May 11, 2003 / Volume 7, Issue 19
The Church of the New Testament
The quiz material below is not original with me, but unfortunately, I am unable to give credit to the original writer, as no name was included. Regardless, it will suffice for both myself and the writer that God be given the honour, glory and praise.
No matter what religious subject is considered, our only aim is to determine what the Word of God teaches about that subject. An honest student, seeing what is taught, will gladly accept that teaching, even if he has to sacrifice some other opinion he has held up to that point. Our aim is truth, no matter what we must give up to get it. Knowing that Jesus promised to build His church (Mt. 16:18) and that all who were saved were added to it (Acts 2:47), it is important for us to learn as much as we can about the Lord’s church.
With your Bible and a pencil in hand, give an honest and Biblical answer to each of the following questions. This lesson will help us to learn about the church which Jesus built. Remember: the right answers are the Bible’s answers.
Ephesians 4:1-6: According to this passage:
1. How many Spirits are there? _____
2. How many hopes...? _____
3. How many Lords...? _____
4. How many faiths...? _____
5. How many baptisms...? _____
6. How many Fathers...? _____
7. How many bodies...? _____
8. What is the “body” of Christ (compare Ephesians 1:22-23)?
____________________________________________________
9. That being so, how many of those are there? _____
10. So, there is _____ Spirit, _____ hope, _____ Lord, _____ faith, _____ baptism, _____ Father, and _____ body, or _________________.
| If I can teach that there are many churches, I also can teach that there are many of everything in the list. And if I can say, “Join the church of your choice”, what logically or Scripturally prevents my also saying, “Worship the Lord of your choice”? “Entertain the hope of your choice?” “Pray to the Father of your choice?” Etc, etc. |
Consider what other passages teach about the oneness of the Lord’s body (church):
| Matthew 16:18 |
"Upon this rock I will build my church..." |
How many? _____ |
| Acts 2:47 |
"And the Lord added to the church daily..." |
How many? _____ |
| Acts 5:11 |
"And great fear came upon the whole church..." |
How many? _____ |
| Ephesians 1:22 |
"And gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body..." |
How many? _____ |
| Ephesians 5:25 |
"Husbands love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it..." |
How many? _____ |
(Also see such passages as Colossians 1:18; 1 Timothy 3:15, etc.)
Conclusions:
Carefully noting all these passages, does the New Testament teach that the Lord will build:
_____ one church? or _____ more than one church?
How Does This Church Relate To My Salvation? Is It Really All That Important?
Read the following verses and see what conclusions you draw from them:
Ephesians 1:20-23
In relation to Jesus, what is the church? |
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
|
Ephesians 5:22-32
What are the relationships between Jesus and His church? |
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
|
Acts 2:47
What group of people make up the Lord’s church? |
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
|
Acts 20:28
What did the blood of Jesus purchase? |
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
|
Seeing how important the church is to Jesus,
how important is it to you? |
Click here for this week's Answering The Atheist
What became of Cain? Genesis 4:12 describes him as a fugitive and a vagabond, but in 4:17, we’re told that he and his wife had a son, and that he built a city. Is there a contradiction?
