I had an incredible revelation as I pondered my last post on Winning the War Against The Church. Most of you probably already know, but for those who don’t, I hope you find my insight enlightening. The Church is not only a group of Believers who come together to worship God, grow in knowledge and grace, and meet the congregation’s needs. The Church is also called the body of Christ. Read the following verses and tell me if my interpretation is wrong. 1Corinthians 12:27 states, “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” Also, Ephesians 4:12-16 explains that the church leaders are “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”
According to Ephesians 4:12-16, the church leaders are to build up and teach their parishioners how to trust in God and grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ so they can be mature Christians. Mature Christians won’t be deceived by false doctrine and deceitful schemes from false prophets. 1John 4:1 tells us, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
Our focus is to know the truth, so we can speak the truth and grow in the image of our loving Christ Jesus. A mature Christian will help the body of Christ grow in love. If a Believer is divisive and a gossip, they are not acting in love, nor are they mature. When a Christian has damaged emotions from wounds and offenses, they will be spiritually weak. Bitter Christians cannot help the church body grow in love. Your soul wounds from repressed painful memories keep you from maturing emotionally, and they need to be found and healed for your heart to be pure. I wrote a post explaining why we need to purify our hearts, called WHY HEAL YOUR HEART AND PURIFY YOUR SOUL?.
How Is The Church The Body of Christ?
Christ is the head of the Church (1Cor. 11:3 and Eph. 5:23). The passage in 1Corinthians 12:13-22 explains the members of the body of Christ as follows:
“For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit [the Holy Spirit of God].
14For the body does not consist of one member but of many.
15If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.
16And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.
17If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?
18But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.
19If all were a single member, where would the body be?
20As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. 21The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable.”
We need each other. Everyone in the church is essential. The Apostle Paul explains this so well to the Roman Church. Romans 12:3-8, “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.”
Satan Wants to Destroy Jesus Christ Who Triumphed Over Him
Satan is trying to defeat the Church because it represents the body of Christ. Satan can’t destroy Jesus because He is seated at the right hand of God the Father, so Satan is working to destroy the Church instead. The Believers of Jesus Christ bear the image of Jesus. 1Corinthians 15:49 shows us, “Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.” Jesus bears the image of God. Colossians 1:15 explains, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” Satan hates God and everything God created. He wants to destroy all that God created (John 10:10). Christian believers are his number one target, so we need to be prepared and learn how to use the armor that God provided for us. Read my series of posts on how to use the armor of God to be victorious. SPIRITUAL WARFARE POSTS
I would love to hear from you, please leave a comment.
God Bless you,
Joyce
RELATED POSTS
How The Church Prepares You to Meet God
Getting The Most Out of Church
WINNING THE WAR AGAINST THE CHURCH
Jesus’s Final Message to The Seven Churches
All verses are from the English Standard Bible. If you find my posts and website helpful, please share the links with your friends and family, hopeforcompletehealing.com. The information is copyright protected, and no part of the posts or my book may be reproduced without proper citation to Joyce Hanscom.
Check out my first book on Amazon. I would love to hear what you think.
Contact me at hopeforcompletehealing@gmail.com, and ask for a PDF of Eight Prayers from the Bible. The prayers are for the Spirit of wisdom, renewal, spiritual strength, knowledge of His will, virtues of God, non-believers, 23rd Psalm, and victory. I will also send you the Lord’s Prayer Model to pray effectively. Please leave your name, so I know you are a real person making the request.
Hope for Complete Healing 