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What is the church of Christ? |
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· Paid for, built and controlled by Jesus: Simply, the church of Christ is the church that belongs to Jesus. It is the church that he built (Mt. 16:18), purchased with his own blood (Acts 20:28), and heads (Eph. 1:22-23). · Preplanned and prophesied: The church or kingdom of God was prophesied or foretold in Isa. 2:2-3 and in Dan. 2:44, by God hundreds of years before it came into existence. These are only two of several hundred prophecies concerning Christ and His church. The plan for the church and the salvation of mankind had actually been in the mind of God since before He laid the foundation of the world (Eph. 3:1-11). Christ and John the Baptist, spoke of the church that he would build and which was very near at hand (Matt. 16:13-19; Mark 1:14-15). · Purposed to save and unite people in one undivided body: Jesus came to seek and save mankind (Lk. 19:10). He died to establish his church (Eph. 1:22-23) in which all men would be reconciled to God (Eph. 2:14-16). The Lord’s church today, as in the first century, vigorously opposes the division of believers in denominations or even non-denominational groups. The uniting factor of God’s people all over the world is unity of doctrine (1Cor. 1:10-11; Eph. 4:4-6). · Propagated by birth: Jesus taught that one could come into the kingdom by being born again (John 3:3-5). The word of God is the seed (provided by the Spirit) that is implanted in the hearts of men to lead to the new birth (James 1:21; 1 Pet. 1:23). As Jesus explained to Nicodemus, this new birth is not the physical birth, but a “washing of regeneration” (Tit. 3:5) at which time sinners are made clean (Eph. 5:25-26) and walk with all things new in their lives (Rom. 6:3-4; 2 Cor. 5:17). Jesus gave many teachings and parables in his lifetime that gave insight into the nature of the kingdom: · It would come “with power” in the lifetime of his apostles (Mark 9:1; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:1-4); · The apostle would be given the keys to open the doors of the kingdom (church) (Mt. 16:18-19); · The gospel of the kingdom is the gospel of the church (Mt. 28:18-20; Luke 24:44-48); · A person would enter the kingdom through baptism (John 3:3-5; Acts 2:37-41, 47); · Some who came into the kingdom would, through disobedience, be lost (Matt. 8:11-12); · Reference the parables about the kingdom in Matt. 13:1-52; Matt. 25:1-45. The book of Acts is the divinely recorded history of the Lord’s church in the first century. It records God’s work through his apostles and Christians. The apostles planted many congregations of the church by simply going to various cities and converting people to the truth (Acts 13:5-17:34). When they encountered error being taught, they confronted it (Acts 18:24-28; Gal. 1:6-9). The epistles which follow the book of Acts are a record of God’s instructions about Christian doctrine, worship and conduct. |
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