There is clarity in the promises of God. This is not Baskins Robbins and the 53 flavors of the month club. God is not sitting on the throne as a talent scout looking for the best way to reach Him.
As recorded in John 4 Jesus said:
23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
25 The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."
26 Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."
IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH. Not in a city. not on a mountain. Not one for you and a different one for me. Same Jesus same promise. Same Redeemer.
Paul in his Ephesian letter recorded this:
4:1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
4 There is one body and one Spirit-- just as you were called to one hope when you were called--
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.
What is Paul saying?
ONE BODY? - church of which Christ is the Head.
ONE FAITH? - belief in the Son of God as Messiah.
ONE BAPTISM?- you figure it out.
ONE GOD AND FATHER? - Self Explanatory. HE IS.
So how many beliefs we got now? So we got this time and that time and so on etc etc?
Here is what the Word says:
Romans 6:
9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.
10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
ONCE FOR ALL? Does God's word say that?? YES . See it? ONCE FOR ALL. See Peter say it also.
1 Peter 3:
18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit,
19 through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison
20 who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water,
21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also--not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
22 who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand--with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.
Need more?? Ok the writer of Hebrews letter says this:
27 Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.
And again:
9:12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.
ONCE FOR ALL.
Are there two or three or four churches in the world today?
No. Proof? Read the second and third chapter of the Revelation of Jesus Christ to the church. All written to the Angel "of the church at"
Many congregations one church. One way. One hope. Remember Paul writing the Ephesian letter?
There is one body and one Spirit-- just as you were called to one hope when you were called--
ONE HOPE?? YES in Jesus Christ NOW!!!
How important are the words NOW IS??? look for yourself!!
In John 12 Jesus says:
31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.
32 But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself."
In the 2 Corinthian letter chapter6 Paul writes:
:1 As God's fellow workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain.
2 For he says, "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you." I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.
Paul, Peter , James all on the same page. All knew there is only salvation in Jesus the Messiah.
God worked through our sin and made a way to have relationship with us, through the death of His Son. Do any now say His work was in vain? As the song goes:
Do not let the Word depart,
And close thine eyes against the Light;
Poor sinner harden not thy heart,
Be saved, O tonight!
dan
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