The church THEN was not like the church today..the church was composed of believers.. there was a cost to being a Christian
I believe the "church" today is every bit the same as it was in the first century. It is the spiritual body of Christ composed of all who are born again. Many still pay a high cost for their faith - we are lucky we live in a free country - at least for now, that is. My point was that Paul was speaking to a group of people that he really had no way of knowing what was in each one's heart about the faith. We can read his words today and know they apply to all true Christians for all time and not just to a specific group.