There is only ONE Church, the Bride of Christ, The Body of Christ. The seven bodies of believers, seven ekklesia, are addressed by the Lord, through John's vision, to note the state of the group in a particular gathering, and broadly, to any body of believers in any age or location. The Hallmark of THE CHURCH, The Body of Christ, The Bride of Christ, is the presence of the Holy Spirit as the earnest of an inheritance WITHIN THE individual BELIEVER.
Ephesians 5:29 - 322For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: 30For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. 31For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. 32This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Romans 8:9
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
1 Corinthians 3:16
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
2 Corinthians 1:22
Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
And lest you still think it is by all that you can do to keep this Grace given by God into your self, be it known that this earnest of your inheritance is in His power of His Promise, as the transaction was entered into by Him first in paying the price for your full redemption:
Ephesians 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
In the ancient market place, a person came to purchase a parcel of grain. The one offering the grain would accept payment for the grain and give the purchaser an earnest (a small example portion) in the foprm of a contract or small amount of the grain purchased and this would be the promise of the grain seller to the grain purchaser that a full purchase would be given on completion of the contract. On the Cross, Jesus said 'It is finished'. He paid the purchase price for all humankind. He holds the full inheritance by His power, the full contracted amount is in His hand, and it is by His Promise to deliver that you receive His Grace, NOT BY WORKS regardless of how fantastic you may believe your works are.
Jesus purchased your Salvation, The Father holds the full inheritance, and it is by His Promise power that this full amount will be given, because it is by His Grace to any place their faith in Him. You might even say the dowery has been paid in full, so anytime the Bridegroom wants to come and get that which has already been purchased, it is His to receive, by His power, as held in His Father's hand for the day of reckoning for the contract He wrote and He purchased. By this you KNOW it is to His Glory, not to any imagined glory you could imagine from your efforts.
Please don’t ping for threads I am not involved in. Some of actually have a life off of FR.
Well done!
I have repeatedly answered your question. You just do not like the answer I give. I have never studied Mormon Doctrine. As I stated earlier I am a 70's rapture survivor.
There is only ONE Church, the Bride of Christ, The Body of Christ. The seven bodies of believers, seven ekklesia, are addressed by the Lord, through John's vision, to note the state of the group in a particular gathering, and broadly, to any body of believers in any age or location. The Hallmark of THE CHURCH, The Body of Christ, The Bride of Christ, is the presence of the Holy Spirit as the earnest of an inheritance WITHIN THE individual BELIEVER.
You kinda in a round about way say what I said. None of the churches either individually or all were promised a fly away.
Ephesians 5:29 - 32 2For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: 30For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. 31For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. 32This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Paul also said IICorinthians 11:2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent (devil) beguiled Eve through his subtility, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
4 For if he that cometh preachet another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.......
Wonder why Paul left out that 'born again' doctrine?
Romans 16:25 Now to Him That is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,
26 But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the (UH OH) 'prophets', according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:
Does your church consider the book of Hebrews part of the doctrine?
Romans 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 1 Corinthians 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 2 Corinthians 1:22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. And lest you still think it is by all that you can do to keep this Grace given by God into your self, be it known that this earnest of your inheritance is in His power of His Promise, as the transaction was entered into by Him first in paying the price for your full redemption: Ephesians 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. In the ancient market place, a person came to purchase a parcel of grain. The one offering the grain would accept payment for the grain and give the purchaser an earnest (a small example portion) in the foprm of a contract or small amount of the grain purchased and this would be the promise of the grain seller to the grain purchaser that a full purchase would be given on completion of the contract. On the Cross, Jesus said 'It is finished'. He paid the purchase price for all humankind. He holds the full inheritance by His power, the full contracted amount is in His hand, and it is by His Promise to deliver that you receive His Grace, NOT BY WORKS regardless of how fantastic you may believe your works are. Jesus purchased your Salvation, The Father holds the full inheritance, and it is by His Promise power that this full amount will be given, because it is by His Grace to any place their faith in Him. You might even say the dowery has been paid in full, so anytime the Bridegroom wants to come and get that which has already been purchased, it is His to receive, by His power, as held in His Father's hand for the day of reckoning for the contract He wrote and He purchased. By this you KNOW it is to His Glory, not to any imagined glory you could imagine from your efforts.
The Holy Spirit is the WORD, our Comforter. The means to measure which Spirit is in us is the Volume of the Book.
I am lost by this Christ 'purchasing' my Salvation. Actually Hebrews 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
I am not finding this to read as a financial transaction, given all belongs to the Creator. Why would He need to buy and sell anything?
Thank you so very much for your testimony and those beautiful Scriptures, dear brother in Christ!
My interpretation is this: “the Rapture” is not a THING .. so of course it is not mentioned in the Bible.
“The Rapture” is used to label AN EVENT .. the catching away of the Believers to be with Christ. This is an event that takes place after WWIII and the Final Harvest, but prior to Armageddon.
The catching away was described as being a “rapturous event” and thus “the Rapture” as a statement was born.
And .. the catching away of the believers .. means all believers in Christ - be they Evangelicals, Baptists, Methodists, Catholics, Presbyterians, etc., etc., etc. The key is “in Christ”. No denomination has ownership of “in Christ”.