Christ's Household
“Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto
you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to
me.”
Jesus spoke of His church as a household
and not as a business [Matt.24:45; Luke 12:42]. Therefore the local church polity should reflect that same mentality in
both its words and its works. We do not charge for church services as the local
business down the street. We need to rid the church of that mentality as well
as its hierarchy.
One
of the proofs of Christ's thinking is that
the Holy Spirit takes up His residence
inside every believer that is added. Christ therefore expects those whom are
added to the great catholic body to take up
their residence in a local body [Acts 2:47] and to participate in all
its spiritual functions [Acts 2:42-47;
Heb. 10:25].
[Note: language of 1 Cor. 12--member
is used 17 times there.]
Failure
to comply with the Lord's wishes withholds that gift He would impart for that
particular body member [1 Cor. 12:4-5].
Thereby this local body does not have all
that is needed to equip the saints, to do the work of service and the building
up of that body [Eph. 4:12]. The body is
therefore stymied, and a full knowledge of the Son of God is prevented and
maturity is impossible for all the members.
Every
member has value and all are needed [1
Cor. 12:14-27].
Note:
No one who goes through a bad marriage that ends in a divorce and solves the
problem by co-habiting with the next mate. No one should even consider being
allowed to do that in Christ's household.
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