Satan can NEVER infiltrate the CHURCH because the CHURCH is the mystical Body of Christ! No one can become a member of that mystical spiritual body without the Holy Spirit of God dwelling within them. Men may infiltrate the Church and call themselves Christians as the Jewish Marranos did in Spain, but they are simply TARES and not members of the mystical body. There are many cultural "christians" today, of course, who also fit the Marrano model.
You state: "There is no religion, there is only Christ"
There is most definitely a pure and holy Christian religion founded by Christ and his Apostles! The Church was NEVER "only Christ"! From the beginning the Church was Christ and the chosen Apostles and believers. Again, you would reduce Christs' OUR FATHER to your MY FATHER!
To state, "There is no religion, there is only Christ.", is a false and self-serving protestant axiom. It was necessary for those in rebellion against Christ's historical Church to denounce the authority authority of that Church. If their is ONLY Christ and no religion or organized Church, then why do you use the handbook of this religion--the holy Bible? The canon of Scripture was established by the Catholic (universal Christian Church) in the fourth century! How can you accept the authority and inspiration of this religion in determining the canon and then say "there is no religion, there is only Christ"
Christ chose the Apostolic leadership to determine the canon of Scripture! To be sure, this leadership was inspired and lead by the Holy Spirit in determining that Canon, but still Christ used this organized body religion to advance his Kingdom. The Christian Church was an organized religion from the very beginning.
You simply cannot value the Holy Word of God without valuing the God-ordained organization that wrote, established and canonized this Holy Word! The organized Church came first, then God's inspired New Testament Scriptures (and historical documents)! The NT is simply an inspired record of the actions and words of the first generation organized Church (or organized Christian religion)!
I have a feeling that many fundamentalist Protestants believe the Word of God materialize from thin air with no human instrument. |
