The "One New
Man" is rightfully called the "Church of
Christ" for it is Christ who died and
purchased (paid for) the Church with His own
blood (Acts 20:28)
This is all accordance with God's
master plan of salvation for the Church
through Jesus Christ (Ephesians
3:21, LVB)
28F.1 If Christ and
men composed the "One New Man" which is rightfully called the
Church of Christ, then, who is Christ in the
"One
New Man"?
Colossians 1:18, explains:
And he is the head of the body, the church: . . . . . . . . . .
(Col:1:18, KJV)
Christ is the Head of the Body and
His Body is the
Church.
28F.2 What must Man
be in the Body headed by Christ?
In 1 Corinthians 12:27, Apostle Paul said:
Now you
are the body of Christ, and members individually. (NKJV)
The same verse in
another version of the Bible::
Now all of you together are Christ's body, and each one of you
is a separate and necessary part of it. (NLT)
All together they became the body of Christ, and each one is
separate and necessary member or part of it.
28F.3
If
Christ is the head of the Body (the church),
and men are members individually of the Body, what is Christ God given duty as Head
of the Body?
In Ephesians
5:23, this is written:
For the husband is head of the wife,
as also Christ is head of the church;
and He is the Savior of the body. (NKJV)
Christ
is the Savior of His Body葉he Church.
Did God made Jesus as Leader and Savior for
the forgiveness of sins?
In
Acts 5:30-31, this is recorded:
You killed Jesus by nailing him to a
cross. But the God our ancestors
worshiped raised him to life and made him our Leader and Savior. Then
God gave him a place at his right
side, so that the people of Israel
would turn back to him and be
forgiven. (CEV)
Yes
definitely, God
raised Jesus to life and made Him Leader
and Savior. God placed Him at His right
hand so people would turn back to Him
and be forgiven.
_______________
So Christ is the Savior of His Body葉he
Church. And the Church is composed of all
the people who have faith in Him. They are
the ones called by God (Colossians 3:15) and
added to the Church (Acts 2:47) in order to
be saved. Although Christ is the
Savior, He is only the Savior of His Body (the Church) and not the Savior of those outside His Body, nor will
He save anyone who is not a member of His Church (Topic 30E), because
He will be violating God's standing law on sinners (Topic 28C).
28F.4
How did Apostle Paul
explain the relationship of Christ (as head of
the Body), and
His Body葉he Church?
In the following verses
which are written in Chapter 5 of Ephesians:
25. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave
Himself for it,
29. For no one ever hated his own
flesh, but nourishes and cherishes
it, just as the Lord does the church.
30. For we are members of His body,
of His flesh and of His bones.
31. "For this reason a man shall leave
his father and mother and be joined to
his wife, and the two shall become
one flesh.''
32. This is a great mystery, but I
speak concerning Christ and the church.
(NKJV)
Apostle Paul likened Christ's
relationship with His church as that of a
husband and wife葉hey are like one flesh.
Christ and His Church are joined together
according to God's design. In the sight of
God, Christ and His Church are one.
28F.5
So Christ and His Church have become one in His
sight, what did God do so Christ can share the sins of the members of
His Church, thus they become right with God without violating His laws
on sinners?
In 2 Corinthians 5:21, this is written:
Christ was without sin, but
for our sake God made him share our sin in order that in union with
him we might share the righteousness of God. (TEV)
The same verse in
another version of the Bible:
He made Him who personally knew nothing of sin to be a
sin-offering<k> for us, so that through union with Him we might come
into right standing with God. (William's NewTestament)
God made Christ (who knew nothing of
sin) to share the sins of the members of His Church, so that in union
with Him, they may come to share the righteousness of God or they come
into right standing with God.
28F.6
Is Christ's relationship with His Church really hard
to understand? How did Apostle Paul described their relationship?
In Ephesians 5:32 in several versions of the
Bible, these are written:
This is a great mystery. (I'm talking
about Christ's relationship to the
church.) (GodsWord)
This mystery is very great, but I
speak concerning [the relation of]
Christ and the church. (Amplified
Bible)
I know this is hard to understand, but
it is an illustration of the way we are
parts of the body of Christ. (LVB)
This is a great secret. (I am talking
about between Christ and the people whom
God has called out.) (IEB)
There is a deep
secret truth revealed in this scripture,
which I understand as applying to Christ
and the church.
(TEV)
Apostle Paul confirms the existence of a
great mystery or great secret which is hard
to understand about
Christ
relationship with His Church. It is hard to
understand because it deals with God's
master plan of salvation for the Church
through Jesus Christ
(Lessons 28 &30).
28F.7
How dangerous is it, if someone fail to fully
understand this great mysterious relationship between Christ and His Church?
In
II Peter 3:16, this is written:
In all of his letters, he
writes the same way about all these
things. There are some things in those
letters which are hard to understand.
Some weak and uneducated people twist
those things just as they do the other
Scriptures. When they do this, they
destroy themselves. (IEB)
The same
verse in other version of the Bible:
speaking of this as he does in all
his letters.
There are some things in them hard
to understand, which the ignorant
and unstable twist to their own
destruction, as they do the other
scriptures. (RSV)
Certainly there are there are some
thing's in the scriptures that are hard to
understand, which the ignorant and unstable
twist to their own destruction.
Unable to
understand the scriptures, these false
preachers twist the
scriptures to suit their own purpose, thus
bringing to themselves and their listeners, destruction on the
day of Judgment.
___________
In
accord with God's plan, the relationship
between Christ and men in the "One New Man"
is that Christ is the Head of the Body, the
Church (Col. 1:18) and Man must be
"members individually" in the Body. (1 Cor.
12:27,KJV) In the eyes of God,
Christ葉he Head, and the Church幽is Body, is
the One New Man. God made Christ as the
Savior of the Body葉he church. (Ephesians
5:23) Although The Church is not the
Savior (Christ is the Savior), however the
Church is the only means through which
Christ will save the members of His Body葉he
Church. This is God's way of putting people
right with Himself.
Failure to understand the
right relationship of Christ and His Church has led
to various conflicting beliefs about salvation. Foremost of these beliefs is the
faith alone concept of salvation which negate the role of the true church in
the salvation of man.
Note: The biblical truth that Christ as the Savior of the
Church is contrary to the popular belief that Christ is the Savior of
everyone who have faith in Him. To them membership in the Church is not
necessary for salvation.
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