DOCTRINE 12. d o c t r i n e o f t h e c h u r c h |
| The church is the community of believers who confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. In continuity with the people of God in Old Testament times, we are called out from the world; and we join together for worship, for fellowship, for instruction in the Word, for the celebration of the Lord's Supper, for service to all mankind, and for the worldwide proclamation of the gospel. The church derives its authority from Christ, who is the incarnate Word, and from the Scriptures, which are the written Word. The church is God's family; adopted by Him as children, its members live on the basis of the new covenant. The church is the body of Christ, a community of faith of which Christ Himself is the Head. The church is the bride for whom Christ died that He might sanctify and cleanse her. At His return in triumph, He will present her to Himself a glorious church, the faithful of all the ages, the purchase of His blood, not having spot or wrinkle, but holy and without blemish. |
Related Scriptures:
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Genesis 12:3; I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. |
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Acts 7:38; This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us. . . [ NKJV ] |
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Ephesians 4:11-15; And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, ( verse 12 ) for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, (13) till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the statute of the fullness of Christ; (14) that we should no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. (15) but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into all things into Him who is the head - Christ.
Ephesians 3:8-11; To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ (9) and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; ( verse 10 ) to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places ( verse 11 ) according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord,
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Matt. 28:19, 20; 16:13-20; 18:18;
Ephesians 2:19-22; 1:22, 23; 5:23-27;
Colossians 1:17, 18.
. . . Seventh-day Adventists have been chosen by God as a peculiar people, separate from the world. By the great cleaver of truth He has cut them out from the quarry of the world and brought them into connection with Himself. He has made them His representatives and has called them to be ambassadors for Him in the last work of salvation. The greatest wealth of truth ever entrusted to mortals, the most solemn and fearful warnings ever sent by God to man, have been committed to them to be given to the world; and in the accomplishment of this work our publishing houses are among the most effective agencies.
Testimonies to the Church, Volume 7, page 138 par. 2
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