John 18:37 Therefore Pilate said to Him, "So You are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."
A statement like this from a mere mortal would be nothing but a prideful boast but coming from the second person of the Trinity, God the Son, it should cause us to seek the truth. Jesus says also in the same gospel that he is the way, the truth, and the life. He did not say a way, a truth, or a life but the one and only of all of these. Just as the name of God is love, it is also truth and truth is found in no other. In a conversation with his disciples one day, the following occurred.
Matt 16:13-19 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" And they said, "Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. "I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
The word for Peter is "Petros" which means a small stone. The word used for rock is "petra" which means a large, foundation boulder. Christ is saying that his church will be built upon himself and not upon Peter which is what is taught by a major religion who claim that Peter was the first pope. In Peter's epistles, he described the church as being built of living stones with Christ being the corner stone. Notice that Christ calls it My church. This point is overlooked by so many religions today, especially those that think only those belonging to their church will ever be saved and spend eternity in heaven. The church is also described in Paul's writings as the Bride of Christ and the Body of Christ with Christ being the Bridegroom and also the Head. It is obvious that Christ's church was established for the purpose of community for his followers. The book of the Acts of the Apostles shows the formation and early posture of Christ's church.
Acts 2:47 And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
Acts 11:19-26 So then those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way to Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord. The news about them reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas off to Antioch. Then when he arrived and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord; for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And considerable numbers were brought to the Lord. And he left for Tarsus to look for Saul; and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.
Since the greek word for church is defined as "called out ones", what else does the Bible instruct the members of Christ's church to do. My favorite term for how the body should function is "One-anothering". In the book of Hebrews, this verse gives instructions that aren't optional for a follower of Christ.
Heb 10:23-25 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
One key in this verse is the assembling together. How often do we hear people say that they are a Christian but they don't have to go to church. Our reply should be, maybe they don't have to go to church, but they should want to. One-anothering cannot occur alone. If we do not attend church on a regular basis, we are being disobedient to God's word and there is no comfort for us in scripture that we are indeed saved.
On to one-anothering. This is just a small sample of what the New Testament has to say about this topic.
We are to:
- love one another
- be devoted to one another
- give preference to one another
- be of the same mind toward one another
- not judge one another
- build up one another
- accept one another
- admonish one another
- serve one another
- show tolerance for one another
- be kind to one another
- be subject to one another
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