The first time the word church is mentioned in the New Testament, it comes from the lips of Jesus. To a small group of apostles, he said, “I will build my Church, and will the gates of hell not prevail against it?( Matthew 16:18). With these words, Jesus established a way to change the world. The 20th-century scholar, Alfred North Whitehead, once suggested that the development of Western thought is a series of footnotes in Plato. The Greek philosopher is undeniable, Jesus’ affirmation goes further. The whole history of the world is a development of Jesus’ statement on the construction of his church in hostile territory. Some comments on Jesus’ comments deserve to be considered. First, Jesus, promised to build his church. At its most basic level, the church represents a gathering of sinners bought with blood, who belong to Jesus.
Secondly, the construction of the church is God’s plan, crystallized in the Great Commission, for the salvation of his people throughout history and in the world; thirdly, the Church will exist amid unimaginable iniquities, both within and outside its borders. However, no power of darkness (heresy or demonic people, death or division, sin, or Satan) can do so. The final victory is already assured for the Church of Christ in the death and resurrection of Jesus.
- Since Jesus is the owner.
- Builder and defender of the Church.
- Christ’s disciples encounter a fundamental question: what should be the hallmark of Christians when they come together to worship the Trinitarian God.
- To take on the work of the daily activities of the ministry.
- And face the difficulties of apologetics and evangelization?In short: how.
- Then.
- Should we live as a Church of Christ?.
One answer can be found in the Upper Room address in the Gospel of John. Shortly after Judas left to betray him, Jesus offered a farewell exhortation to his exhausted disciples to prepare them for their crucifixion:?I give you a new commandment: that you love each other; just as I loved you, that you also love each other; For this they will all know that you are my disciples, if they love one another (John 13:34-35). To defeat a world shattered by betrayal and death, Jesus orders His disciples to love one another. At first glance, Jesus’ call to love may seem empty. Today, love is influential, but powerless. Unfortunately, many think of love in terms of self-satisfaction without self-denial; for them, love is just a feeling that must be protected and welcomed; as a result, love in our culture is a convenience to use, not a commitment. For Christ, however, love is more than capricious palpitations.
In a sense, there is nothing new in Jesus’ command. Earlier in Leviticus 19:18, God’s people were instructed to love their neighbor. The new is not a principle, but a paradigm. We will love each other, said Jesus, “as I loved you. ” The sacrificial love of Jesus, shown on the cross, is the standard by which we will love one another. This does not mean that we must literally be crucified to love our brothers and sisters in Christ. But it does mean that we must consider their interests before ours (Philippians 2: 3-8). As Christ-centered love defines our churches, the world that assists us will measure the credibility of our testimony. Despite this, Jesus further claims that the world will judge the truth of the gospel on the basis of our love for each other (John 17: 20-23). If Jesus’ new command sums up his commandments, then the opposite of his words is also true. Our failure to love will have a direct impact on our congregations. If we do not show ourselves the love of Christ, the world will not know that we are his disciples; and, even more soberly, they will not know the love of God in the Gospel. As the late Francis Schaeffer rightly put it: If visible, Christ-like love is the apologetic maxim. If we speak in the language of men and apologists, but without love, our churches will sound like gongs and cymbals (1 Corinthians 13. 1). Without the love of Christ, why would the world listen to the testimony of the Church?
Love is the hallmark of the church. Our mutual love shows that we are disciples of Christ and show the world God’s love in Christ. Although the Christian faith is objectively true, no matter how we follow Christ’s commandment, we must remember that the world often measures the affirmations of truth. Christianity for the lives of those who profess to be Christians. When we do not love (and want), we must also remember that Christ does not build his Church for us, but in spite of ourselves and also through us. Is it that “God proves his love for us, for Christ died for us, when we are still sinners?”(Romans 5: 8). If this is true (and it is), perhaps a better question is: “How, then should we love?”
By: John Tweeddale. © 2016 Ligonier. Original: the Church
Translation: Joel Pedro Cavani Review: Yago Martins © 2016 Faithful Ministério All rights reserved. Website: MinistryFiel. com. br. Original: Love is the great apologetic weapon of the church
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