The seventh distinctive mark of the true church

1. The church is not in conformity to this world

It is hard for some people to conceive the idea how the church could be in the world, but not of the world. But Jesus said quite emphatically; “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 truth” (John 17:14-17).

The church because of her status, is a living sacrifice to God, and has been admonished saying; “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God”.

The church has been forewarned 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” (Romans 12:1-2; Revelations 18:4).

So although we have been duly instructed to submit ourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good: For this is the will of God, that by doing good we may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men ---as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king” (1Peter 2:13-17).

Nevertheless, when it comes to our human body and the way we think we are to be careful to present it as a holy living sacrifice to God which is our reasonable service, for this is the will of God, our sanctification: that we should abstain from sexual immorality; that each one should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.

The main reason why the church should not be in conformity to this world it is because, the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned and the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So the way the world thinks and the way the church thinks is contrary to each other.

For example, the world has just used a kidney from a genetically modified pig and implanted it in a human being, should the church, the body of Christ, the temple of the Holy Spirit subject themselves to such defilement? The church therefore should take cognizance of what they allow to enter and associate with their body and what laws they subject themselves to for we ought to obey God rather than man.

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With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph

 

The sixth distinctive mark of the true church

f.  The church is appointed to believe God's testimony regarding His Son\

Now the testimony which God has given us regarding His Son is that; “There are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son.

He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son.  And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life' (1John 5:8-12).

God's testimony is that He has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Now the Son in Whom we have life said quite emphatically, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."

It is this testimony that has become to the Jews a stumbling block. For after hearing this statement, the Jews quarreled among themselves saying; “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?" And despite their rejection to the statement, the Lord reiterated it by saying; “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven --- not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever" (John 6:53-58).

To the Gentiles on the other hand this statement is foolishness, for after hearing Christ's statement they said; “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?" Now when Jesus noticed their apprehension, He said to them, "Does this offend you? What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe."

Only the twelve disciples believed Jesus Christ, for it is stated that, “From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?" But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom we shall go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." The sad thing is that, both Jews and Gentiles stumble at the Stone of stumbling and the rock of offense. They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.

I therefore beg to ask the question is this statement which was a stumbling block and a rock of offense to the Jews and Gentiles still a stumbling block and a rock of offence to us today?

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To be continued

With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph

The fifth distinctive mark of the true church

1. The church is appointed to be slaves of righteousness\

From the moment one is delivered from sin, he/she becomes a slave to righteousness, for it is written; “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness” (Romans 6:16-18).

One is either a slave of sin, or a slave of righteousness, and when one is a slave of sin he/she is free in regards to righteousness. In like manner, when one is a slave of righteousness, he/she is free in regards to sin. Now one becomes righteous by practicing the act of righteousness, for we have been admonished saying; “Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”

We have been further admonished saying; “In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous” (1John 3:10-12).

The righteousness of Abel came as the result of him offering to the Lord an offering that was acceptable to Him, For it is written; “By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks” (Hebrews 11:4).

We also have been imputed with righteousness; because of the acceptable sacrifice which Jesus Christ offered to the Father on our behalf, and it is this same acceptable sacrifice that we are required to offer to the Father continually in order to be righteous even as Christ Himself is righteousness.

For it is stated that; “For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life: For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:17-19).

Now, to those who despise the law and seems not to be able to understand the correlation between law and grace, I beg to ask the question, why is the law not made for a righteous person, but it is for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine (1Timothy 1:9-10)?

The answer to this seeming paradox to some is quite simple. The law is not made for a righteous person simply because the righteous person is already living within the confines of the law because, when we were slaves of sin (transgressing the law with impunity); we were free in regard to righteousness.

It is also very important to note and take into consideration that, it is by practicing and commemorating the act of righteousness by which man was imputed with righteousness that one maintains his/her state of righteousness.

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To be continued

With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph

The fourth distinctive mark of the true church

 

1. The Church is appointed to be Ambassadors for Christ

It is the responsibility of the church to fulfill the Lord's commission which states; “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 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; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen (Matthew 28:18-20).

God has appointed the church as ministers of the New Covenant, and has been admonished saying; “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:5-6).

The church has been committed with the word of reconciliation, and has been instructed saying; “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2Corinthians 5:18-21).

At the acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior we are to give thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:12-14).

At this juncture our citizenship is no longer that of this world; “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself” (Philippians 3:20-21).

Therefore, as ambassadors for Christ the church have been given the full authority to represent Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God on earth and should be living and practicing the principles of Gods kingdom as their lifestyle and not that of this world which violates the principles of God, for we are to obey God rather than man.

Our responsibility therefore is to; submit ourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good: For this is the will of God, that by doing good we may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men ---as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king” (1Peter 2:13-17).

The church is not a replica of the Jewish religion, neither is it a replica of the Gentile pagan religion. The church is the Way that has been consecrated in the flesh of Jesus Christ to grant us bold access to the Father. The objective of this Way is to, open the eyes of men [Jews as well as Gentiles] and turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Jesus Christ.

Therefore, as ambassadors of the kingdom of light we should have no affiliation with the political system of this world since the whole world is under the sway of the wicked one and Satan the dragon has given them his power, his throne, and great authority (1John 5:19; Revelation 13:2).

Our responsibility therefore is like that of all ambassadors which is to maintain diplomatic relations with the receiving state which in our case is the world and imploring them on Christ's behalf to be reconciled to God.

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To be continued

With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph

The third distinctive mark of the true church

1. The church is appointed to be the Body of Christ

As the body of Christ, the church is subject to Jesus Christ Who is the head of the body, Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. It is stated that; “For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body --- whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free --- and have all been made to drink into one Spirit:  For in fact the body is not one member but many” (1Corinthians 12:12-14).

In order for the church to experience growth and development as the body of Christ, it is imperative that she speaks the truth in love, so as to grow up in all things into Jesus Christ who is the head, and from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

God has placed each member of His body in the position He wants them to be and so we have been admonished by the apostle Paul saying; “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.

Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness” (Romans 12:3-8).

For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body --- whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free --- and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many.

If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body," is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body," is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed there are many members, yet one body” (1Corinthians 12:12-20).

But what binds and holds the body together as one, is the communion, sharing, or fellowship of the body of Christ. For it is written; “Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men; judge for your-selves what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion (sharing) of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread” (1Corinthians 10:14-17).

And it is by us drawing near to the Father with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water, holding fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And considering one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

 We should therefore all be speaking the same thing and there should be no divisions among us, but that we be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment for God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.

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With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph

 

The second distinctive mark of the true church

1. The church is appointed to be God's spiritual temple

Not only is the church appointed to be a chosen generation, a royal priesthood and a holy nation but it is also appointed to be the spiritual temple of God and has received the instructions to; “Come to Him (Jesus Christ) 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” (1Peter 2:4-5).

The church is the household of God and so we have been duly admonished saying; “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:19-22).

The foundation on which our spiritual temple is being built is on the four corner stone of our salvation  as we have been duly admonished saying; “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God --- and righteousness and sanctification and redemption ---that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the LORD" (1 Corinthians 1:25-31).

So the four corner stone of our salvation are:

•           Jesus Christ

In taking on the nature of man, Jesus Christ became the wisdom and power of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

•           Jesus Christ our Righteousness

Through the death of Jesus Christ He made all things right with the Father and He is presently seated at the right hand of the Father interceding on our behalf.

•           Jesus Christ our Sanctification

Through the death of His body Jesus Christ sanctifies us and set us apart and He gave us His flesh to eat in the form of the Unleavened Bread.

•           Jesus Christ our redemption

We receive redemption through His blood the forgiveness for our sins

As the Lord's spiritual temple, it is the church's responsibility to keep her pure from sexual immorality. For we have been admonished saying; “Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's” (1Corinthians 6:18-20).

The church has also been duly instructed saying; “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 4:3-8).

We are told that, “Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water (flesh) by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.”

Therefore, the main objective of the church is to attain what was ordained for it even before the foundation of the world which is, to be holy, for it is written; “ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love” (Ephesians 1:3-4).

To be holy simply means to be free from sin and defilement of the human body and believe it or not, the Lord has made all the provisions necessary to present to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

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To be continued

With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph

 

Seven distinctive marks of the true church

The true church, the body of Christ is distinguished and manifested in seven distinctive ways which are as follows;

1. The church is appointed to be a royal priesthood

Members of the church are the chosen people of the Chosen Stone, of whom it is written; “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His 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” (1 Peter 2:9-10).

The main responsibility of the church as a royal priesthood, “is to be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God, for they offer the offerings of the Lord made by fire (zeal), and the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy.” And the way the church becomes holy is synonymous to how Aaron the high priest and his sons were made holy which is stated as follows; “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” (Leviticus 21:6; Exodus 29:32-33).

The same way it was the responsibility of Aaron and his sons to eat of those things with which the atonement was made to consecrate and sanctify them, so must the church eat of those things with which the atonement was made, which is the body and blood of Jesus Christ in order for them to be consecrated and sanctified but an outsider shall not partake of it because it is holy. And so the admonition is; “Coming 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 2:4-5).

Unfortunately, this is the downfall of many so called religious institutions, even labelling the church as a sanctuary for sinners, what a delusion? This is the stone which the builders rejected and has become the chief cornerstone," and” a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense:" They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed” (1Peter 2:7-8).

The church is appointed as a nation of priests in order to offer to the Lord the food for His offerings at their appointed time. And so we have been duly instructed saying; “Command the children of Israel, and say to them, 'My offering, My food for My offerings made by fire as a sweet aroma to Me, you shall be careful to offer to Me at their appointed time.” There is one specific offering for every offering one offers to the Lord, and there are specific times for specific offerings; for example, there is an appointed time to offer the Lord the regular or thanks giving offering, which is morning and evening, and also at the appointed time to have a holy convocation to offer the peace or fellowship offering (Numbers 28:2; Leviticus 23:37).

God's covenant with Levi (the priesthood) is continuous, for thus He said; "My covenant was with him, one of life and peace, and I gave them to him that he might fear Me; So he feared Me and was reverent before My name. The law of truth was in his mouth, and injustice was not found on his lips. He walked with Me in peace and equity, and turned many away from iniquity.

“For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, and people should seek the law from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. But you have departed from the way; you have caused many to stumble at the law. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi," Says the Lord of hosts. Therefore I also have made you contemptible and base before all the people, because you have not kept My ways but have shown partiality in the law" (Malachi 2:5-9).

The covenant of the Lord with regards to the priesthood is so permanent that He said to the prophet Jeremiah "For thus says the Lord: 'David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; nor shall the priests, the Levites, lack a man to offer burnt offerings before Me, to kindle grain offerings, and to sacrifice continually.'

And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, "Thus says the Lord: 'If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that there will not be day and night in their season, then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levites, the priests, My ministers. As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me " (Jeremiah 33:17-22).

And so the reason why the majority of us stumble, it is because we are disobedient to the word to which also we were appointed, which is to be a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own special people, that we may proclaim the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.

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To be continued

With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph