Is the Church a
sanctuary for sinners?
I recently watched a television
program, and the Host asked the participants the question, “Where do you find
most sinners?” The first participant replied, “In the church”, and she scored a
hefty twenty nine (29 points. Another participant was asked the similar
question, and he replied, “In hell”, he scored only six 6) points. Then the
host said, “church was the number one answer”.
Church is indeed a sanctuary, but is it
a sanctuary for sinners! Or is it a sanctuary for the sacred (holy) things of
God?
The church in the true sense of the
word is the body of Christ, as clearly explained by the apostle Paul who after
explaining about the unity and diversity that should exist in One body wrote; “Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually” (1Corinthians
12:27).
It is clearly stated that Jesus Christ,
“is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence” (Colossians
1:18).
Now since the church is the body of
Christ, in whom we are told, “dwells all the fullness of the
Godhead bodily; and that we are complete in Him, who is the head of
all principality and power.” The logical question is, how can the church be a
sanctuary for sinners?
When, in
order to have fellowship with one another, which incidentally is also with the
Father and the Son, we have been duly admonished saying; “This is the message
which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him
is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him,
and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in
the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ
His Son cleanses us from all sin.
If we say
that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If
we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not
sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us” (1
John 1:5-10).
So I beg
to ask the question, are not the adulterers, fornicators, gays, lesbians, and
drug addicts walking in darkness? So how does that square with the fact that,
God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have
fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth?
The irony of truth is, despite the fact
that Jesus Christ Himself made a clear distinction between the church (the body
of believers) and the world, people refuse to make this distinction, assuming a
more loving, compassionate, and pitiful attitude than Christ Himself Who said;
“I have given them Your word; and the world has
hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
I do not pray that You
should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the
world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is struth. As You sent Me into the
world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they
also may be sanctified by the truth” (John 17:14-19).
Believers
have been duly forewarned to come out from the system to which the dragon
(Satan) has given his power, his throne and great authority. They have been
forewarned saying; "Babylon the great is
fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for
every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird!
For all the nations have drunk (deceived)of
the wine (doctrine) of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth
have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become
rich through the abundance of her luxury."
And I heard another voice from
heaven saying, "Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins,
and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to
heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities” (Revelations
18:2-5).
Remember that Jesus Christ did not come
to destroy either the law or the prophets, and to one of the prophets the Lord
said, “The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst
is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured people; they have
taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst.
Her priests have violated My law and profaned My holy
things; they have not distinguished between the holy and unholy, nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden
their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.
Her princes in her midst are like
wolves tearing the prey, to shed blood, to destroy people, and to get dishonest
gain” (Ezekiel 22:25-27).
And to another prophet, this is what
the Lord said concerning those who enter the gates to worship Him; "Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit.
Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to
Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know, and then come
and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, 'We are
delivered to do all these abominations'? Has this house, which is called
by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen
it," says the LORD” (Jeremiah 7:8-11).
One of the main reasons why people
refuse to make a clear distinction between the holy and the profane, and
refusing to teach the difference between the clean and the unclean is because
of dishonest gains, and fame. But there
is a protocol by which one can appear before the Almighty God, and it is by
abiding by the instructions which says; “by those
who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; And before all the people I must
be glorified.' “(Leviticus 10:3).
Now to
regard the Lord as holy, one must also himself be holy, for it is written;
“Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully
upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as
in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be
holy in all your conduct, because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:13-16).
Now there
is one and only way by which one becomes holy, and it is by eating of the
things by which the atonement was made. For thus it is written; “Then Aaron and
his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket,
by the door of the tabernacle of meeting. They shall eat those
things with which the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them;
but an outsider shall not eat them, because they are holy” (Exodus
29:32-33).
It is the
requirement of everyone who seeks an audience with the Lord to, “Pursue peace
with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:” And
what gives one the assurance and boldness to draw near to the Father is as the
apostle Paul says; “ Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest
by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated
for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High
Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in
full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience
and our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews
10: 19-22).
It is
imperative that believers understand their status as members of the church.
Those who constitute the church are regarded as, “a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, His (God's) own special people, that you may
proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous
light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who
had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy”.
As a
nation of priests and the Lord's chosen people, our main objective is to, “Come
to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and
precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual
house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God
through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2: 9-10,4- 5).
As a
nation of priests, their objective is be holy to their God and not profane the
name of their God, for they offer the offerings of the Lord, and the bread of
their God; therefore they shall be holy. It is for this reason believers have
been duly instructed saying; “I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company
with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the
sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners,
or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.'
“But now I have written to you not to keep company with
anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater,
or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner --- not even to eat with such a
person. For what have I to do with judging those also who are
outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are
outside God judges: Therefore, "put away from
yourselves the evil person" (1 Corinthians 5:9-13).
The high
calling of the believer is that of holiness, and therefore have been admonished
saying; “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what
fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light
with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part
has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: " I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be
their God, and they shall be My people" (2 Corinthians 6:14-16).
So how could this group of people called the church be a sanctuary
for sinners? Except it has been converted to the synagogue of Satan! One should
be careful not to misconstrued the church's commission which is to, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have
commanded you;” with the status of the
one who has been delivered from the power of darkness and conveyed into the kingdom of the Son of God's love,
in whom we have redemption through His
blood, the forgiveness of sins.
The growth of the church comes not by inviting the world into the
church, and allowing it to become a sanctuary for sinners, but by those who
gladly received the word becoming baptized; And
continue steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking
of bread, and in prayers, praising God and having favor with all the people,
and the Lord will add to the church daily those who were being saved.
Truly these times of ignorance
God has overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent.
Copyright © 2014 by Lucius Joseph
All
rights reserved
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