Who Is The True Church Of Jesus Christ?

This thread, like many others is, has been born out of a debate that has been brewing in another thread, so here it goes:

1. Who or What is the true Church of Jesus Christ?

It is my contention that true Church of Jesus Christ is made up of all the true belivers in Jesus Christ and are trusting in his substitutionary work by faith, for the hope of salvation, and know this by God's Holy Spirit and Holy Word.

This group is made up of a universal body that trancends denominational affiliations such as: Presbrytarianism, the Baptists, Anglican, Methodists, Pentecostalism to name a few. But the universal Church which can only be seen by Jesus Christ (because who really knows who's in the faith and who isn't) agree in Spirit on basic principles that are undisputable, and those are:

1. The Sinfulness of man, whereby Adam sinned and the whole race of man sinned in Adam. This is known as original sin.

2. Therefore mankind needed another Adam, by which God sent his son, Jesus, into the world, born of a virgin, by which Jesus was not born with original sin, but had to live a life in perfect righteousness, wherein he would become the perfect and acceptable sacrifice to the offended party-- God the Father. Jesus lived without sin, died on behalf of sinners, was raised on the third day, was seen by all, and ascended to heaven 40 days later, where he now waits till the time that the Father has set for his son to return to earth.

3. It is by faith in Jesus that we accept his subtitutionary work and Christ imputes his rigteousness to us and our sinfulness to him that we become right in the eyes of God, so that when God the father looks at us . . . he sees not our sinfulness, but the impecable righteousness of Jesus. This is what makes salvation about grace and not about works . . . this is what makes grace truly grace, because we are incapable of good, and so it takes and alien righteousness to make us acceptable.

These are Biblical truths from God to man, from Jesus and Paul to us, passed down from the Church fathers and restored with the reformers and what it is preached by Recovery Theologians like John Piper and John McCarthur today.

The true Church of Jesus is not based upon mode of baptism or Church government, or whether or not you speak in a strange toungue, but rather or not you have exclusive faith in the son of God, Jesus Christ, and you are trusting in his substitutionary work for the hope of your salvation and forgiveness of sins. Those who hold to this view . . . I belive they will be saved . . . and are the true Church of Christ.

Let's discuss

http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14172

I meant to post a link to my answer in this thread:
http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/showthread.php?postid=235912#poststop

I prefer a clean slate coming from my perspective

It's traditional for Christians to define themselves according to what they believe and what authority they accept; that's one of the reasons I'm no longer a Christian and no longer believe there is any such thing as a True Church.

However, of all the Christian statements of faith I've ever seen, this is the most bizarre. It emphasizes original sin (or the unfortunate Western misunderstanding of that doctrine, which amounts to inherited guilt) and substitutionary atonement -- doctrines that have never been universal among Christians and are not found in the historic Christian creeds -- while omitting mention of such traditionally essential doctrines as the Holy Trinity and the resurrection of the body.

Other problems with this statement:

It requires that Christians "have exclusive faith in the son of God, Jesus Christ," which is surely a poor way of phrasing any kind of Trinitarian statement of faith.

It requires that Christian be "trusting in his substitutionary work for the hope of your salvation and forgiveness of sins," effectively excluding those who seek God for his own sake.

It claims that Jesus "had to live a life in perfect righteousness, wherein he would become the perfect and acceptable sacrifice..." I believe that from the point of view of Christian orthodoxy this is formal heresy.

But apart from any problems with this particular statement, there's the greater problem common among Christians, that they consider the teachings of Jesus of less importance than teachings about Jesus. There's nothing in this statement of faith -- or most statements of faith -- about following Jesus, about loving God or one's neighbor, and thus it is, like most statements of faith, essentially worthless -- an exercise in Christian idolatry in which dogma, vain imaginings and theological fantasies take the place of supreme importance.

The true Church of Jesus is not based upon mode of baptism or Church government, or whether or not you speak in a strange toungue, but rather or not you have exclusive faith in the son of God, Jesus Christ, and you are trusting in his substitutionary work for the hope of your salvation and forgiveness of sins. Those who hold to this view . . . I belive they will be saved . . . and are the true Church of Christ.

Very well said.

I believe that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the true church. But we also believe that other religions have some truth. Some religions have very little truth and some have a lot. We believe that we are the only religion that has the fullness of the Gospel. A lot of people say that if you don't believe in the "true religion" or the religion that they think is true that you won't be saved or that you'll go to hell. This doesn't really seem merciful. We believe that you'll have an opportunity after you die, if your not a member, to except or deny the gospel.

I believe the Church of Christ is the true church. I do not mean the organization or religion, but the church as God intended without the strappings of religion. The Church of Christ is composed of Christ's followers; those who seek out the narrow path with reason. Ultimately, the Church is composed of the people God places within it. It is independent of religion.

Searcher of Light said:

I believe the Church of Christ is the true church. I do not mean the organization or religion, but the church as God intended without the strappings of religion. The Church of Christ is composed of Christ's followers; those who seek out the narrow path with reason. Ultimately, the Church is composed of the people God places within it. It is independent of religion.

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Amen to that!

I believe the Catholics where the 1st true Church, at least the 1st that Peter started. Now-a-days? Where two or more are gathered in his name. That's a true church. There is no 'the' true church. There are many true churches. And when people think that their church is 'the' true church, I find it to be the opposite. Does not Christ teach us to be humble? How is that humble? I find that boastful.

may said:

Who really is the faithful and discreet slave whom his master appointed over his domestics, to give them their food at the proper time? 46 Happy is that slave if his master on arriving finds him doing so. 47 Truly I say to YOU, He will appoint him over all his belongings ..matthew 24;45-47 This is the class of people that is being directed by Jesus christ in these last days and they are feeding the flock with lots and lots of tasty spiritual food, and it tastes just great and there is lots and lots to go around to fill the flock up, so they are not spiritually starved they are well fed and able to share it with others . and those who are taking in this food will know where it is

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Just to be clear...this is your definition of the "true church"?

Victor said:

It was quite genious of Satan and man to start more religions. The more the confusion the better. Nonetheless, I'm sure God takes that into account.

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I so agree with you there...

I believe the true church is the church that follows only the Bible. They do not add things to it. They do not take away things from it. They do only what God has commanded them to do. The true church follows the examples of the apostles & New Testament Christians. They have elders and deacons. Members of the true church pray for one another. They strive to bring others in. They are always kind to everyone. They care about others. The take care of one another.

That is all the "true" church is. A group of loving Christians who are following the Bible.

Christiangirl0909 said:

I believe the true church is the church that follows only the Bible. They do not add things to it. They do not take away things from it. They do only what God has commanded them to do. The true church follows the examples of the apostles & New Testament Christians. They have elders and deacons. Members of the true church pray for one another. They strive to bring others in. They are always kind to everyone. They care about others. The take care of one another.

That is all the "true" church is. A group of loving Christians who are following the Bible.

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So there is no true church then.

Christiangirl0909 said:

The true church follows the examples of the apostles & New Testament Christians. They have elders and deacons.

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Sounds reasonable. But if the true church has elders and deacons (as I believe it does), it would be logical to assume that it would also have prophets and apostles, don't you think? I mean Christ established His church on a foundation of prophets and apostles and Paul pointed out that this organization should remain in place "till we all come into a unity of the faith."

[QUO E=dawny0826]Just to be clear...this is your definition of the "true church"?[/QUOTE] faithful ones indeed fed by Jesus himself only the best

(Matthew 25:21) His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You were faithful over a few things. I will appoint you over many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’​

​

(Luke 12:44) I tell YOU truthfully, He will appoint him over all his belongings............... and he has , the true followers of Jesus have plenty to do in the work of the Lord .faithfulness leads to blessings from the Almighty himself.

There is a purpose and a reason for EVERY Christ centered religion. All those that believe in Jesus Christ and his teachings and atonement are the "Church of Christ.

There are VARYING degrees of belief, in Jesus Christ and his teachings. THIS is why it is important to have different religions. Every Christian has a certain level of belief in Jesus Christ and his teachings. Some believe all of His teachings and others only accept a few of His teachings. Those who have faith and accept His sacrifice and repent of sins and keep His commandments and receive the Holy Ghost, are called the "Church of Christ".

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, believes that important teachings of Jesus Christ were lost, and other teachings had not yet been given to men on earth, until these latter-days.

We are ALL of the "Church of Christ" if we have faith in Him, repent of our sins and are baptized and receive the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end by keeping his commandments. We must never lose hope in his atoning sacrifice for our sins, when we backslide.

We will all be worthy to live with Christ, our savior, during the Millenium. We will eventually all cease to sin and Satan will be bound. Christ will redeem His own. We must never lose sight of this. We are all on the same basic team, BUT we have VAEYING degrees of belief in Christ's teachings. THIS is what will seperate us at the end of the Millenium into Celestial and Terrestrial worlds. The Celestial world is a world in which Christ and the FULLNESS of the Father and the Son are accepted. The Terrestrial world is a world in which only some of Christ's teachings and examples are accepted. The FULLNESS of the Father, which was revealed to us through Christ and his modern day Prophets will be rejected. Not all of Christ's teachings are accepted in the Terrestrial world. All of Christ teachings or gospels are accepted. The FULLNESS of the gospel is accepted, which has been restored to earth in these latter-days. These are truely the end times and we are nearing the coming of Jesus Christ. Let us be concerned about believing and accepting as much of Jesus Christ's teachings as possible. We need to learn from each other. We cannot box ourselves into our religions. We need to discuss important truths of Christ's teachings with each other. We all have some wisdom to offer each other. If we accept Christ's basic teachings we will have plenty of time to discuss these things while we are alive during the Millenium, if we live that long. If we die and do not have all of the imformation necessary to make an intelligent decision, then I am sure the Father and Jesus Christ will do all in their power to give us all the information that we need.

I gain great strength from Charismatic religions. They are so positive and enthusiastic. Amy Grant is a perfect high profile example of this. To me she is a Charismatic Christian. I have no idea what religion she is, and I have never really cared. I just know how enthusiastic she is in sharing her faith. We must all do the same.

I have been prayed over twice by two seperate Charismatic Christians, one was a very high profile Christian and the other was not. One was through a Christian television program and the other was in a parking lot. Both times I was miraculously healed through a simple prayer. Charismatic Christians have a powerful healing ministry. They have the faith to heal, speak in tongues and prophesy. We LDS need to have that kind of faith as well. We are sometimes lacking in this area. We, as individual members, of any Christ centered faith can heal, prophesy and speak in tongues.

I have also had a very high profile Charismatic Christian pray for my spiritual welfare and prophesy over my life. Every thing that was spoken to me is now coming true. She stood in the gap and prayed for my deliverance, as well as many others, from Satan and the grip he had on me and my wife's life, as well as many others. Things have started to turn around in my life and both my current financial situation and my financial future are looking up tremendously.

I have even gained strength from the JW's from discussions with them on the second coming. We may all err to some degree or another, but my point is that we can gain strength from each other, by sharing our experiences in the Lord and testifying to one another of Jesus Christ and what he has done for us. Share our experiences in Christ and set aside our differences. Only the Holy Ghost can whisper truth to our spirits, in the mean time let's share our experiences and build each other up against the real enemy of Christianity, Satan and all of his varying degrees of followers on earth, and in the spirit realm, which is all around us.

We as LDS can gain strength from Charismatic Christians, we are on the same team for goodness sake. Why not help each other reather than focus on our differences. United, or together, we stand, and divided we all stumble and fall. CHRIST WANTS US ALL TO BE ONE. This means that all the varying degrees of Christian religions need to draw upon strength from one another and put down our differences, unless someone is genuinely interested in them. Christ loves us all and wants us all to be happy. Of course He wants us to accept all of the Father's teachings, which Christ has revealed to us, but Christ knows that some of us will not accept all of the Father's teachings. SOME is better thatn nothing. Christ can rejoice over the least acceptance of HIs teachings.

Many Christian religions choose to focus on praying to Jesus Christ. We as Latter-day saints choose to focus on praying to the Father in the name of Jesus Christ. Our focus should be on the Father and Jesus Christ, with Christ as an example of the Father. This is the big difference that I see between LDS and some other religions. We focus on the Father and Jesus Christ, and the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, that was restored and taught to us by Jesus Christ through ancient and modern scripture.(Book of Mormon, which is another testament of Jesus Christ, in the Americas, along with modern day revelations and scriptures. All Latter-day Saints own and read the King James version of the Bible. I personally own a copy of the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible. This is not common among LDS. I have compared the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible with the King James version of the Bible and there are minor spelling, grammar and punctuation correctios throughout the Bible, with some major additions to Genesis and only very minor additions and corrections throughout the Bible. For example "Faith is an assurance" JST version, verses "Faith is a substance" KJ version.

Jesus Christ is the way to the Father. Christ is our advocate with the Father. Christ points us to the Father and his fullness. We must never lose sight that Jesus was, is, and will point us to the Father. We must accept all, or the fullness of Christ's teachings in order to live with the Father. Where Christ and the Father dwell we cannot come unless ALL of His teachings are accepted. Christ WILL visit those that accept SOME of His teachings, but we cannot live with Jesus Christ and the Father unless we accept ALL of Christ's teachings, which the Father requires of us.

We must accept the fullness of the gospel or ALL of Christ teachings to live with the Jesus Christ and the Father in the Celestial world.

Christiangirl0909 said:

I believe the true church is the church that follows only the Bible.

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If that were true, the true church could not have existed before the Bible, and apostles must have belonged to something other than the true church.

12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

12:27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
(King James Bible, 1 Corinthians)

We are the church, not an organization, not a building, not a temple somewhere, but WE who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb, imputed with His righteousness, and indwelt and sealed by the Holy Spirit UNTO the day of redemption, ARE the church. The TRUE church, the ONLY church.