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What
is the Church of Christ?
By: Lynn
Fisher
A few months before the earthly ministry of
Jesus ended, he said to Simon, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and
upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not
overpower it” (Matthew 16:18) Simon
Barjona had spoken his conviction of the identity of Christ: “Thou art the
Christ, the son of the living God”(Matthew 16:16). The name Simon Barjona identified Simon’s earthly family. Peter, meaning a stone, indicated the strong
person who Simon would become for the work that lay ahead. When Simon truly became Peter, Jesus would
use Peter in the building of the church.
Jesus would build His church, not on Peter, but on Himself as “the
Christ, the son of the living God.”
In the ensuing months, Jesus would die upon
the cross as a sin offering, arise from the dead, ascend to God’s right hand
and empower Peter and the other apostles by the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8). Empowered by the Holy Spirit, they would
proclaim the good news about the redemptive of Jesus, the Christ. Emphasizing that Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of God, they would call men and women to repentance and baptism (Acts
2:1-38). Those believing and complying
became the church that Jesus promised to build (Acts 2:41, 47). Jesus’ church was the result or fruit of
proclaiming Christ.
Through the centuries succeeding generations
have communicated the same message. The
fruit of that message has been the same kind as it was when the message was
first proclaimed. A seed brings forth
fruit according to the kind of seed sown.
The church of Christ is the fruit of all efforts to proclaim Christ, beginning with the
Apostles’ efforts and continuing to those efforts of the present. Jesus is building His church.
Those who have heard a pure gospel, believed it and met the conditions of pardon set forth in that gospel are the church which promised to build. Would you be interested in hearing that gospel and it’s terms for salvation? Contact Us for more information.