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"The CHURCH" What do YOU mean when YOU refer to: "The CHURCH"? Do Catholics, Baptists, Jews, Presbyterians, Mormons, Muslims, and others... agree with each other -- when each refers to "The Church"? A tablet from the on-going INTERNET BOOK, "The Doctor's Terrific Tablets" ( http://www.terrific-tabs.com ) by John N. Todd III, M. D. (link)
9/00; 7/01; 8/01; 9/01; 10/01; 11/01; 12/01; 2/02; 3/02; 6/02; 9/02; 11/02; 1/03; 4/03; 9/03; 10/04; 12/03; 7/04; 11/04; 2/05; 7/05; 6/06; 12/06; 9/7/07 See related links: "CHURCH" -- is there a "God's Church"? (link) and: GOD's People (link) and: POPE claims CATHOLIC Church is the ONLY true church (link) and: CHOSEN by God (link) CLICK HERE to go to the "FRONT PAGE" of "The Doctor's Terrific Tablets" CLICK HERE for ALPHABETICAL INDEX of this entire WEBSITE CLICK HERE to EMAIL your thoughts to the author Author's definition..... I consider the "church", the true church, to be the "aggregation of God's people" -- the "company", or "body", or "army", or "brotherhood" of those individuals who have been accepted ("chosen", saved, claimed) by God -- to be His own.... those whom God has found acceptable, in His sight, for His own reasons.... regardless of where these individuals may live (see link The nation of God's people).... and irrespective of the doctrinal or denominational church-of-humans to which they may "belong". Ephesians 2: 18 (NIV) For through Him, we both have access to the Father -- by one Spirit. 19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens -- but FELLOW CITIZENS with God's people.... and members of God's household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In Him the whole building is joined together, and rises to BECOME a HOLY TEMPLE in the Lord. 22 And in Him, you too are BEING BUILT together, to become a dwelling in which God LIVES -- by His Spirit. Same (NRSV) 2: 21 In Him the whole structure is joined together, and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; 22 in whom you also are BUILT TOGETHER spiritually into a dwelling-place for God. 2 Corinthians 6: 16 (NRSV) (Paul speaking): For WE ARE the TEMPLE of the living God; as God said, "I will live in them, and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." (Paul quoting Leviticus 26: 12.) Hebrews 8: 1 (NIV) We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 and who serves in the sanctuary, the TRUE TABERNACLE -- set up by the Lord.... NOT by man. And.... see other splendid Biblical references, below. I love "the church"; I always have, and I always will. "The church" has been important to me forever; and mysteriously fascinating. I have learned so much in "the church", and from the church -- dating back to as far as I can remember. I was "raised" in the church, thanks to my parents. But.... what is "the church" I love; and the church you love -- the church you claim for your own? "The church". What does the word "church" refer to? What does it mean? The derivation of the word, according to the dictionary, is from root-words meaning "The Lord's house", or the "Master's house". How is the word "church" used in the Bible? (I cannot find reference to the word "church" in the Old Testament. Presumably the comparable word in the Old Testament is "temple", or "synagogue", or "tabernacle".) There are many references to "the church" in the New Testament, especially in the writings of Paul. Many times, the term "church of God" is used. Jesus used a word, translated as "church", several times. What about later writings -- even now in modern times -- in articles about God, and the Bible, and "religion", and "the church"? To what "church" is an author referring, when he uses the term "the church"? What "church" are you referring to, when you say "the church"? Do you mean your own local denominational church? Do you mean the church building.... the "house of the Lord"? When the Baptists speak of "the church", are they referring to the same "church" that the "Catholics" claim? Does God have a "church" -- a select group of individuals whom He considers to comprise His earthly "church"? If so, do those individuals "belong to" a specific denominational church-of-humans? And, if they do belong to a certain "denomination" -- are all other doctrinal churches wrong, and left out of God's favor? Or.... do you believe that every member of every denominational church is a "member" of the "church" of God's people (link).... those individuals whom God Himself claims, and accepts as His own? And, contrariwise, is it essential, in the eyes of God, that God's people necessarily "belong" to any earthly, humanly institutional "church".... in order to gain, and retain, the favor of Almighty God. That is, does simply "joining" some denominational church, or any institutional church, "automatically" confer upon an individual the right to consider himself to be included among "God's people"? Some of these questions become absurd ! (Repeating my "definition" of "the church"): I consider the "church".... the true church.... to be the "aggregation" of God's people -- the "company", or "body", or "army", or "brotherhood" of those individuals who have been accepted ("chosen", saved, claimed) by God, to be His own -- those whom God has found acceptable, in His sight, for His own reasons.... regardless of where these individuals may live; and regardless of the doctrinal or denominational church-of-humans to which they may "belong". I dare say that there are many of God's people -- chosen and loved by Almighty God himself -- who do not "belong" to any "earthly" church. I suspect that there are many of God's people who may not know, at a given time in their lives, or in a certain phase in their spiritual development, that they are already blessed and loved and accepted by God.... and that they are therefore, indeed, already "members" of God's own "church". These are individuals who are being "prepared" by God, and who will be awakened to the truth-of-God, in a manner selected by God -- and at a moment chosen by God Himself. (See link, Is there a "God's Church".) Note the following Biblical references. Some of these are repeated from above: Ezekiel 37: 26 (NEB) I will greatly increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary forever in their midst. They shall live under the shelter of my dwelling; and I will become their God, and they shall become my people. The nations shall know that I the Lord am keeping Israel (God's people) sacred to myself, because my sanctuary is in the midst of them, forever. (See link Israelites, by God's Promise.) Same (KJV) 26 I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant; and I will place them, and multiply them; and I will set my sanctuary in the midst of them, for evermore. 27 My tabernacle also shall be with them; yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28 And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel ("God's people"), when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore. Acts 7: 48 Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made with human hands; as the prophet says, 49 'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? 50 Did not my hand make all these things?' Acts 17: 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, He who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, 25 nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything; since He Himself gives to all mortals life and breath, and all things. 1 Corinthians 3: 16 (NIV) Don't you know that you yourselves ARE God's temple -- and that God's Spirit lives in you? 17 If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him -- for God's temple is sacred -- and you are that temple. 2 Corinthians 6: 16 (NRSV) (Paul speaking): What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For WE ARE the TEMPLE of the living God; as God said, "I will live in them, and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." (Paul quoting Leviticus 26: 12.) Hebrews 9: 11 (NEB) But now Christ has come, High Priest of good things already in being. The tent of His priesthood is a greater and more perfect one, NOT made by MEN'S hands..... that is, NOT belonging to the created world. John 5: 41 (NRSV) (Jesus speaking) I do not accept glory from human beings. 44 How can you believe, when you accept glory from one another; and do not seek the glory that comes from the one who alone is God? Luke 16: 15 (NRSV) So Jesus said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of others; but God knows your hearts; for what is prized by human beings is an abomination, in the sight of God. My understanding -- my belief -- is that the choice of who is, or who will become, one of God's people.... a "member" of God's church.... is totally and unequivocally and irrevocably a decision made by God alone, for God's own reasons. That "decision" occurs at a time specified by God, and is not left up to the paltry understanding or "choice" of a human-being. No human-being.... nor an earthly denominational church.... need necessarily be involved (although, obviously, a "church" may be a part of the instruction and preparation of an individual.... for God). I believe that a person becomes aware of the truth of God, after being led and instructed in life, by God Himself. That individual awakens to his "calling" at a time and place designed beforehand by God, in order to fulfill the plans and purposes and intention of God. My understanding, based on what I "see" and "hear" in the Bible, is that the will and effort and choice and "decision" of an individual human are not a part of the process of being "chosen" (accepted, approved) by God. One can hardly imagine the Sovereign and Almighty Creator of the universe, standing by, impotently and helplessly -- awaiting a human-individual's decision to "accept" God -- as if a human-being can "write his own ticket" -- and cause himself to become one of God's own people -- and hence a member of the "church of God's people". Read the following scriptures, out loud:
Which one of today's numerous doctrinal churches is "right". What human-beings.... including ministers and priests and rabbis and imams.... are qualified to decide which "doctrine" is "spiritually correct", in the opinion of Almighty God? Are all "Christian" churches partly correct in their "doctrines"? Are the beliefs of the Jewish faith totally wrong, and are all Jews therefore condemned -- in the sight of God? What about the "Sons of Ishmael" (the Muslims), who also worship the "God of Abraham"? Has any human-being been appointed by God to judge and condemn them? Did God direct the Muslims to hate and kill the Christian "infidels"? Is it enough that a "member" of a given denominational "church" (synagogue, mosque) simply claim to believe and accept the doctrine of that particular church, in order to be "included" by God.... and so to become a "Christian", or a Jew, or a Muslim -- a member of the "church of God's people"? Would some "churches" say that it is "enough" for a member simply to satisfy himself.... or the preacher, or the board of deacons.... in order to become acceptable to God? Can an individual "write his own ticket", and declare himself acceptable to God -- and so become "saved"? Would some say that God becomes "satisfied" if a potential "member" simply recites a creed, or if that individual is "baptized"? Surely everyone would agree that it is God, alone, who must be satisfied with an individual, and with that individual's "beliefs", and "faith", and "trust" -- and that an individual's acceptance by Almighty God is unrelated to his being "accepted" or included or approved by any human-being, or by any group of humans.... or by a "church". Note the following three references, concerning "the church" set up by man:
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