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NASB | Ephesians 2:22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Ephesians 2:22 In Him [and in fellowship with one another] you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. |
Bible Question: I would like to talk about the church, and bring out some of the qualities to show what a marvelous thing it is. But I do not know how to introduce the subject to force a focus and to avoid distracting from it. So I'll just say, "What do you like about the church?" |
Bible Answer: Having gotten into Psalm 34, I wanted to cry out, “O, Magnify the Lord with me. And let us exalt his name together. Let us look at what he is doing with the church, and let us exalt his name for it”. But I can see that some people think this is not appropriate. So much so they will make as strong an effort as we have seen here, to stop it. And I could not understand why they hated it so. I stood up to them. Amidst the name calling and the innuendo, I really felt the major purpose was to detract from the topic and to distract us from the discussion. It is really true that these scholars who know Greek and Hebrew do not know the significance in English of the definite article “the”? They do not know what is meant by “the church”. And I was thinking they would relent if I explained to them what I meant. But they could never understand. They could not get into a discussion of the good things God had said about the church in the Bible until they had gotten everything cleared up. But then we were into the personality analyses and accusations and could not get to the question at all. Still, as I leave this topic, I am grateful for the few positive responses. I am blessed to know that someone likes the zeal he sees in the church. Someone is impressed with the simplicity of the church. It is “one of the most amazing things” that he sees and likes. Someone else likes the fact that the assembly or church is a place where all are equal. “Members from all walks of life and status, acknowledge their own insufficiency and failure and their utter dependency on God”. Someone recognizes that the church is the bride of Christ and is glad to be a part of it. Someone likes the fact that God designed, and God controls the church. Someone was bold enough to say, “I like the body of Christ”. I would like to go further into the subject, and I probably will, on my own. But I will not be inclined to share it here, and I do regret that there were not more people sharing more good things about the church. Such knowledge might have caused us to rejoice and to give praise to God. And he deserves it. It is regrettable that some of our brethren see no need for it and would prevent it. This is difficult to understand, and this is strange, but it is also difficult to remember. We have been through this before, and I think I understand what the guardians of this forum want to happen here, but I forget. It is actually hard for me to realize that some people are interested in studying the Bible, but see no need for applying what they know. They do not want us to even rejoice in or praise God for what he has shown us. If you wanted to rejoice or to praise God, it must be for some ulterior motive. The message I get from them is, get the raw facts here and if you must respond to it, then do it elsewhere. I probably won’t remember that. It’s like I can’t believe it’s true. I actually think that knowledge without applicability is a waste of time. What do you do with the fact you know where Cain got his wife? So I’ll probably come back here and try the same thing again, if the door is still open. I will try again, even harder, to avoid the personal stuff. But looking back, I don’t know if it’s possible. I am repulsed at the idea of brethren Christians driving others off with insults. I’ll probably be back to show we can resist it. |