The Church of God which soujourneth...

[Joshua]

Greetings and Peace to you all!

I thought I'd kick off my first day here with a small flurry of activity, and the most logical place to begin seems to be with a discussion on the Church.

In this day and age, with our myriad of denominations and a multitude of approaches to the Christian Faith, we find at the very least one common principle; all groups profess to be part of the Church of God.

Since the Church of God is One, I ask all of you, what do you feel defines the Church of God? What does it mean to be a part of the Church, and what responsibilities go along with that? Also, do you feel that there are any "must have" beliefs for a group to legitimately be a part of the Church?

I eagerly await your responses! :)

[Joshua]

Hello Brother Joe,

Seems like nobody else wants to play with us this week. Tis okay, they can play catch up when they join in :D

For me, the Church of God is one and it enjoys it's unity on three major levels:

Physical Unity: The Church of God, dispersed through the ancient world were loosely connected, at first through the Apostles, and then through their successors. Polycarp went to visit Anicetus in Rome to discuss something as "non-essential" as the secular dating of Pascha... and even when they couldn't agree, they refused to break the unity. Later generations appealed to this accord as a reason to continue the normalized relationship.

Cyprian, when writing to Euchratius regarding a new Christian who had to leave his profession due to it's un-Godly nature encouraged the Church of God under the care of Euchratius to care for this new brother's physical needs, and if they were unable to bear the burden, to send him to the care of the Church of God under the care of Cyprian, and they would care for his needs. Such was the level of literal, physical, communal unity of the Church of God as dispersed through the nations.

Doctrinal Unity: The Church of God dispersed in many cities believed the same thing, and professed one faith in one voice. This much is again echoed by the Apostles and their successors. Ignatius on the way to his execution wrote back to the Church in the dispersion of how beautiful it was to see the pure Gospel continuing to be preached everywhere he went. When Polycarp visited Anicetus, as a sign of their shared unity Anicetus allowed Polycarp to preside at the Mystery of the Eucharist. This couldn't have happened unless they shared the same faith and understanding of this act.

Sacramental Unity: All Members of the Church entered through the same Mystery of Initiation, our birth of Water and Spirit and this format was so well attested to that it was easy for the members of the Church to be assured of it's proper execution. The same can be said of the Eucharist... it was possible for Polycarp of Smyrna to perform the Liturgy in a manner that was recognizable to the Christians of Rome, even if his prayers were offered extemporaneously.

These forms of unity exist whether or not we are partakers of them, and if we choose to exist outside of them, then verily we choose to exist outside the Church of God... and woe to those who are outside the Body of Christ.

So I ask you my brothers, is it not time that we conform not to the standard of man, but of God? Shall we not long to fulfill Christ's prayer for His Church; "that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me"

To that end, I leave you with the words of Clement of Rome:

He who is full of love will incur every loss, that peace may be restored to the Church.

Who then among you is noble-minded? who compassionate? who full of love? Let him declare, “If on my account sedition and disagreement and schisms have arisen, I will depart, I will go away whither soever ye desire, and I will do whatever the majority commands; only let the flock of Christ live on terms of peace with the presbyters set over it.” He that acts thus shall procure to himself great glory in the Lord; and every place will welcome him. For “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” These things they who live a godly life, that is never to be repented of, both have done and always will do.


Peace and be well,
Joshua

[Rev. Timothy Buss]

Very nicely done, Joshua. Sorry I could not "play" more this week...been kind of busy...I will get more involved next week.

[Joshua]

No worries Brother Timothy,

I was hoping to tease some of the other people who might be lurking around into coming to join us. I know even if you're not posting, you know what's going on around here ;-).

Take care,
Joshua

Rev. Timothy Buss said:

Very nicely done, Joshua. Sorry I could not "play" more this week...been kind of busy...I will get more involved next week.

[Kent Wheeler]

I will give this one a shot.Hear Believe Repent Confess,and be Baptized for the Remission of Sin.The Lord will add a Person to his Church.How do I know.? He said so. see.Acts 2:38 thru 47.Romans 10:9,10. One must be faithful until death Rev 2:10.I can be assured of this because the scriptures say so.
Blessings Fr.Kent

[Joshua]

Peace to you Brother Kent!

Thanks for playing with us, it's a pleasure to have another join the discussion :).

While I thank you for your position, what you seem to have described is the individual path to salvation, and the way to join the Church... and yet we have missed the crux of the discussion.

As you know Baptism is an entrance into the Church, and is offered by the Elders of the Church, in keeping with the Order and Dignity of the Church. In turn, part of our life-long faith is to participate in the Lord's Supper, and to not forsake the fellowship of believers.

This immediately brings our individual salvation back to the realm of the Corporate Body that is the Church. Even within Holy Scripture are we exhorted to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered, for many will come seeking to lead us astray, desiring to defile the Pure Bride... therefore it is of the utmost importance for every believer, but most importantly for those who call themselves Shepherds of the Lord's Flock to weigh their traditions and judge justly... where is the Church of God found?

For there are several "churches" in the world, and yet the scriptures most assuredly tell us we are all members of One Body, that the Church of God is one.

The witness of the disciples of the Apostles likewise echos this call, the Church of God is one! And the Church of God is founded on Orthodoxy and Orthopraxy (Right belief, and right practice/praxis). Schism and Heresy do not belong within the Church of God, for she must be a Pure Bride unto our Lord, the ever faithful Bridge-groom.

So I ask you now again:

What do you feel defines the Church of God?
What does it mean to be a part of the Church, and what responsibilities go along with that?
Also, do you feel that there are any "must have" beliefs for a group to legitimately be a part of the Church?

I eagerly await your replies. And thank you again for joining our discussion ;D

Peace and be well,
Joshua

[Rev.Daniel T Webb]

Hi brother, Joshua Greetings in Jesus name,
Acts 2:38-42 is the key along with Jude Three. The apostles doctrine,( the faith, the keys of Peter,the Apostolic oral teachings ii Thess.2:15, I corithians 11:1, the three creeds of the church)the Apostles fellowship( apostolic succession and the broader fellowship of the Holy Spirit as Irenaeus said where the Spirit of God is there is the Church and where the Church is there is the Spirit. Volume 1 Ante-Nicene fathers)breaking of bread( communion\euacharist) prayers( Common prayer in unity in liturgy) Hwere these are and as long as another Gospel is not preached as Paul said in galatians 1 we see the Church of God, imperfect but the church still.This is my view of the church. It has as does the roman catholic church many birds of error in it. see revalations 17-21. The church of rome is the whore of Babylon the great and she along with most of the orthodox so-called churches and the rest of the world council of churches are in apostate state of error and have been in such since the 4 and 5 centuries and have only become worse over the years.