The Sidetracked Debate As To Which Is The True Church Of God
Every single time you hear of people debating and arguing as to which is the true church, the idea behind it all in their thinking is that the church is an external, religious organization.
In their thinking, the Lord Jesus Christ has instituted this one particular religious organization which was imitated by other religious organizations in the process of time. Now, the problem in their thinking is how to pinpoint and prove that such and such is really the organization that He truly built. And you have to be part of it in order to be saved.
The truth of the matter is that Church refers to the condition of people. Church (Eklessia in Greek) means called out ones. God calls through the Gospel that sinners should repent and trust in Christ. Repentance and faith are heart conditions with regard to God's call.
The people who responded positively, by true repentance and faith in Christ, are the people who have been effectively called. Hence, they become the Called Out Ones of God also known as the Church of God.
It is very possible to have your official name as "Church of God" registered in SEC and monopolize it and not truly be the Church of God because the individuals who compose it are not truly repentant and are trusting in Christ for salvation.
It is very possible to call your group as "I Think We Are The Church Of God" in the SEC registration and yet be truly God's Church because the individuals who compose it are truly repentant and are trusting in Christ for salvation.
To debate as to which group is the true Church is to be sidetracked. For the Church refers to people who have truly repented and trusted in Christ for salvation, whatever group you may be involved in.
Notice how cunningly deceptive Satan is. He sidetracks you big time at the same time making you believe that you are still on track.
In this instance, he sidetracks us by making us focus on which is the true church in order to be saved, making us forget our individual responsibility to personally repent and personally trust in Christ and what He did on the cross for salvation.
