By NiteOwlDave
niteowldave@gmail.com
What Christian church is the correct one?
The church of “Jesus Christ” is the one we should attend. It is where the Bible – and the Bible alone – is taught.
We’re not talking about denominations here. The Bible refrains from using our man-made church tags like Roman Catholic, Protestant, Lutheran, Methodist and such.
Neither does the church mean a church building. In the Bible, a church has nothing to do with a building or label.
Paul wrote to the church of God in 1 Corinthians 1:2, “Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours.”
The church that Christ said “I will build” in Matthew 16:18 consists of people only with no earthly headquarters. The church is a body, a massive grouping of those who have come to realize that they are sinners and have trusted Christ as their Savior.
The Spirit of God rule’s God’s true church. When the Lord Jesus Christ takes His church from this sin-filled earth to Heaven, only saved people will go. Strange as this may sound, church members are not necessarily saved.
It is scriptural that the Biblical church is not a building where Christians gather, but is a gatherings of believers who accept the finished work of Christ.
In Bible days, Christian assemblies were identified by their locations. Thus, we read of the church at Corinth, Ephesus, etc.
Just three times in the Bible is a church said to be in a distinct place, like some home. The true church of God was – and still is - a place where believers meet for worship, prayer, fellowship and teaching.
According to Mark 16:15, the public ministry of the church is to go into all the world to preach the gospel of Christ. The onus is on the individual Christian to share the forgiving message of Christ as much as the one who leads the local “church” grouping.
Our church affiliation is first and foremost with the Lord, then with others where we meet in a building. We are the church.
If you are unsaved, Christ invites you to join his invisible church comprised of every believer in the world. We must realize that joining a local church without personally accepting Christ as our Savior will not get us into Heaven.
It is only when we get to the end of our rope and realize that we are lost, helpless, guilty and hopeless that we will reach out to Jesus for salvation. The moment we do that, we become part of the only church in the Bible.
Do it and be saved today. How? As a sinner, we must trust Christ as the only Savior and confess Him before men.
Romans 10:9 says, “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.”
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