, translated "communion," and is the Greek word koinonia, the definition of which is: a joint participation with someone else, in things held in common by both.
Kenneth Wuest translates this verse: "The cup of the blessing [which our Lord consecrated by giving thanks] which we consecrate with prayer, is it not a symbol of our joint-participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a symbol of our joint-participation in the body of Christ?"
3. Can one be "in Christ" and a joint participant in the blood and body of the Lord Jesus Christ and not be in the Body/Church?
John goes on (in 1 John 5:11-13) to state that "He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God."
Every genuine believer may know that he or she has, as their present possession, eternal life.
Verse 20 of the same chapter states that John and other believers "...are in Him that is true, (even) in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life."
These scriptures are totally incompatible with the teaching of Grace School Of The Bible, of Bloomingdale, IL, that none of the twelve Apostles were in the Body of Christ, and that the books of Hebrews through Revelation are not to be understood as applicable to those who are in the Body Church, but are reserved for the Millenium.
Unless one is committed to a position that would be impossible to support if these scriptures are taken at face value, how can these folks ignore or explain away these truths? The old saw "dont confuse me with the facts" comes to mind.
Unfortunately, whether deliberately or not, the positions of G.S.O.T.B. play right into the teachings of those who are anti-Semitic and white-supremacist, both of which positions are completely contrary to Scripture. See Romans 9:1-5 and Numbers 12.
Recently, the pastor of a local church here on the Big Island of Hawaii has stated that he does not believe that the Church/Body of Christ is now in existence, but that it is "...in prospect..." i.e. not now in existence, but to come.
If one takes the plain words of scripture referenced above, one can only come to the conclusion that anyone not now in the Church/Body of Christ, is not a genuine Christian at all. That one may have an intellectual appreciation of the Bible, but if he/she is not now a member of the organism (not organization) known as the Body of Christ, the Church, or the Bride of Christ, that mental assent will prove to be insufficient in the Day of Christ.
Shalom... WAB
