SEARCHING FOR THE CHURCH OF THE BIBLE?  (3)

The Church of The New Covenant

A woman of Samaria speaking to Jesus "saith unto Him, 'I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ:  When He is come, He will tell us all things" (Jo. 4:25).  She was right on target!  The Christ did reveal all things.  "God, Who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken to us by His Son" (Heb. 1:1-2).  God Himself confirmed, "This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him" (Mt. 17:5).  His message would be God's final voice; not Moses, representing the Law; nor Elijah, representing the prophets (Mt. 17: 3-4).  "Hear ye Him," i.e. Christ.

Jeremiah had prophesied, "Behold,  the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant ....  not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt .... I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more" (Jer. 31:31-34).  The "second" covenant is referred to as the "new" covenant.  "In that He saith, 'A new covenant,' He hath made the first old.  Now that which decayeth and waxeth  old is ready to vanish away" (Heb. 8:13).

Jesus Christ is "the mediator of the new testament," which carries "the promise of eternal life" (Heb. 9:15).  For this reason it is said, "He is the mediator of a better covenant" (Heb. 8:6).  It was this "new" and "better" covenant to which the church of Christ bound itself and accepted as its rule of faith and practice.  Any attempt to bind the "old" covenant, which had "vanished away," as a means of justification was to make what Christ accomplished on the cross of "no effect," and one's status as "fallen from grace" (Gal. 5:4).  Likewise today, we would expect the church of Christ to look into the "new" covenant or testament for the terms of salvation, its pattern for organization, its requirements for acceptable worship, its example for its mission, and its rule for daily living.

Jesus Christ Himself shows the superiority and final authority of His teachings when He repeatedly said, "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time ...., but I say unto you ...." (Mt. 5:21-22, 27-28, 31-32, 33-34, 38-39, 43-44).  He also said, "He that rejecteth  Me, and receiveth not My words, hath one that judgeth him:  the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day" (Jo. 12:48).  For this reason His beloved apostle warned, "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God."  Then he gave the assurance, "He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ , he hath both the Father and the Son" (2 Jo. 9). Looking for the church of the Bible?  One of the identifying marks is that it takes as its pattern the "new" covenant.

SEARCHING FOR THE CHURCH OF THE BIBLE?  (3)

Prior to fulfilling His passion, Christ (the Anointed One) made the promise, "I will build my church" (Mt. 16:18).  On the cross He purchased the church with His own blood (Acts 20:28).  Beginning on Pentecost following His resurrection and ascension, "the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved" (Acts 2:47).  Therefore,  "He is the Saviour of the body" (Eph. 5:23).  This body is the church (Eph. 1:22,23).  Does that church exist today?  Is Christ still adding to His church?

The answer to the question, "Does His church exist today?" is based on the promise

Christ made:  "I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it"

(Mt. 16:18).  Attempt after attempt has been made to destroy the church, but to no avail.  Paul confesses, "For ye have heard of my conduct in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and tried to destroy it" (Gal. 1:13).  But instead, he came to believe in the Christ, and Christ himself added Paul to the church.  Immediately he preached the Christ as the Son of God (Acts 9:20-21).  Then

"Herod the king stretched forth his hand to vex certain of the church," killing some, imprisoning others.  But he dies a painful death; the church lives on and grows (Acts

12:1-3,23-24).  Rome's emperors made the mistake of persecuting the church.  Rome fell, the church marched on.

One of the final scenes given the apostle John in Christ's revelation to him is that of the church being surrounded by its enemies, but "fire comes down from God out of heaven, and devours them" (Rev. 20:9).  The church has the victory!

Since the church will be taken up with Christ when He returns (I Thess. 4:16-18), the church must then exist today.  Will you join me in searching for His church?  Look for additional articles.

John Brasseaux