Christ and His Church
This article briefly explains the unique relationship that exists between Jesus Christ and His church which He calls His body and bride.
Jesus said He came to the earth to bear witness to the truth of His kingship. He came the first time to call and make a people for the kingdom and He is coming the second time to rule and reign:
Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice” (Mathew 18:37).
No king exists without a kingdom. It is therefore appropriate that in His first advent His priority be, to call and prepare a people for the Kingdom.
Jesus knew very well God has given Him the kingdom and therefore came to earth to share the prosperity of His kingdom with mankind:
“And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me” (Luke 22:29).
Here is what the prophet Daniel had to say about the Messianic Kingdom:
“And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever” (Daniel 2:44; cf. 7:24).
At the heart of Jesus’ doctrine is the arrival of the kingdom which He said is initiated by His presence. The Kingdom of God is the dynamic rule of God – it is the goal of human history:
“From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mathew 4:17).
First, Jesus Christ presented the Kingdom to the natural seeds of Abraham, but when they rejected it, He announced His next plan of action – to build His church.
Their final words were: “We would not have this man reign over us.” But the purpose of God shall stand forever. If we are unfaithful, God remains faithful.
From the ashes of the unbelief of the Jewish community God has raise believers from all nations who would embrace the King and the Kingdom:
“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding” (Romans 11:33).
Truly, “who have known the mind of God? Or have been his counselor?” Paul, a later apostle received from the Lord Jesus this commission:
“And he (Jesus) said unto me, depart: For I will send you far hence unto the Gentiles” (Acts 22:21; cf. Acts 28:28).
Jesus came to His own world, but His world rejected Him. He came to the natural brethren but they rejected Him.
Now, with the church He can call and prepare a people from all nations to occupy the kingdom. A people who by grace will readily accept the rule of God:
“He came to that which belonged to Him [to His own--His domain, creation, things, world], and they who were His own did not receive Him and did not welcome Him.
But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the authority (power, privilege, right) to become the children of God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) His name” (John 1:11-12).
Jesus announced the formation of a “new community” of elected individuals – a people who are called out of the world to be His very own.
A people who would not only minister to Him but also be His witnesses – Jews, Gentiles, barbarians, nobles, rich and poor:
“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light” (1 Peter 2:9).
Peter’s confession was to be the foundation for His church. Peter acknowledges His deity (Lordship) saying: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God:”
“And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Mathew 16:18).
Jesus played the word “huge rock,” which in Greek is “Petros” against the name Peter which is means a stone and in Greek “Petra” (cf. John 1:42).
To paraphrase what Jesus said: “You are Petras, but on these Petros I will build my Church.” You are a stone but on these rock or confession I will build my church.
Jesus Christ Himself is the rock or the foundation on which His church is to be built:
“For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11).
True, the most straightforward interpretation seems to be that Peter is meant by the rock, but that he is not the exclusive foundation. Examine these Scriptures:
“And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone” (Ephesians 2:20).
“And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb” (Revelations 21:14).
Further, Jesus did not exalt Peter to supreme authority above all the other apostles, or to say Peter is the only one upon whom His church would be built.
For example, in Acts chapter 15, the advice of the apostle was taken, and not that of Peter. Again, the apostle Paul withstood Peter to his face because he was to be blamed (the aposle Peter, like every other Christian was fallible):
“But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed” (Galatians 2:11).
From the beginning, Jesus Christ deliberately chose twelve men to disciple and through them propagate His kingdom agenda.
These men later became known as the twelve apostles. These twelve were a counterpart and superior to the twelve tribes of Israel:
“And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Mathew 22:29-30).
Just as Jesus Christ is superior to Moses; likewise, the ministry of this new community or church is superior to the community of God’s people under Moses.
These twelve Jesus said would some day join Him to judge the twelve tribes of Israel:
“And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Mathew 19:28).
Graciously, Jesus Christ included His chosen, called and ordained apostles and prophets to the foundation of His church; He Himself being the cornerstone:
“And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone” (Ephesians 2:20; cf. Revelation 21:14).
The church is the spiritual organism with Jesus Christ as the head. It is the mystic body and the bride of Christ. Literally, the word “church,” means “a chosen or called out assembly.”
But, Jesus took it and gave it a weightier meaning when He used it for His “new people” in contradistinction to Israel the church which was in the wilderness (Acts 7:38).
Further, the word “church” is applicable essentially to people and never to a building in which public worship is conducted. In its broadest sense it is used to describe “the company of the faithful in Christ” all over the world.
Further still, it is used to denote the assemblies of the scattered groups of those blood-redeemed and Spirit-born human beings in a particular region and state, a body of Christians dwelling in the same immediate locality or even a small group of Christians meeting together in a house for worship and edification.
Entrance into the church and membership is solely based upon a relationship with Jesus Christ. This relationship can only be established by an acknowledgment of His deity through His Spirit. In other words, the church is made up of true believers who acknowledge the deity of Jesus Christ as Peter did:
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9).
The kingdom of God or heaven as already mentioned, is the sphere of God’s reign – the heavens and the earth with all that is in them.
But the universal kingdom Jesus came to establish is that which He would preside as Messiah-King in fulfillment of the promise that was made to King David and spoken about by the prophet Daniel (cf. 2 Samuel 7:13; Jeremiah 33:17).
The church exclusively belongs to Jesus Christ. Every member of the church is purchased by His blood or death and solely belongs to Him (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:20; 1 Peter 1:18-19).
The church is entered in individually, but once inside, you become a part of multitude of redeemed people which no man can count. Community, as opposed to individual or personal religion is what the church stands for.
Here is an example of the community nature of the church:
“Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican” (Mathew 18:15-17).
Again, its community nature is emphasized by the admonishment in the book to the Hebrews 10:25 which command members of the church, “not to forsake the assembling of themselves together.”
Beware, this “assembling of themselves” does not mean denomination or non-denominationalism which more often than not thrives by dividing the body of Christ; it is neither an external organization or hierarchical system. The church is Spiritual, autonomous and local.
Simply, it is “where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Mathew 18:20). Only if we would allow the Holy Spirit to be the head of His church; if we would allow Him to choose His own pastors and leaders; if we would let the Great Shepherd lead His sheep to where He wants them to go and be nourished, what a powerful, dynamic and flawless church that would pervade the earth!
Again, forget about all the names of individuals on church registers and books purporting to be Christians or heaven bound. Salvation is private and personal (only those who are saved know the surety of their salvation).
Clearly, Jesus Christ laid out some of the benefits of the oneness, togetherness and freedom of His community of new people in the following verses:
“Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Mathew 18:19-20).
Jesus Christ gave the keys of the kingdom of heaven (not the church) to Peter and the apostles telling them to go into all the nations and preach the all-inclusive-Gospel of the kingdom to every creature (Mathew 16; 28).
The keys are the good news of Gospel or the kingdom. The Gospel is the “power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth (cf. Romans 1:16):
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18-19).
Peter and the rest of the apostles entered the kingdom by their faith in Jesus Christ, and so shall everyone who hears and believe the Gospel as it is preached; first, by the apostles and the prophets and then by all disciples till He returns (Romans 3:22).
The church has never ended since it begun. Its continuation is not dependent upon one man, family, one institution or agency. “A man may be faithful for a while and yet eventually proved barren. In this case, God is never without collateral lines.”
Jesus Christ would always be the head of His church and this position, He would never assign to anyone – He alone, and no one else because He Himself lives on forever. He directs, control, guides and govern His church through the agency of his Spirit:
“And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence” (Colossians 1:18).
He works and speaks by the Holy Spirit and would continue to do so until He physically returns for His church. The Spirit is the only person who can save sinners from sin in Christ and then translate them into the kingdom which is of God and of Christ:
“And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved” (Acts 2:47).
“God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?” (Hebrews 2:4; cf. Mark 16:20).
It is essential for the church of Jesus Christ to recognize the role and the irreplaceable position of the Spirit within her.
Before His departure, Jesus warned His disciples not to depart from Jerusalem or start the work of evangelism and ministry in His name until they receive the promise of the Father; the Holy Spirit:
“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8; Luke 24:49; John 16).
It is unthinkable to believe that such a universal community and a priceless mission would be handed over to Peter and the apostles.
Be aware that just a few minutes after Peter confessed Jesus Christ as Lord, he was rebuked as having the mind of the devil (Mathew 16:21-23). Jesus Christ did not hand over His church to Peter or to any of the apostles as some have come to believe.
Only God can testify of God and if the disciples or apostles are to testify of the man who is fully God and fully man then it is the Spirit of God who can enable them to do so. Jesus is always working with His church.
The Holy Spirit was in-charge even when Jesus was on earth and would continue to do so ever now that He is on the throne in heaven to represent His Church before the Father:
“But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning” (John 15:26-27).
The Holy Spirit possesses the church and not the church possessing the Spirit. The Spirit of Christ is its life and power.
Any group of people or assembly that gathers together in His name and where the Spirit is absent is not of Christ or gathered in His name. Jesus Christ presence on earth and Lordship over His body is known by the presence of the Holy Spirit.
The reason the church of Jesus Christ which was born with such power and glory is so weak and beggarly is because man is in control instead of the Spirit. Christians were first called “the way” (Acts 9:2; 19:9; 22:4; 24:14). They were the way showers and led the way in morals and obedience to God.
Today, one wonders if what we see and call Christianity or Christians is the church. The idea so often trotted forth is that Christianity is whatever you happen to make it. What we see and hear today is far removed from what prompted the unbelieving people in Antioch to give the disciples of Jesus Christ the nick name Christian (cf. Acts 11:26). I must confess, the term “Christian nation” is a misnomer.
Again, I would not hesitate to say that, if “Christianity,” by definition is “the church,” then it is rather the field of wheat and tare. Perhaps, it is the community that is replete of wheat and tares and which would be separated on the Day of Judgment:
“Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn” (Mathew 13:30; cf. verse 25-29).
The difference between the wheat and the tares is that the wheat lives to please God and the tares live to please oneself and this is what you find in Christianity.
It is the self-made, self-righteous religious obedience to God in which case the tares is the visible Christian community. The church on the other hand is highly profitable to the Lord and are kept and preserved by Him. It is the invisible church which is on earth purposely to do the will of God.
Christianity would only be the church if her life and mission is the same as that of Jesus Christ – a community that is chosen, called, born, indwelt and led by God.
They are God’s family and sheep. He calls them individually by name and they follow Him:
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one” (John 10:27-30).
“The sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers” (John 10:4; cf. verses 16).
The church as a living organism is directly connected to the living Christ and Savior.
The saying, “God has no grandchildren” may be true of the church. Everyone in the church is a son and must live like the Son of God (cf. John 1:12).
The oil with which the church is anointed is the same Jesus Christ was anointed with, namely the Holy Spirit (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:21-22). Every born again member of the church is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. This is or should be the meaning behind the name “Christian,” for believers are “little Christ,” “little anointed ones.”
Jesus said He would build His church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The gates of hell which holds God’s elected prisoners shall be overcome and God’s people freed by the power of the Gospel through the Holy Spirit.
All religion is self-made or man-made. They are man’s own invention or effort to seek and to please God, or a god. It is man building again the tower of Babel. It thrives on confusion. It is self righteousness – man sewing again the fig leaves to cover his nakedness and shame and man’s self-effort to bridge his estrangement from God the Absolue Reality.
The Church of Jesus Christ pre-dates history. Jesus did not out of frustration set it up and neither its formation an after thought. Members were chosen before the foundation of the world.
God by His foreknowledge had long time ago overruled the Jewish rejection of the King without any infringement to their will. The church was chosen before history but called in history:
“According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love” (Ephesians 1:4; Romans 8:29-30).
The call of the church is to be holy and blameless before God as already mentioned.
The church is the bride and the body of Christ – distinct but inseparable. The head is holy and so is or should be the body. The church is in the world but not of the world in the church.
Further, on earth, the Church is parochial or a sojourner. Born again by God, members of the church are not citizens of the earth. They are heavenly minded, but not earthly useless:
“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:1-2).
Again, the church is not a reformed world, but the body of individuals hand picked by God to inherit the world to come. Every member of the church is a son, a bride and a temple of God.
There are no classifications whatsoever within her:
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).
Jesus said “my kingdom is not of this world. There is only one head who is Christ and the church which is His body. The unity of the kingdom can be clearly seen in prayer Jesus prayed before His departure. Carefully consider it:
“These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word” (John 17:1-20).
In summary, the Church is the community of redeemed individuals whose vocation is to be the salt and the light of the world.
The church acting as the light of the world would expose and hinder ignorance or darkness. Further, the church acting as the salt of the earth would reveal, hold back or destroy unbelief and the lies of Satan.
The one and only true God is made manifest in and through the church to a world that do not know Him or recognize Him as God. Eternal life for every man is to know God and His Son Jesus Christ whom He has made the propitiation for all sins:
“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3; cf. 1 John 5:20).
There are ways by which the church can be known by the world. Briefly, here are a few of them:
- Unity and oneness – “ That they all may be one, [just] as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, so that the world may believe and be convinced that You have sent Me” (John 17:21 cf. verse 23).
- By their fruit or conduct – “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them” (Mathew 7:16,20).
- Separation from the world – “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you” (John 15:19; cf. 1 Corinthians 5:20).
- Holiness – “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love” (Ephesians 1:4).
- Mission as ambassadors for Christ – “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20).
- Heavenly mindedness – “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:1-3; 2 Peter 3).
- Bond of love within her – “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:34-35).
As a living organism, the Spirit is the life and light within church. The Spirit serves as the ligament linking each member with each other.
Individually, the church is anyone in whom the Spirit or Jesus dwells. Collectively, the church is the body with many parts in Christ and indwelt by God – the household of faith (cf. Galatians 6:10).
Again, the church is the new community of God where the Spirit dwells and leads. They are a people of faith. Faith obeys. A life of obedience to God is an indication of the Spirit’s presence. It is a sign of belonging to God’s family. It does not bring you into the family, but it is what family members do.
Every work by the church, within and without should or must be Spirit initiated and Spirit wrought without exception. Every turn and twist in the church’s doings is or should be directed by Him.
There is a difference between working for the Lord and the Lord asking you to do work or do something for Him. No work is worth doing if it is not God initiated. The simple rule is: If God has not asked you to do something for Him do not create one by yourself.
There is a common mission for the church. Witnessing or testifying for Christ is the duty of every born again member of the church. Every child of God is anointed from the moment of salvation to preach the Gospel to the neighbor or family and requires no human endorsement, ordination or letters of recommendation.
Callings and giftings such as the five-fold ministry are only for those selected or chosen by the Holy Spirit within the body. No institution, organization or local congregants can ordain, confer or produce them. It is the prerogative of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself:
“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers” (Ephesians 4:11).
God employs His own workers. Every minister within the church must be hand picked by the Lord without exception.
To be good stewards of the great commission, every member of the church is asked to be a student of the Bible. Each of us is called upon to personally and collectively study the Bible. We must meditate on the word of God day and night:
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).
Every member of the body of Christ is gifted from the moment of salvation by the indwelling Spirit of God.
God has a special gift for every one that He brings into the kingdom of Christ. You may not know your gift, but that does not mean you do not have one or even more. Each of us has some gift(s) for the edification of the body of Christ:
“But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal” (1 Corinthians 12:7).
Because of the nature and the holy vocation of the church, members are to spur each other to do good works.
Unbridled tongue and all forms of sin must not be encouraged within her. All must watch and pray, lest they enter into temptation and fail. Pollutions from the world must not be allowed to breed within the church. Tares must be exposed. Where we are unable to remove them, we must stay away:
“A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump” (Galatians 5:9; cf. verse 6).
Achan, Ananias and Sapphira must not be allowed into the church.
The church must not segregate from the world but from anyone within the church who openly puts the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to shame by way of conduct:
“Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world.
But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolator, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.
For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? Do not ye judge them that are within?” (1 Corinthians 5:10-12).
Jesus Christ was killed because He was different. He was separate from sinners.
There was no darkness or duplicity of character in Him. To the world, Jesus was odd and so is His church which is His body. The body should not be different from the head. The body and the head must of a necessity be of the same quality and purpose.
The church is or should reflect Jesus Christ. The goal of the Holy Spirit is to reveal Jesus in and through the church to a world that is ignorant of God and His righteousness; a world that is perishing because of sin. The church shares the same world view with her Lord: Sufferings, persecutions, purity in life and service, destination and exaltation (cf. Ephesians 2:6).
Remember, the church did not choose Jesus, rather Jesus chose the church. No man can join the church by self-effort (cf. John 15:16). The church bears His name. Whatever happens to the church good or bad happens to Him. Wherever the church is, there He is.
The church is connected directly to the Son and to the Father by the Holy Spirit. Jesus is able to call His church brethren:
“Both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren.”
The church has this injunction: “Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
And the second is to love thy neighbor as thyself:
“No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us” (1 John 4:12).
“In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10).
He that is born of God loves his neighbor. Because “God laid down His life for us: we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:16).
If we love the brethren, it shows that we have passed from death to life, but he that hates his neighbor is still in death (1 John 3:14). Here is the “Golden rule:”
“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets” (Mathew 7:12).
In summary, there is only one church and it is that which Jesus Christ is Lord; the church that the Holy Spirit lives and freely rules.
Religion is what man does, but the church is what God does. The sword of the Spirit is the word of God (Ephesians 6:17).
The church is not the Kingdom, and neither did it replace it. The church can be rightly seen as a means to the end – the ultimate rule of God among men.
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