“For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing...
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received...
The house of the Lord is the temple of God, which is the body of Christ, which is comprised of those who have trusted in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of their lives. It is not a building, and it is not a human organization, nor a church denomination, nor is it a not-for-profit corporation...
“I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints; and I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you...
“One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord
And to meditate in His temple.” (Psalm 27:4 NASB1995)
“The house of the Lord” today is not a physical building built by human hands. So...
“For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the...
“And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of...
“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers making...
We live in a day and time when being a “Christian” appears to be based primarily (or largely) on a verbal confession of Christ as Savior, but without any requirements at all for a changed life, or very loose requirements, at best. If one has made that confession of faith in Jesus Christ they are...
Witnessing for Jesus Christ, i.e. sharing the message of the gospel of our salvation with the people of the world, has a biblical foundation and a protocol for what must proceed our witnessing and what should be an active part of our witnessing. I believe the Lord wants me to talk on that today...
“And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of...
“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...
“For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established; that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine. I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to...
“Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. And coming to Him as to a living stone which has...
The ekklēsía is the church,
For nothing else should our hearts search.
All others, businesses of men,
On Holy Spirit not depend.
So differentiate, not same.
So many, they just play the game.
They follow marketing of men
And on their words they do depend.
But Holy Spirit reveals truth,
What...
These exhortations are for the church (the body of Christ) as a whole, not just for preachers and pastors and for those with the specific gift of teaching and/or singing. All of us within the body of Christ are to be ministering to one another in a manner in which we are helping one another to...
“And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, saying to them, ‘It is written, “My house shall be a house of prayer,” but you have made it a den of robbers.’
“And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were...
Who will and does 'make up' the Body and Bride of Christ?
This is asking about if it be men or women, or both.
What does the Scripture tell us?
Please keep answers reasonably short and, where possible, provide definite Scripture to back your reply.
and please, post in peace