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| | '''65. D. Di quali speciali benefici possono godere da parte di Cristo i membri della chiesa invisibile?''' | | '''65. D. Di quali speciali benefici possono godere da parte di Cristo i membri della chiesa invisibile?''' |
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| - | '''R. I membri della chiesa invisibile godono da parte di Cristo unione e comunione con Lui nella grazua e nella gloria'''. | + | '''R. I membri della chiesa invisibile godono da parte di Cristo unione e comunione con Lui nella grazia e nella gloria'''. |
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| | == Riferimenti biblici == | | == Riferimenti biblici == |
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| | == Commento == | | == Commento == |
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| - | 1. '''La chiesa invisibile è una chiesa in costruzione'''. Gesù dice a Pietro: "tu sei Pietro, e sopra questa roccia io edificherò la mia chiesa e le porte dell'inferno non la potranno vincere" (Matteo 16:18). La chiesa è formata da tante "pietre" che, come l'apostolo Pietro, confessano la loro fede in Gesù come il Cristo, Colui che Dio ha consacrato come Signore e Salvatore di coloro che a Lui sono affidati.
| + | Il commento alla risposta a questa domanda è congiunto a [[Catmagwest066|quella successiva]]. |
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| - | Non si tratta di un edificio materiale. Quest
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| - | Jesus tells us that He is building a church. Is this made of wood and stone? No. At one level, this invisible church is based on election, regeneration and the rock of Christ through enlightened profession. The universal nature of the invisible church in all ages is not the same local church we find in various regions on the earth at a given time. Nor are the saints in heaven the same as a church in a given geographic region. They are distinguishable in their nature, but unified in their universality. At the time Jesus preached this to the disciples there was no local church existing in this regard[8]. Nor had the church made the full transition from the Old Covenant promises to the New Testament realities. This is not a “dispensational statement.” Though all the privileges of father Abraham were given to him as much as you or I, the veil was not torn, the Son of Man had not yet died, or resurrected, and the risen and enthroned Prince of Peace had not yet sent, at God’s right hand, the Spirit of Christ in that manner. Even as Jesus walked the dusty roads of the pax rommana there were still Old Testament saints being ushered into the Kingdom of heaven.[9] Jesus came to build it, and to continue to build it. It is done through the profession of faith that Jesus is Son of God, the Rock and Cornerstone of the Church. The word build is future active indicative in the Greek. It means that “He will do later and continue to do, and He will not stop continuing it until it is completed in heaven.” Wherever Christ is in a Christian, you have the True Invisible Universal Church; for any indwelling believer is a representative of that church. It is knit together by the Spirit of God and will continue to be built until Christ returns. He continues to gather his elect in from the four corners of the globe.
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| - | Secondly, the Invisible Church is without corruption. A person may say, “I am part of the true universal church, and I am corrupted with sin. How can the true Universal Church be without sin if I am in it?” As God looks upon the church, and sees the imputed righteousness of Christ on the church (on believers) He sees nothing but the glory and undefiled Christ who fashions the church without spot or wrinkle and ultimately glorious.[10] In a local church and in Christendom as a whole on the earth, this is far different. People in a local church who are not saved corrupt the local body in the sense that, the local body is not perfect. In the invisible church, made up of the elect only, there is no corruption because Jesus Christ has paid the penalty for their sin. God sees a “glorified” church unspotted and unwrinkled in His eternal decree.[11] Ephesians 5:27 states, “That He might make it unto Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blame.” All this is due to the work of Christ and His imputed righteousness to the church. All our righteousness is as filthy rags, and the best duties which we may try to perform are tainted with sin. Christ’s righteousness alone makes His church a body without corruption.
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| - | Thirdly, the Invisible Church is made up of individual members who consist of one body; it includes those alive on the earth right now, and the saints who are in heaven. 1 Corinthians 12:27 states, “Now ye are the body of Christ and members for your part.” Paul is speaking to the regenerate in the church at Corinth. Each believer, who is sealed with the Spirit is part of the body of Christ. Each person who is a true believer must, then, function in that body to which he/she is called. It is robbery to the body and to God, not to use your gifts. Imagine if your eye, one day, decided that it was not going to look or see anymore. Or imagine if you had a stroke and half of your body became handicapped. It would be a limited body with limited use, where the body in reality, to be a full functioning body, needs to use all of its parts. The whole church must work together to be a body. Paul says the body is not one part but many parts. Even those saints in heaven, though you cannot see them, nor fellowship with them now, are part of this universal body. One day we will be with them. 2 Corinthians 5:6-8 states, “Nevertheless, we are bold, and love rather to remove out of the body, and to dwell with the Lord.” When we die, we shall be with the Lord, together, in the household of faith as a body serving Christ forever. We will one day be with them all in paradise. The True Universal Church will then be one body in Christ in location as well as spirit.
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| - | Fourthly, a distinction between what the Reformers thought and what I concentrating on as a distinguishable element of the invisible church, is that the invisible church has visible elements to it, both in its Christian nature as a whole in any historical time (Christendom) and as a visible local body responsible for a geographic region. It is an important point to make plain. When someone makes a promise to you, and then time comes when they are to deliver, and they do not, they make an excuse. They were not able to fulfill their promise; though they professed to something, they did not live up to their profession. In the same way the visibility of the Invisible Church rests on the profession of faith but also in obedience to Christ’s commands. The professors have to deliver what they say. These people in the Invisible Church are known by their profession of faith coupled with a wholehearted obedience to Christ’s commands.[12] This makes up both the visible nature of Christ’s church which is everywhere based on profession (as the Westminster Confession stated) but also in specific geographic regions in local bodies that take up privileged parts of Christ’s commission in their ministry of the Word to that area that God has given them to sanctify.
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| - | Regeneration and a profession of faith are prerequisites to being in the Invisible Church. Hebrews 10:23 states, “…let us keep the profession of our hope without wavering.” We are to keep this profession together. However, that profession is then worked out in the body of Christ, throughout human history, in Christendom (as a unit) and in local bodies, as covenanted believers come together to hear the Word of God preached, and to deliver that Word in obedience to Christ’s command through evangelism. We should be able to see our profession of faith at work among the body. The body should be able to visibly recognize what they audibly attested and professed. Our profession is not just saying, “I believe in Jesus.” It is also fused together with “I will obey Jesus.” It is not enough to believe in God. The demons believe in God but that does not make them saved.[13] God desires more than just simple belief. True belief brings forth the fruit of obedience which is seen by others, and this obedience coagulates the local body in a geographic region. When we see the fruit expressed in the life of a church and in the life of those individual covenanted members of a church, this is one way in which the church is a light. We act differently than the rest of the world. Philippians 2:15 states, “shine as lights in the world…” We are to shine forth the truth of our profession in our obedience. Matthew 5:16 states, “Let your light so shine before men…” People should see that we are Christians. They should have no doubt that we are Christians when we act accordingly in our heavenly conversation.[14] You have professed what Peter professed, and they know it, and you live it and they see it. That is the visibility of the invisible church in the world (Christendom) through the local church (in a geographic area).
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| - | Yet, we also want to take into account those who seem to be spiritual who fall away, or even those who are wicked who come to true a understanding of electing faith. Some men may seem truly converted and yet still be lost. Sometimes people may exemplify the works of the greatest Christians, but then ultimately they leave the church and fall away.[15] Or there are others which we would have thought were the most detestable people on the planet, desperately wicked, and yet, Christ saves them. Here God gives us no room to judge the heart.[16] Even though we may not know the heart of a man, God requires we still push and prod a person to be sure of their election. 2 Timothy 2:19 says, “But the foundation of God remaineth sure, and has this seal, the Lord knoweth who are his; and let everyone that calleth on the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” Saved people are God’s property. Not only does God know all His sheep in the visible church, and also who are the goats, but all His sheep are to outwardly demonstrate that they are real sheep, not just covenanted members of a local church. The local church must demonstrate fruit to the world in order that the light of Gospel will shine. They are to put off iniquity and must have obedience to Christ. The Church is not invisible in this respect, but in obedience to Jesus Christ the church manifests itself as the light of the world on behalf of its Savior. The invisible church is very visible in this manner.
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| - | Fifthly, the next characteristic of the Invisible Church is its unity. How are we unified together? My wife likes the Little Rascals. Alfalfa and Spanky used to promise something to each other by the “spit pact”. They had a secret club house (The he-man women haters club) where only those who had the special knock could get into. You then were part of their “gang” if you followed their rules and used the special knock to gain entrance. That special knock and the spit pact knitted the members of the club together. That which knits the church together is the Spirit of God. He is not a secret knock, but the living fountain of eternal life, which, though foreign to us, has been given to us without money and without price through Jesus Christ. The inward dwelling of the Spirit is that which binds the church together and the fruit of the Spirit is that which outwards unifies us together.[17] Ephesians 5:30 shows us, “For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.” Acts 4:32 states, “And the multitude of them that believed, were of one heart and one soul.” In the idea of being unified together we act in like-mindedness with one heart and soul. When that works in us it then goes out from us. 1 John 5:1 says, “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is that Christ, is borne of God: and everyone that loveth Him, which begat, loveth also which is begotten of Him.” Our unification then moves us to love one another in the Spirit. All that is begotten of God, all the saints, will love one another in the unity of the Spirit and bond of peace. When we come together in that mindset, and in worship, we come to glorify God greatly. Acts 2:1 teaches us that worship is bound in unity; “And when the day of Pentecost was come they were all with one accord in one place…” One accord in one place characterized those saints who worshipped God together.
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| - | Those who are not unified receive the rebuke Paul gives to the church at Corinth. 1 Corinthians 1:13 , “Is Christ divided?” Christ is not divided but unified together. We are to work in the unified power of God’s Spirit. We are linked together then, in love and we exemplify that love. Division is almost always wicked. People divide over petty issues that they should not divide over which ultimately hurts the Kingdom of God. And yet, sometimes people divide over things they should divide over which shows they are holding steadfast in one mind to the doctrines which Christ teaches us in the Word.[18] The color of the pew Bible or how much money the Sunday School should spend on material is not something to divide over; and more churches do this than naught. The invisible church manifests itself locally though the unity that a covenanted church has together in its doctrine, and in its sanctification.
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| - | Sixthly, the Invisible Church is distinguished from the local church by its organization. There is God, Christ and the saints. Other than that organizational hierarchy, there is none in this respect. The Invisible Church has no visible organization like the local church. There is no humanly constructed organization, rather it is a unity created by the Spirit of God. Christ is the builder. He makes the church what it is. Christ says, “Upon this rock I will build my Church…” Jesus does this and as a result the universal church grows. Acts 2:47 states, “the Lord added to the Church from day to day, such that should be saved.” Human beings are incapable of this; God is the great Architect and Builder. We will see that in the local church there is organization which is visible. But for now, we must see that the Invisible Church is the household of faith; the kingdom of brothers and sisters before Jesus Christ, organized not by human effort, but by God in the spirit of men.
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| - | Lastly, there is the consistency of the Invisible Church. Psalm 46:5 says, “Even the Sanctuary of the Tabernacle of the most High, God is in the midst of it, therefore shall it not be moved…” The Invisible Church is built on the character of God because God is in its midst. It’s His nature; He is the Rock, Cornerstone, Head, and sets His church in stone. Christ loves His church and came to build it, and it does not matter if you do not like it or others want to destroy it; it will always prevail. Lone Ranger Christians can say whatever they want about the church, but God is building it whether they like it or not. It may be (and I emphasize “may be”) that the Lone Ranger Christian may be saved. He may be part of the Invisible Church. And he may be, in this way, part of the visible church as one in “Christendom”. But he is not part of the visible local body, which, importantly, Christ commands that he be a part (Hebrews 13). Jesus loves His church so much that He intercedes for His church; John 17:24 , “Father I will that they which Thou hast given me, be with Me even where I am, that they may behold that My glory, which Thou hast given Me; for Thou lovest Me before the foundation of the world.” This church is unified together under the Head of the church until one day, when He sees fit, to bring us all to heaven that we may all behold His glory. We will be so exuberant excited about this God which has built His church, that we will remove our reward, the golden crown, and cast it before His throne.
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| - | I benefici di cui godono i membri della chiesa invisibile sono chiamati speciali perché non sono dati a tutti i membri della chiesa visibile ma solo ai veri membri della chiesa invisibile.
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| - | La differenza fra unione e comunione è fornita dalle domande 66-90.
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| - | I credenti ricevono questi benefici da Cristo nella sfera della grazia vale a dire la vita cristiana sulla terra e nella sfera della gloria o vita a venire.
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