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.
Isaiah 5:20
King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”
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We today do call ‘evil good and good evil’.
God forgive us, in Jesus name,amen.
WAKE Up all of us that seem to be hypnotized, and many are in such a state and do not realize it.
There is no such word as church or Church, which is why all of the believing community is scattered around. The word Jesus used (which was morphed by Rome) is “gathering” or “assembly”. It is a common word with no special emphasis. Even the riot at Ephesus was an ecclasia. You will now hear the clammor of the RCC claiming their pre-eminence in 3,2,1...
No Jesus told us to not test everything in light of scripture but to trust in the traditions of men, blindly accept the word of self appointed prophets and oracles of biblical interpretation and through their expertise we can get the filtered albeit correct version of God’s plan for us. Jesus also told us his Mother was to be exalted prayed to,was sinless and a mediator between God then Jesus , we are unworthy to come straight to God. Also Jesus also preached to thief on the cross that he would not be going to heaven that day “techincally”.. he was to do a stint in a netherworld between the living and the dead. Jesus also preached that no meat on Fridays buys extra favor, that prayers with beads are super holy and that His ...whoops I mean Peter’s church... was to proclaim some people “Super Christians”...aka Saints and we are to pray to them when we are boarding a boat or when we lose our car keys. Jesus also preached some women are to be married to him and live a life of sullen pharisaical piety, spend their lives forcing children to kneel in rice in Chapel. Jesus did not come to fulfill the law but establish a brand new set of laws that worked better than that Old testament stuff, now we have the right people in power including a guy in a pointy hat to tell us God’s Law v2, is now the correct mixture of high priest hypocricy , theft, depravity and legalism.
DouglasKC, my understanding of the United Church of God forbids voting and proselytism. So just what are you doing for God by posting here?
Agreed...the booklet makes that clear in a later chapter.
On voting the official position of United is Christians should abstain from voting and running for political office but voting and participating in local issues isn't discouraged. As for myself I'm guilty of over involvement in politics BUT I'm making progress.
As far as proselytizing I'm sure it's discouraged. I'm not doing that. I know it's impossible for me to convert someone. But I am sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ and this is just a way of doing that.
Some of the more striking doctrines of the UCG are (1) rejection of the Trinity, (2) adoption of certain dietary laws and restrictions of the Hebrew Scriptures, (3) Saturday observance and (4) the particularly bizarre concept known as "British Israelitism."
The UCG is, I believe, currently split into two factions - the Luker group and the Kilough group.
So when Easter or Christmas or other holidays rolls around you post your articles to “share” the gospel with people here, knowing full well there are people who do believe in them. You would not want to pick a fight with those people and then go pat yourself on the back and gloat at church on how deceived the people on here are would you?
Far from being "morphed" by "Rome" the Latin word used by Catholics is ecclesia - a direct transcription of the Greek word.
Hence the Spanish word iglesia, the Italian word ecclesia, the Portuguese word igreja, the French word eglise, the Gaelic word eglaise, the Polish word kosciol, etc.
The word "church" is a Germanic one, and is of contested origin - some supporters of the Reformation have argued that it comes from kuriakh in the Greek phrase ekklesia kuriakh, that is "the Lord's assembly."
That's disputed and there are various theories as to why the Germanic languages, as opposed to the Romance and Celtic languages, adopted this word (church/kirche/kirk) instead of some form of ecclesia.
My married neighbor got caught up with a man who was involved in the church. Left her husband and children and went off the rails. I did quite a bit of research on their origins, splinter groups, doctrine, etc. Some consider it a cult and after what I personally experienced with my neighbor, not surprised.
This is one of your odder claims. The English word "church" comes from the Greek "kyriakon" ("House of the Lord").
No Romance languages, Latin included -- and remember that Latin is the official language of the Catholic church -- use a word derived from "kyriakon" or cognate to "church". The word in Latin is "ecclesia". That looks an awful lot like the Greek "ekklesia" to me.
So how is "church" Rome's fault? Because everything is Rome's fault, sooner or later?
There is a remnant, within His church, like Gideon. The institution and intellitualism of itm has followed the 1st Covenent into false traditions, commandments of men.
Rev 12:17 (NASB) Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her children, those who
* keep the commandments of God and
* hold the testimony of Jesus.
You have faulty information. United Church of God, as an organization, was formed in 1995. Herbert Armstrong died in 1986. You're off by almost 10 years. You may want to do some research before posting:
See About UCG
Some of the more striking doctrines of the UCG are (1) rejection of the Trinity, (2) adoption of certain dietary laws and restrictions of the Hebrew Scriptures, (3) Saturday observance and (4) the particularly bizarre concept known as "British Israelitism."
The first three are certainly fundamental beliefs because they are beliefs that the 1st century church of Jesus Christ held.
"British Israelitism" is really a gross oversimplification of the belief that the leaders of the United States and Great Britain at one time believed the establishment of our countries were ordained and blessed by God. I think they were. As a result some of the prophecies and promises of the bible do extend to the present time and to our country. One of those prophecies is basically that we will go into captivity (economic or perhaps physical) because as a country we have turned on backs on the Lord Jesus Christ.
To better increase your understanding of the Lord and the early church you may wish to study some of these fundamental beliefs. Here's a good starting point:
The UCG is, I believe, currently split into two factions - the Luker group and the Kilough group.
Not even close. Dennis Luker has died and Clyde Kilough joined another group.
Thanks for the opportunity to set some of this straight!
Like Herbert W. Armstrong ...
But that doesn't cause any cult-related concerns.
The part that makes people concerned about the potential for cult-style issues is the "British Israelitism."
That part is explicitly racialist to begin with, and since it is so strange, so ahistorical, and so closely related to other movements that are definitely cults - like Christian Identity - it is heart of those concerns.
I would hope people would believe and understand scripture!
You would not want to pick a fight with those people and then go pat yourself on the back and gloat at church on how deceived the people on here are would you?
If my attitude were as you describe then that would be sinful. I would ask that the Lord open up my eyes to my sins and grant me repentance and mercy.
Herbert Armstrong was never involved with United Church of God. He was the "leader" of Worldwide Church of God. I never belonged to that organization. But I do know from some study that he never asked people to "blindly" accept what he said. Instead he urged people to verify what he said against scripture.
I think that's fair.
I Timothy 1:16: Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.
And at Damascus:
Acts 26:15: And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.
Acts 26:16: But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;
Acts 26:17: Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee
Christ Jesus HIMSELF NOW sends Paul to the Gentiles - unto whom now I [Christ Jesus] send thee [Paul]
Therefore, be forewarned as Christ Jesus (the Word) gave Paul these Words of warning:
Romans 2:16: In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
Granted with a caveat. Since the trinity is a doctrine that evolved over several centuries after the death of Christ by what became the Catholic church. Protestants decided to keep this tradition. However the trinity doctrine isn't a "Christian" belief, rather it's a TRADITIONAL Christian belief. There's no doubt that bible Christians had no clue that a trinity doctrine was going to developed.
I would be glad to identify myself as a biblical Christian or a 1st century Christian to make that distinction clearer.
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