According to the Bible, the
right to serve the living God is not given to all men but to a specific group of
people. From out of this world, God set apart the godly for Himself. It
is therefore essential for people to understand how God will call and
draw people into fellowship or union with Christ, so that people might
come into right standing with God, thus
regaining the right to serve the Him.
30B.1
Can anyone go directly to Christ so he can attain salvation and eternal
life?
In John 6:44, our Lord Christ Jesus explains:
No man can come to Me, unless the Father
who sent Me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. (NKJV)
Christ said: No one can go to Him unless he is
first drawn by the Father, then sent to Him.
30B.2
How does the Father draw people to go to Christ?
The same verse John 6:44, in
the Amplified Bible version, this is written:
No one is able to come to Me unless the Father Who sent Me attracts
and draws him and gives him the desire to come to Me, and [then]
I will raise him up [from the dead] at the last day. (John 6:44,
Amplified Bible)
God the Father draw people by
attracting and giving them the desire to go to Christ.
30B.3 How does
God the Father actually call
or draw
people to Christ?
In I Corinthians 1:9, it is recorded:
God is faithful, who
has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
(TNIV)
The same verse in other versions of
the Bible:
God is
entirely trustworthy, and it is He through whom you have been
called into this fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
(William's NewTestament)
God the Father call people to Christ
by calling them into fellowship with His Son.
30B.4 What does "called into
fellowship with Christ" mean?
The same verse 1 Cor. 1:9, in the
International English Bible, this is written:
God called you into a relationship of sharing with His Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful. (International
English)
Having "fellowship with Christ" also mean
"sharing relationship with
Christ".
30B.5
What will this
"relationship with Christ" lead to and what will it achieve?
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)
"Relationship sharing
with Christ" will ultimately lead to a "union with Christ", so
that people might come into right standing with God.
God made Christ (who knew nothing of sin)
to share the sins of the people were called by God into fellowship or
union with Christ, so that in union with Christ, they may come to share
the righteousness of God or they come into right standing with God.
30B.6 Where can you find those who
were called by the Father to have fellowship or union with Christ?
In Colossians 3:15, it is written:
And let the peace of God rule in your
hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. (NKJV)
The people who called by God to have
fellowship or union with Christ are in the "one body".
Which is the one body?
The answer is given in the following verses:
And he is the head of the body, the church:
. . . . .
. . . . . (Col. 1:18, KJV)
"Take heed
therefore to yourselves and to all the flock over which the Holy
Spirit has appointed you overseers, to feed the Church of
Christ which he has purchased with his Blood."
(Acts 20:28, LBP)
And that "one body" is none
other than the Church who's
head is Christ. The true Church of Christ.
30B.7 What
is the reason why God calls or draws people into the true Church of
Christ?
In Acts 2:47, it is clearly written:
praising God and
having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church
daily those who were being saved. (NKJV)
Our Lord God, the Father calls and adds
people to the
true Church of Church daily, so that they can be saved.
30B.8
What will Christ's give to
those people added to the Church by God or given
to Him by God through the Church?
In John 17:2,
Jesus said this in His prayer to the Father
in heaven:
"as You have given Him authority over
all flesh, that He should give
eternal life to as many as You have
given Him.
(NKJV)
Christ
will give "eternal life" to the people given
to Him by God.
Thus the true Church of Christ
is essential in the attainment of salvation and eternal life for all the
people called by God in order to serve Him.
This is all in accordance with God's
master plan of salvation for the Church through Jesus Christ.
(Ephesians 3:21, LVB) Topic 28E
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No one can go to Christ unless he is
first drawn by the Father, then sent to Christ. The Father brings people to Christ by calling them into fellowship
or union with His Son. And that fellowship or union with Christ is in the "one body"
which is the Church headed by Christ — the True Church of Christ. Thus,
the Lord God adds to the Church daily those who should be saved, for God
Himself gave
authority to Christ so He should give eternal
life to all people who was given to Him by
God.
Therefore, it
is only God the Father who can bring people to Christ and if the Father
doesn't draw them, then they cannot go directly to Him. This is
the only way and there is no other way. This biblical truth is contrary to the
popular belief that anyone can go directly to Christ and accept Him as
his personal savior and he is saved, thus negating the role of the true
Church of Christ in the salvation of men
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