Thread: the church? Which Church? WHAT IS THE CHURCH?
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the church? Which Church? WHAT IS THE CHURCH?
Posted : 20 Nov, 2010 02:39 PM
I have a friend who when he reads the word ' church ' in the bible automatically assumes it refers to the Roman Catholic Church. I am sure many from other denominations do the same thing. So what is the "CHURCH"?
Why 1Tim 3:15 cannot possibly be referring to the Roman Catholic Church. 1Tim 3:15 ~ ".....God's household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth"
I will let scripture speak for itself out of the same book of Timothy, most even out of the same chapter. Wow, talk about ' in context'!
1Tim3:2 (speaking of the qualifications of a Overseer) "Now the Overseer must be....the husband of but one wife....."
1Tim3:12 (speaking of deacons) "Deacons must be the husband of but one wife..."
And lastly
1Tim4:1-3 " The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons......they forbid people to marry...."
>>>>The Roman Catholic Church requires their Overseers and Deacons to NOT have a wife and forbids them to marry. So how can this possibly be the ' church ' spoken of in (1Tim 3:15) right in the middle of the above listed verses ?
From a compound of G1537 and a derivative of G2564; a calling out, that is, (concretely) a popular meeting, especially a religious congregation (Jewish synagogue, or Christian community of members on earth or saints in heaven or both): - assembly, church.
Yeshua says: I will build my church;
The Church then is not a thing,but rather a person/people,which He/Yehsua Himself will call out from among the people unto Himself.
This His Church cannot be built by men or women.
This Church needs no buildings,architects,construction workers,and no materials with which to be built.
The Churches builders,architect,construction crew and foundation are in one person,Yeshua Himself.
The Church needs no benefactor,for the needs of the Church are met in Yeshua.
The Church has only one head,Yeshua.
One Chief Shepherd,Yeshua.
The price for the redemption of the Church has ben paid in full,the price was Blood-Life for life.
This has been fulfilled in Yeshua.
The Church has only one Husband,this is Yeshua.
Yeshua is the Bridegroom,the Church is His Bride.
There is only one way of being within the Church,that is by entering through/trusting Yeshua to save you from the judgement and wrath of GOD.
The Church is just ordinary people whom the LORD has for Himself from before the beginning of creation.
The Church is twosparrows,,Jesuslovesyouandme,Godsjude,MrRow,ThunderofGod,Dennis,sirjames,Leon,rapio,donthitthatmark,and anyone else trusting Yeshua for their Salvation.Last of all trucker.
Church was never the term used in the old testament~it was the temple or synagogue. The synagogues served as repositories of the scriptures. It would be centuries until the invention of printing presses; individuals and families could not readily obtain Bibles. By attending services in the synagogues, the people had regular access to the word of God through the public reading of the scriptures.
When Jesus died, the veil was torn, and God moved out of that place never again to dwell in a temple made with hands. Acts 17:24 �The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands."
We are now the temple of God with an outer court, inner court and holy of holies. 1 Corinthians 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
If you have repented of your sins and confessed with your lips that Jesus is the son of God,you are now a follower of Jesus Christ. Acts 2:38. Because of your obedience, you were added to the Church ( spiritual body of Christ, not a building or higher group of saints )
The Greek word ecclesia denotes any assembly of people. It was only in the 3rd or 4th century that the word Church came into use to denote a specific assembly composed of believers, and the Greek word for it is kuriakon, meaning "belonging to the Lord".
Acts 2:47~ praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who
were being saved.
We have ONE leader or head over the body of Christ (church)~NO man is our authority. Ep 1:22-23
And God placed all thing under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the Church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
All offices of leadership are under-shepherds and not to be elevated above anyone else in the body of Christ~
1 Corinthians 3:5-8; So, what is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed and each has the role the Lord has given. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. Now the one who plants and the one who waters are equal, and each will receive his reward according to his own labor.
1 Corinthians 4:1; A person should consider us in this way: as servants of Christ and managers of God�s mysteries.
Whichever approach your denomination follows, one commonality should prevail: all Christian leaders are first servants. After Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, an act of the humblest service, he taught us to follow his example (John 13:12-17). Leaders are to be motivated by the desire to serve Christ and his people, not by personal ambition or as mediators. When those called to Christian leadership stand one day before Jesus in judgment, he will not examine their credentials, achievements, and titles. But he will examine their towels.
Revelation 19:7-9:
�Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife (church) has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, 'Write: 'Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!'� :applause:
"The Roman Catholic Church requires their Overseers and Deacons to NOT have a wife and forbids them to marry. So how can this possibly be the ' church ' spoken of in (1Tim 3:15) right in the middle of the above listed verses ?"
Chuck, I've asked you in the past to stop saying LIES about my Church!
I've asked you to Please do some Research before you open your mouth and insert your foot. Your statement above is wrong!
A married man may become a church deacon and so help the church, but he is often required to promise not to remarry should his wife predecease him.
You do your Brothers and Sisters a disservice by spouting these Lies. It also diminishes your credibility.
Again, I am sorry that you had a bad experience after 28 years of being a Catholic and left The Church and joined another church and are now "bad Mouthing" Her.
Just please...take the time to research.
For over 1500 years there was only one Church and that was The Catholic Church. It wasn't officially called The Catholic Church until around 100 or so years later after Christ's Death.
Catholic meaning "Universal". So...yes...when the word church is mentioned in The New Testament, it is speaking of the only Church around then...The Catholic Church!
Arch I do consider you a brother in the Lord and it truly grieves me to see you so brainwashed that you cannot see the simplest of truths when it comes yo the errors of" her" IF you were being honest with yourself you would notice you only addressed 1 out of 3 scriptures provided.
btw: Overseer = modern day bishop. Deacon = modern day priest. Acts 6 = modern day deacons.
All the ranting about me not doing my research is only fooling yourself, I doubt few take it serious, and I know better.
Arch is a friend and brother he just has this" thing "attached" to him that he thinks he can't live without called the catholic church. But we don't hold it against him, he is a good guy.
Twosparrows, I meant no disrepect to Archimedes. I apologize if it sounded that way. I have read the postings in this forum for months before I ever decided to post or reply to anything. I know he isn't a bad guy and some of his teachings have helped me lots.I am praying God will open his eyes concerning the catholic church. Also I shouldn't have said We. It should have been I know better. I respect both of you very much. I just felt he was accusing you of things that were un-true and I guess the mother hen in me should have just kept quiet.
