[an error occurred while processing this directive] TheBible.net: Striving To Be The Church
Striving To Be The Church
by Jimmy Jividen
    How does the church of Christ exist without institutional machinery and names by which human denominations find their identity? The church of Christ has no human creed, publishes no official paper, possesses no national or international headquarters, and acknowledges no clergy. Its identity is not derived from a historical person or some cultural circumstances but in the person and teachings of its founder, Jesus Christ. The basis for what one believes and practices is to be found in the Scriptures inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures are to he understood by the common sense hermeneutical principle of "speaking where the Scriptures speak and being silent where the Scriptures are silent."

    The Scriptures are the basis of believing in Jesus Christ as the one Lord. They are the basis for accepting the one faith. They are the basis of becoming a part of the one body. They are the basis for holding last to the one hope.

    Every generation is responsible for searching the Scriptures to discover the identity and function of the church Jesus built in the first century. The next step is to use this understanding to restore the church as it was before the corrupting influence of the culture caused it to compromise and finally totally apostatize.

    The church is not a mere historical movement of the ancient past but a dynamic, fluid movement of the contemporary present - always becoming. The goal is not to restore the church at Corinth with all of her problems. Restoration means to learn what the Holy Spirit guided Paul to write to correct their problems. It is the "ideal church" reflected in the Scriptures that is to be restored.

    The church of Christ in the present lime is fraught by problems similar to those that existed in the church in the first century. Inspired men revealed the will of God to churches then on how to solve their problems. The same


The devil will never cease trying to lead the church
away from what God intended it to be. Those who
believe must continue on in the restoration of
the church of Jesus Christ.


solutions apply to church problems today. The church then faced persecution, discouragement and division. The same is true today. The church then was tempted to assimilate with pagan culture and compromise with materialistic morality. The same is true today. These things will always be a part of the human predicament. They do not nullify the ideal for which Christians strive but instead are challenges for them to become all that God desires His church to be.

    The church of Christ is a divine institution. It was planned by God before the foundation of the world. It was purchased by Christ's blood in His death on the cross. The Holy Spirit of God dwells in it. All who have been saved are in it. It comprises God's family, Christ’s family and the temple of the Holy Spirit. The church is God's unshakable kingdom. Jesus loved the church so much that He died for it. The church is the holy temple of God's Spirit and must not be corrupted with the errors of men or be desecrated by sins of men.

    There will never be a time when the devil will cease to lead the church away from what God intended it to be. There will never be a time for those who believe to cease with the restoration of the church of Jesus Christ.

    I like the response that someone gave to the question, "What church are you a member of?" He said, "I am striving to be a member of the ideal church of Christ as revealed in the Scripture." In this statement there is no self-centered arrogance that implies that one knows all and practices all things in a perfect way. He must constantly search to see if what he believes is the same as the Scriptures teach. It is a perpetual restoration. The door is not closed to a better understanding of God's Word. Truth is still truth even if it differs from what one has believed. The Restoration Movement is not merely a historical movement of the recent past; it is a perpetual yearning of everyone who is serious about being a disciple of Jesus Christ.

This item originally appeared in Gospel Advocate (August 2003)


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