But of course we are assured that the United Church of God (©1995) finally assembled it perfectly - just lacking the small piece called the Most Holy Trinity...
Posted on 04/08/2013 9:22:31 AM PDT by DouglasKC
"I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in...the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth" (1 Timothy 3:15).
Jesus Christ proclaimed, almost 2,000 years ago, "I will build My church." He declared that His Church would never die out, promising that "the gates of Hades [the grave] shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18).
As we will see in the pages that follow, the institution to which Jesus referred was not an earthly building or a mere physical organization. Rather, the Church was and remains the called-out assembly of Christ's spiritually transformed and faithful followers.
Jesus assured His disciples that He would guide and preserve His Church until His return, promising them, "I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20).
What happened to the Church Jesus built? An eyewitness tells us that immediately after Christ ascended into heaven following His resurrection, His apostles "went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs" (Mark 16:20). The Church had a powerful beginning.
Millions of people profess Christianity; they claim to be members of the Church Jesus founded. But Christianity is a divided religion, comprising hundreds of denominations and schisms. Through the centuries, most of Christianity's branches have assimilated many non biblical traditions—philosophical, cultural and religious—into their teachings and practices, spawning even more variations.
How can we account for the explosion of contradictory practices and conflicting factions in the world of Christianity? Is it possible to reconcile competing denominational groups with the standards and objectives Christ established for His Church? Can we know whether Christianity's bewildering variety of customs and teachings faithfully represents those of Jesus Christ? Remember, Jesus not only promised He would build His Church, but He assured His disciples that His Church would not perish. Is the divided Christianity we see around us that Church? Only the Holy Scriptures can provide a reliable answer to this question.
If Christ's promise that "the gates of Hades shall not prevail" against His Church should be considered a guarantee that those who believe on His name could never be misled or corrupted, then we would have every reason to accept the collective sum of the various divisions of Christianity as the Church Jesus built.
But He guaranteed no such thing. Instead, He warned His disciples that "false christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect" (Mark 13:22, emphasis added throughout).
Later the apostle Paul expressed his concern to Christians in his day that their minds could be "corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ" by the preaching of "false apostles" (2 Corinthians 11:3 , 13).
Jesus spoke even more plainly, explaining that "narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits" (Matthew 7:14-16).
In these pages we examine the fruits Jesus and His apostles said would identify His Church. We look at the contrasting fruits that identify those who are influenced by a different spirit and preach a different gospel. We will learn, not from human tradition or opinion but directly from God's Word, how we can distinguish "the church of the living God" (1 Timothy 3:15) from those who follow "false prophets" in sheep's clothing.
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For clarity throughout this booklet, the word Church (with a capital C ) refers to the faithful Church that Jesus Christ founded. The word church (with a small c ) refers to local groups of believers or other physical organizations. Since church is not capitalized in the Bible translations quoted, all scriptural quotations—whether referring to the Body of Christ or a local congregation—use church with a small c.
But of course we are assured that the United Church of God (©1995) finally assembled it perfectly - just lacking the small piece called the Most Holy Trinity...
Please notice I said bible, I did NOT said Old Testament, torah or Tanch.
The Bible in its ENTIRETY was ordered at the councils of Hippo and Carthage in the 300's. There is nothing revisionist about reality.
I think there is a little something right there on your chin...no a little left. There, you got it.
This thread contains ample evidence to the contrary. The Koine Greek word for such a "group of people" is a homilos.
Peace be with you.
That's a funny cartoon!
I and most members of the church of God don't consider ourselves to be protestants. Obviously such things as sabbath and biblical holy day observance didn't cut the mustard in either Rome or protestant churches so I would trace my history back to Jesus Christ through a different route than traditional Christianity...through those who were outcast and vilified throughout history.
Is that an admission that there is no factual history for your claims?
:)
No replies, so I’ll reply.
Thanks very much.
lol...it's difficult to trace the history of sabbath keeping Christians through the traditional churches that's true. The observance of the Lord's sabbath was officially banned about 300 years after the death of Christ in the council of Laodecia. After that it becomes difficult to find sabbath keeping communities...if they were vocal they were persecuted so not much history has been written since then.
Agreed.
It’s not only Sabbatarianism but the Holy Trinity as well.
Your view would mean the Church went very wrong very early, in apostolic times - without historical proof of that view.
Nor scriptural proof, but I concede that via sola scriptura one can have scripture say a wide variety of heresy. There is historical proof for that.
thanks for your reply...
Let me begin to answer with a question so I know where you're approaching this question from.
Do you believe that the authors of scripture, both old and new testaments, understood the trinity doctrine exactly as you and other Christians today understand it?
“We represent our positions with biblical support...please do the same. If you can.”
Where is the biblical support that all Truth can only be found in the Bible? Surely the Bible wouldn’t fail to mention that.
Him can't understand what he reads, believes comic books have the facts in them, and now he's suffering from hallucinations. Poor sing.
You must have missed it.
It's with the part that says to throw out nearly as much Scripture from the Old Testament as there is in the New Testament.
Of course Jesus Christ and the Apostles would have made a very clear statement about it if everything anyone needed was in Scripture just like they'd have made it very clear that parts of the Septuagint were not the inspired Word of God if they shouldn't have been included in the Septuagint.
It all comes down to the fact that people prefer to follow Eve rather than Jesus Christ and rationalize their doing so by pretending to believe in the Scripture when in reality, they twist Scripture to suit what they want to believe.
Just grease up with Superslick Christian Liberty Grease and not only can you throw out part of the Bible if you don't like it, you can even condone murdering infants in the womb by saying it falls under, "Christian Liberty".
While we encounter it also in the Old Testament as in let us make man in our own image, the Holy Trinity was fully revealed to the Apostles by Christ as seen in “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
I think it’s safe to summarize the history afterward as the Church rejecting what it is not as the need arose with the teachers of heresies.
As for Sabbatarianism, we see Christian worship on the first day in Paul’s writing. and the earliest known Christian history. and thereafter.
All truth is not in the Bible. For instance, how to ride a skateboard is clearly not in the Bible. But, I just saw a kid doing this, so we can assume that plenty of unrelated things are not in the Bible.
However, the topics of whether God is there, what to believe about Him, His Son & His Spirit, what the Gospel is, how to gather together, and that local "greybeards" (elder men) are responsible for each gathering not some single monstrosity in charge of all others, happen to be. Notice the passages quoted from Tim. (in prior post) and those found in Jude, Tim. and others...
"...I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith wich was once for all delivered to the believers." Evidently, all that was necessary for understanding the Gospel content had already been delivered by the time Jude was written...AND there is no Rome!
Tim. Let the elders who direct affairs of the gathering be considered worthy of double honor...AND there is no Rome!
I don't have the time (or inclination) to try and prove a negative ("Prove that Rome is not what we say it is!"). The burden of proof is on Rome to demonstrate whence cometh her authority. Then add to that burden, the burden of proving her monstrous doctrines of sacerdotalism, purgatory, indulgences, genuflecting, mariolatry, etc. Have to run, but try to read the text without the Rome-colored glasses...it will Reform you.
Neither is all of the Revealed Word of God.
Peace be with you
Thanks for the answer though I'm a little surprised by it. :-)
Are you suggesting that the doctrine of the trinity as traditional Christianity understands it today is fully established and explained in scripture? That the Catholic church played no part in it's explanation, formulation or clarification?
Incorrect. A simple reading of traditional church history will show that the sabbath issue wasn't fully accepted until over 300 years after the death of Christ.
Canon 29 of the Council of Laodecia of the year 365 AD says this:
Canon 29
Christians must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honouring the Lord's Day; and, if they can, resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found to be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ.
So it wasn't apparent that Paul ever wrote about transferring the worship and solemnity of the Sabbath of Jesus Christ to any other day besides the one Christ created holy and kept holy.
In fact it took over 300 years for this to happen...and that was primarily because of anti-Jewish sentiment in the early traditional church.
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