One thing that I can say right out of the gate, what we have today, it is not what the Spirit of God desires for us in our lives, in this one common Body of Christ, of one Spirit, and of one Baptism.
Ephesians 4:4-6
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.…
Yes, as it has always been from the beginning of man’s life in the world that satan and his dupes created for us, through no fault on our part….God has always been “one”…..with “one truth” and “one way“ to God through the agency of his precious son. All roads do not lead to the kingdom of God.
A major contributing factor(s) as to why the Body of Christ is not well today and never was, since the 2nd century AD...IMO
Even a true believer, possessing the Spirit of God, since childhood, or even before reaching adulthood is already filled with deceptive ideas presented by the world about religion, philosophies, its truth in life, how to think about it, and thus what to believe in. And then if not attended to, using concerted efforts, arrested, by getting advice through spiritual eyes and ears, through and of the spirit of Christ and God, and filtered out by the age of 30 or so, it becomes much more difficult to fight off these 'deadly' worldly ideas of life that can harm the Body of Christ and the truth in life. It just gets worse if not contained. Unfortunately, many just acquiesce, out of blindness, ignorance, in favor of their club denominational views, considered the truth in life, their personal lives for salvation. I've have learned over the years that this latter view is a lie
This is a really good explanation of what happens to us as we grow to maturity….some of us grow spiritually as well as physically, but others can age in body, whilst remaining spiritual babes…some never get past drinking the milk. (Heb 5:12-14)
We are taught or certainly trained or persuaded what to believe in by our parents or significant others. We are told to go to 'church' the church that 'we' go to. And many unsuspecting believers do as they are told and rely on these churches, their leaders/elders and pastor and priests for the truth in life, and many are of the matrix, listening to and believing in false teachers and prophets that Jesus warned us about.
These false ones do not even have to be convincing, or erratic in presentation or personality. They 'come in' as normal peaceable souls, as the world and people around us tell us these teachers are good, civil, believe in God (a god at least) and preach the truth. Do they belong or are they a part of the true Body of Christ? I wonder, and so should others.
And God allows this to take place…..but why? What is he determining by his allowance of the devil’s domination of the human race? What is he seeing by the way
we judge the things
we “see and hear”?
Our hearts are responding in ways that, at times, we cannot fathom. What make something “truth” to one person, but a satanic fabrication to others? Why are we individually drawn to those who teach God’s word, whether in a denomination or individually by “shopping” in the “great celestial supermarket”…putting beliefs in our ‘trolley’, and ending up with our very own religion?
In the end, as Jesus says…there are only “sheep and goats”…..God doesn’t see denominations, he sees the hearts of individuals and their response to the message that Christ’s disciples were going to preach “in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations” before he brings the curtain down on the whole show? (Matt 24:14)
In order for that witness to be given, only one group will be actively doing it in an organized fashion in all those nations…..this is logical, and the way God has always organized his people…..he is an organized God, so it’s not something haphazard.
There is one message of salvation but satan has made sure that the ‘diamond’ is buried under a huge pile of ‘broken glass’.
Will we know the real thing, when we see it? In an imperfect world filled with imperfect people, only God can lead us to the one who teaches his truth…..(John 6:44: 65) We will be “drawn” to it and it will resonate with us like nothing else….this is the way to life, through Jesus Christ….and only God is in control of who is invited to become a disciple of his son.
If we are ‘deluded’ then God allows us to run with that. Paul gives us the reason. (2 Thess 2:9-12)
So are all genuine believers possessing the Spirit of Christ and the Father living today in the true Body of Christ, of our Lord? Of course not, most believers are lukewarm, cuddled up next to the warmth of matrix worldly living. They are blind to see and deaf to hear the things of the Spirit, by choice when its truly scrutinized and analyzed.
This gives a strong hint as to why we have a wide and varied view amongst believers concerning what is the true church, what is true scriptural doctrine, and what is the true or best human interpretation of scripture. Some show more loyalty to their denominational creeds over what the Father and his Son said and did.
Since the body is not dismembered…..it is not found scattered among the disunited mess that is Christendom….it is found in the same kind of gathering that existed in the first century, when Jesus made his first appearance. They were individually gathered into one group, with one truth that was in disagreement to all those who chose to remain with the comfortable religious system in which they had grown up, not knowing how completely corrupted it had become….(Matt 15:7-9)
The Christians became objects of scorn and persecution for daring to tell a different “truth” to the one that had been accepted for centuries. Jesus warned that it would not be an easy path. (John 15:18-21)
History is repeating right under everyone’s nose….Christendom is a mirror image of first century Judaism….but they cannot see it.
Not all who say they are Christ's are of Christ. There is one true Body of Christ, although there are many religious bodies of Christ today.
Many on this site as well, and they call themselves 'Christian.'
It’s one thing to call yourself a “Christian” but another thing entirely to BE one.
There is still only one “body of Christ”, and these will maintain belief in “one truth” no matter what country they find themselves residing in (1 Cor 1:10)…..they are called by God and he knows them, and identifies them with a token or pledge of their calling. (Heb 3:1) Many claim such a calling…but in the end, it will be revealed who were the members of the real “body of Christ” and who were those who were convinced by other deceptive means….God does not interfere with the devil’s rulership of the human race because God was the one who handed it over to him, for a purpose. (Luke 4:5-7)
The devil is being used to “sift” and test the human race….(Luke 22:31-32) with a view to separating out of them those who will be worthy citizens of his Kingdom, as either heavenly rulers or earthly subjects……we look then to the outworking of God’s purpose for us humans and see that he will take the ones he has “drawn” and invited, back to Eden…..to the paradise that God first intended to be our permanent home……all of that got lost when everyone volunteered themselves to go to heaven, without a clue as to what they would do there….it is a vain hope, without foundation.
The “new heavens and new earth” have nothing to do with the physical universe…..it’s a new earthly society of God’s choosing, ruled over by a new heavenly government that will bring peace and lasting security to all of earth’s redeemed inhabitants. (Rev 21:2-4)