CHURCH DENOMINATIONS (part 1)

The question often arises "why are there so many different denominations in the Church that Jesus has been in the process of building, for the last 2000 years?". At last count there were several thousand, and new ones are being created all the time, so this is a good question for us to consider.

To start with, we must realize that the true "Church" that Jesus stated He would build (Matt 16:18) is based on the declaration of Peter in verse 16 "you are the Messiah, the Son of the living God", and not on Peter as a person. This true Church was birthed in the upper room on the evening of the same day Jesus arose from the tomb (John 20:19-23). When Jesus "breathed on them", and said "receive the Holy Spirit", the disciples who were there at the time received the promised Holy Spirit and became the first members of this Church. Later, on the Day of Pentecost they along with other disciples were all filled with this same Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4) to give them power to be witnesses! The rest of the book of Acts records the early history of how the Church spread throughout the then known world.

The Church was greatly persecuted in those early days, both by the Roman Emperors, and by the Jewish priests and religious leaders who refused to believe Jesus was their promised Messiah. Then in the fourth century under Emperor Constantine, there came a drastic change. Constantine claimed to become a Christian, and the church became part of the Roman Empire. He stopped all persecution of the church from Rome, and started to build large cathedrals for places of worship, and established a system of worship based partly on OT Jewish customs, and partly on the type of worship of the Pagans of the day. This resulted in a church structure that in no way represented the true Church we see in the book of Acts. This church became the mother of the Roman Catholic Church, which considers itself the one true church. A careful reading of church history, especially through the period know as the "dark ages", reveals a great deal of corruption on the part of the church leaders. The mistaken belief that Peter was the foundation of the church, instead of his declaration about Jesus being the Messiah, led to him being declared the first Pope. As you know the Roman Catholic Church still considers this position of the Pope being the head of the church rather than Christ. (Eph 1:19-21). The scriptures clearly declare that Jesus Christ is the head of His Church which He has been in the process of building for the last 2000 years from His throne in heaven next to His Father. When this true Church is finally complete, He will return and receive her to Himself as His long awaited bride, who will be pure and undefiled, and will rule and reign with Him forever! (Eph 5:25-27).

The various denominations we see in the church today are all based on some variation of the church structure that was established back then, with a definite "priesthood" and "laity" division in the body of Christ. This was never God's intention, and is clearly a product of man's carnal mind, and a lack of understanding of the scriptures. We must go back to the book of Acts if we want to see how God intends His true Church to be structured and governed. We find that all local churches were governed by "Elders" (plural), never by one single priest or pastor. These Elders were set in place by the Holy Spirit, and overseen by travelling ministries like Paul and his companions on a regular basis. We never see a local church under the leadership of an elected pastor or board. The Church is to be under a "Theocratic" rule and never a "democratic" system that man has devised. Remember when Israel wanted a king to rule over them like the nations around them, and not a God appointed leader like Samuel? (1 Sam 8:4-9). God allowed them to have a king, although it was not His original plan for them. David was His chosen leader, and one of his seed (Jesus) will be king over His people for all eternity. (2 Sam 7:8-16). This same Jesus is head of the true Church that He bought with His own precious blood! (to be continued)

Sincerely submitted.

Gramp

THE CHURCHES

We recently wrote an article on the Church (singular), in which we attempted to show that there is only one "Church" that Jesus is in the process of building. However we know that there are many "churches" scattered around the world. These churches come in various sizes, some connected with certain denominations, and some independent. They are very different from each other as far as organizational structure goes, style of worship etc. In fact a stranger to Christianity might be hard pressed to see how they could all profess to worship, and follow the same Lord Jesus Christ!

We pointed out that the one true Church that Jesus is building (Matt 16:18) is invisible, spiritual, heavenly, and eternal. While the churches that we are now considering are visible, natural, earthly, and temporal. As you can see they represent two distinctly different things, and should never be confused as being the same. The one has a Biblical meaning that pertains to heaven and eternity, while the other pertains to earth, space and time.

Ideally these two should be the same in vision and purpose, if they are both part of the same scriptural company. However even a brief study of church history will reveal disputes, splits over doctrine, and even wars between members of different churches or denominations. This should never be if both camps believe in, and serve the same God. The problem would seem to be that everyone likes to think they are right, and of course the other person must therefore be wrong. In the book of (James 4:1-3) we see a very clear outline of the cause of these disputes. He says they come from "the evil desires at war within you", in other words from our old sinful nature inherited from Adam. In Romans 6 and 8 Paul makes it clear that our old nature died on the cross with Jesus, and we no longer have to obey its demands. As followers of Jesus (Rom 8:2) tells us "And because you belong to Him, the power of the life giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death". This would seem to be the answer to the lack of unity in the various churches that all bear Christ's name. So let us strive towards making the visible "churches" more like the invisible heavenly "Church" that Jesus is building!

In (Luke 9:23) Jesus tells all who would be His followers to "deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me". I'm sure if more people would be willing to do that we would see a remarkable change in our local "churches"!

Sincerely submitted

Gramp

2 Samuel Chapter 7

In this chapter we read about King David’s desire to build a permanent house for God to dwell in. Since the time of Moses, God was content to dwell in the “Holy of Holies” inside the tabernacle that Moses had constructed according to the plan shown him by God. The prophet Nathan brought the word of the Lord to David that his “Seed” (Jesus, not Solomon) would build a house “for My name”. We know from reading the NT, that Jesus came to earth for this very reason, to build a house for God. While Jesus lived in His earthly body He was that house. Paul stated that “in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Col 2:9), in other words as long as Jesus lived in His earthly body, He contained all of God there was to have! That’s why He said to His disciples in (John 16:7) “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you”.

We know that Jesus came to earth primarily to redeem fallen mankind back to God, by taking upon Himself on the cross the sin of every person since Adam. But He revealed the other purpose in His first coming by stating in (Matt 16:18) “I will build My church”. This church which we see being established in the book of Acts was birthed in the upper room on the evening of the very day that He arose from the tomb. (John 20:22) “He breathed on them and said receive the Holy Spirit”. This was the birth of this church, when these first disciples received the promised Holy Spirit. Then in (Acts 2:4) we see Him being poured out on the larger group of believers to give them power to be witnesses of the resurrection! (Acts 1:8). This church of “called out ones” became a “community of the King”, which is really an extension of God’s family in heaven consisting of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We refer to this as the “Trinity”, or “the three in one” God, One God who chooses to reveal Himself in three persons so we might better understand the Godhead. This is a great mystery, which we cannot understand completely with our finite minds. Once we are “born again” into God’s family, the Holy Spirit moves into our lives to bring us the assurance that we are indeed children of God, and part of the “household of God” that Paul speaks of in (Eph 2:19-22). God has always wanted to dwell with man on earth, and now He can do that through His church. According to (Rev 21) He will spend eternity here on planet earth with His church, the “bride” that comes down from heaven as the “New Jerusalem” which will be located just above natural Jerusalem, often referred to as the “city of David”. What an “awesome” way to spend eternity!!

Sincerely submitted.

Gramp

THE CHURCH

Much has been written about the church over the years, but some of it has been confusing because of a lack of the true understanding of this term, in my opinion. When Jesus first used this term in (Matt 16:18) He was referring to "The Church" which He said He would build. There is only one "Church" (singular) in the world, that has been in the process of being built since the book of Acts was written, nearly 2000 years ago. Paul, the apostle called by God to write nearly half of the NT, in his letter to the church in Ephesus, gives us the best description of this true Church. Although addressed to this local church in the city of Ephesus, what he has to say about the church being "carefully joined together in Him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through Him you gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by His Spirit" (Eph 2:22), is describing something that is invisible, spiritual, and heavenly in nature. This must be kept clearly distinguished from the many local churches (plural) that have been established in various cities or localities over the years.

The one true Church, that Jesus has been in the process of building, is therefore spiritual, heavenly, and eternal. The other use of this term church refers to an object which is natural, earthly, and temporal. The only thing these two diverse objects have in common is that they are both composed of "redeemed people of God". The local earthly church is one thing, often referred to in the NT as "churches" because they are many. On the other hand the "Church" is never referred to in the plural as churches, because there is only one, and can never be more than one!

One major problem is that often "unredeemed" individuals are allowed to "join" a local church, when they are not "born again" into the one true "Church" that Jesus is building. This should never be, but unfortunately is often the case. This is due in part to the leadership of the local churches not properly explaining the requirements of being part of the true Church. Also the fact that certain denominational churches consider anyone who has gone through their traditional requirements of "infant baptism" and "confirmation" are considered church members, even though they may have never been "born again" into the family of God. Salvation, or the act of receiving Jesus Christ as your own personal Savior, is the only way anyone can be added to the Church that Jesus is building. That is the truth according to scripture! Sincerely submitted

Gramp.

AGAPE vs EROS

These are two Greek words that are both translated in our English Bibles as "love", although they have completely different meanings in the Greek. This is not uncommon because English is a very poor language by comparison. Thank God He had the scriptures recorded in Hebrew and Greek! Can you imagine the confusion if it had been recorded in English? There are many places in scripture where the translators used different English words for the same Greek word. For example check out (John 14:2 and 23), the KJV translators used "mansions" in verse 2, and "abode" in verse 23 for the exact same Greek word. The proper word should be abode or dwelling place.

In the matter of "Agape" and "Eros" the real meaning in Greek is nearly opposite from one to the other. Agape can best be described as the God kind of love, while Eros is a sensual or sexual kind of love. Eros could better be defined as "lust" and not love. Agape is a love that "gives", while Eros is a love that

"takes". "God so loved (Agaped) the World that He gave---" (John 3:16). We use the word love very loosely today, for example we love our special foods, our cat, our car, our job etc. As Christians we should be careful how we use this word, realizing that it has different meanings. There are even more meanings in the Greek for love than these two but we are not considering them now. I wish to draw your attention to the fact that Agape is a "giving" type of love, while Eros is a "taking" type. This is an important distinction when considering spiritual things. God gives, and we receive, or at least that is how it should be. But often when we stop receiving for some reason, and start taking from God, we are exercising Eros love. Often we can be guilty of this when we are trying to make a scripture say what we want it to say to prove some theory or doctrine we might hold. This could be called "raping" the scripture, and I'm sure we have all done it at some time. It often happens on the back side of a move of God, when things cool off and we try to make things happen like they did at the height of the revival. This trying to make things happen can take many different forms, but the result is often an open door for "fanaticism" of some sort.

Our Creator God seldom repeats a move of His Spirit exactly like the last one. Why would He, because He is still a Creator? We are such creatures of habit, and we like things we are used to and familiar with, and don't like change. So God, who is always moving forward, has to find a new group of people who will move on with Him. A careful look at church history is all we need to prove this to us, so let's seek to be a close follower of Jesus, a receiver of God's love, and not a taker!!

Sincerely submitted

Gramp

SINNER OR SAINT ?

We know from reading (2 Cor 5:17) that anyone who is "in Christ" is a new creation, and we know from (John 3:3) that this happens when a person is "born again" by the Spirit of God. By this act on our part of confessing our sinful condition and receiving Jesus Christ as our personal Savior from sin, we become "saints". Paul wrote several letters to groups of believers gathered together to form churches. He always extended his greeting to the saints, or holy people, who resided in that city. In other words the believers, or followers of Jesus, were called saints. Because over the years the church has set certain people apart, and called then saints, we have been confused about the true meaning of this term. We often hear well meaning believers refer to themselves as just a "sinner saved by grace", but this is not correct. If they indeed are saved, they are no longer a sinner, but a saint. Their true identity has been changed from sinner to saint, and their position before God can never be reversed. If and when a believer sins, they don't revert back to a sinner, they are merely a saint who has sinned. God has made provision for restoring such a one back into fellowship with Him. (1 John 1:9)

In the natural world around us we see beautiful butterflies, who were once ugly worms before they were supernaturally changed. Now a butterfly can land in a mud puddle and get wet and dirty, but they never revert to a worm because of this mistake. As soon as they dry off they can fly again as usual.

Neither does a saint revert back to a sinner because they fall into some form of sinful behavior after they are saved. By following the provision of God in His Word, they can be cleansed and restored. There has been much confusion in the church over this issue of a Christian sinning. Some say they are lost again, while others have maintained that they are eternally secure. I believe if we separate membership in God's family, from our position in His Kingdom, we have the answer to this debate. In other words our sinful behavior does not affect our position in the family of God, but it may affect our place in His kingdom. A careful reading of (1 Cor 6:9-11), (Gal 5:19-21), and (Eph 5:3-5) will clearly show that the type of sinful behavior listed in these passages will affect a believers place in the Kingdom. We enter God's family by means of the new birth, but we are transferred into the Kingdom,(Col 1:13). If we are transferred in, we can be legislated out if necessary!!

Sincerely submitted.

Gramp

UNTIL

This is an interesting little word, that we might call a "time word". That is, it regulates the sequence in which various things happen. When we say something can't happen "until" something else happens, we are using the word properly. This word occurs many times in scripture for just that reason, to let us know the sequence of when certain events will happen. One of these times is in (Ps 110:1) where we read "The Lord said to my Lord, sit in the place of honor at my right hand, until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet." We know from other scriptures that this is God the Father speaking to His Son Jesus, when He returned to His Father's side after completing the work of redemption of mankind on planet earth. In other words Jesus is presently seated at the right hand of Father God in heaven, interceding on our behalf, and building His Church here on earth from His position up there. I understand this will continue to happen "until" this process is completed, and He returns to planet earth to receive His Bride, the Church, who at that time will be without spot or wrinkle. The enemies of God will also, at that time, be humbled and become a footstool for His feet. We can clearly see that neither of these two conditions are presently existing on planet earth! But according to God's Word, they will take place before the Father will give the Son permission to come and receive His Bride!

Another scripture that contains this word "until", is (Acts 3:21), here we read that Jesus "must remain in heaven until the time for the final restoration of all things, as God promised long ago through His holy prophets." Here again we see clearly that Jesus can not return at "any moment" as some people have been teaching for many years. The truth is He will not return "until" certain events transpire here on planet earth! Matt chapter 24 contains the answer by Jesus to questions from some of His disciples regarding the time of His return, and what were the signs they could expect to precede this event. Paul answered some of the same questions in (2 Thess 2:1-12), Read this and compare the words of Paul to those of Jesus in Matt 24, and you will see that they line up perfectly. The truth is the Church will be here on planet earth "until" Jesus comes to fulfill (Matt 24:22) "In fact unless that time of calamity is shortened, not a single person will survive. But it will be shortened for the sake of God's chosen ones." This shortening of tribulation is accomplished by the destruction of Antichrist by Jesus, as recorded in (Rev 19:20). Check it out for yourself! Sincerely submitted ---Dave Jamer

CHURCH MEETINGS

During my 45 years of being a follower of Jesus, I have faithfully attended church in various locations. Certainly the number of meetings I attended would be in the hundreds, and perhaps in the thousands, and I have noticed that most all "church meetings" can be classified as being one of two types. The first type could be called "Pulpit-to-Pew" meetings, of which there are many, and the second type we will call "Round Table" meetings. I'm sure you have all attended both of these, although perhaps not referred to by these terms. The normal meeting in churches located in our Western culture would certainly fall into the first class mentioned. Our church buildings are constructed in such a way as to facilitate "one way" communication from pulpit to pew. The other type of meeting often consists of a circle of chairs, or benches, located in a home or some other suitable room. The main difference in this setting over the first is that everyone can see each other, and communicate face to face.

This second type of meeting mentioned can go under several different names, such as small groups, cell groups, home groups, house church etc. The name is not as important as the function they serve, that of allowing people the freedom of asking questions and receiving answers from others in the room. We know that the best way to receive understanding on any topic is to be able to ask questions, and receive answers about things you don't understand! This freedom to communicate with each other when a new topic is being presented, can make all the difference between being edified by the teaching or not. Of course this cannot be done in a pulpit to pew setting, because of the confusion it would cause. Both types of meetings are necessary for people to be properly instructed in the things of the Lord, so it's not a case of saying one type is better than the other. I have certainly benefited from both in my years of walking with the Lord, and highly recommend people to take advantage of both types of meetings, in order to get a balanced understanding of the Christian life. Unfortunately some churches only offer the first type mentioned, and have never seen the need for the other. Many scripture passages like (Acts 2:42-47), or (Heb 10:19-25) show us clearly how the early church met, and they helped cause the good news of the gospel to spread throughout the known world of their day. Surely we in the 21st century can learn much from our brothers and sisters who lived in the first century, when the Church Jesus said He would build was just beginning!

Sincerely submitted.

Gramp

TRUE UNITY

Recently while reading Paul Billheimer's book "Destined for the Throne" (one I highly recommend) this thought crossed my mind. He was talking about the Bride of Christ, which as you know is one of the scriptural names for the Church that Jesus is in the process of building. He used the term "multiple" bride, which I had never seen in print before, that I can remember. The very thought of a bride being other than a beautiful young lady in the prime of life being joined in holy matrimony with her groom at the alter of a church, is not something we can easily grasp! Yet that is what the Bible says the Church is. No wonder Paul speaks of this as being a "great mystery" which God had revealed to him about the Church. (Eph 5:32).

We understand an earthly marriage to consist of a bride (female) joined to her husband, and the two becoming one, in spirit, soul, and body. The very idea of a multiple bride somehow doesn't fit in our thinking. But not only Paul refers to the Church as the bride of Christ, John in (Rev 21:2, 9-10) calls the Church "the Bride, the wife of the Lamb". We know from this chapter that John has seen in a vision the "Completed Church" composed of every born again member of the true Church that ever lived, from every Nation. This will truly be "a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb". (Rev 7:9). We must grasp this concept of the Church before we can ever expect to see true unity in the Body. Truly a "multiple Bride", as brother Billheimer calls the church.

We will close this short article with a quote from page 55 of his book "We consider the human body as a single entity because it is united in a single consciousness. Yet Paul emphasizes it is not one, but many members. Just so, the Holy City of John's vision, which constitutes the heavenly Bride, is inhabited not by one but by an immense multitude. Yet because it will be united by a single consciousness it will compose a single, harmonious whole comparable to the human body. This is the unity toward which the Church is moving in time and which will be realized in absolute perfection by the bridehood inhabitants of the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem, which John saw descending out of heaven from God. That city will be inhabited by an innumerable throng so perfectly fused into one consciousness by holy passion for her heavenly Bridegroom, that it will constitute a single organism. Can this be why God prizes unity among His people so highly and why Satan fights it so desperately?"

Sincerely submitted

Gramp

LAW & GRACE

We looked at this topic in another article called The Two Covenants, and saw that the Bible clearly describes two separate ways to relate to God. One is called the Old Covenant of The Law, and the other is called the New Covenant of Grace. We looked at various scriptures that man was expected to do to carry out his end of the covenant, but we saw that since the fall of Adam, man has no ability to keep God's Law. For this reason Jesus came to earth to redeem man back to a relationship to His Creator through His death and resurrection. The law was meant to show man how far he had fallen from God's expectations of him, and apart from God's initiative there could never be a reconciliation between the two. This is why the death and resurrection of Jesus is such "Good news", because it is our only hope of a restored relationship with out Creator! Therefore the New Covenant of Grace provides man with a better basis for relating with God than the Old Covenant of Law did. The Law demanded human efforts or obedience as a precondition to life and blessings from God. The New Covenant of Grace, having taken into consideration man's inability and unfaithfulness in obeying the law, provides forgiveness of sins to man, and imputes God's righteousness to man that empowers him to walk according to God's will.

According to scripture, the life and righteousness of Christ is produced in a believer solely by the Grace of God, and grace alone! We can do nothing to earn salvation, it is clearly a gift from God, but He expects good works from us after we become new creatures in Christ. (Eph 2:1-10). Some people misunderstand this, and feel that their good works before they have a personal experience with Christ, will earn them a relationship with God. This is the general teaching of all religions, that we can work our way up to God by our good works. Sad to say some good church people think this same way. Jesus had to explain to Nicodemus, a very religious man, that he must be "born again" (John 3:3,5). And we need to stress this point with religious church goers today. Therefore believers in Christ must be careful to discern and avoid the subtle influence of religious legalism and carnal efforts which seek to rob us of the fullness of the work of Grace! If we believe that this is what God's Word teaches us, then we should avoid any form of depending on self-help and human efforts, and have our complete and full confidence in God's "Amazing Grace". We must respond to this Grace in humility and faith!

Sincerely submitted

Gramp