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elton fairfieldElton Fairfield - "I am a Christian."

"I didn't buy that status, nor did I work for it. I was not born into it, even though both my parents are devoted Christians. I am a Christian because there was a moment in my life when I accepted the fact that the death of Jesus Christ was for my sins."


Is remembering the Lord a privilege of the Church? Print E-mail
Is remembering the Lord a privilege of the Church?

This is an instance where it is essential to distinguish between the "Church, the Body" (Ephesians 1:22, 23) and the "Church of God" (Acts 20:28; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 10:32; 11:22; 15:9; 2 Corinthians 1:1; Galatians 1:13; 1 Timothy 3:5, 15). Although the Church of God expresses truth about the Church, the Body, it is not its local expression. They represent distinct truths. A few of many distinctions should demonstrate this: the Body has one Builder (Matthew 16:18 vs. 1 Corinthians 3:10); the Body has one Shepherd (John 10:16 vs. Acts 20:17, 28); the Body is indestructible (Matthew 16:18 vs. 1 Corinthians 3:17; Revelation 2:5; 3:16); being in the Body is irreversible (John 10:28 vs. 1 Corinthians 5:12, 13); the Body’s testimony and visibility is future (Revelation 21:9-11 vs. 1:12, 20). 1 Corinthians 14:25 states clearly that some believers in Corinth were not in the "whole church." The unbelievers were neither in the Body nor in the "whole church" which met in Corinth; the unlearned are in the Body, but not the Church of God (they are not unbelievers, but not part of the "whole church"); "the whole church" describes those in both the Church of God and the Body (presumably).

"Assembly" is an alternative translation of "church." Referring to a church of God as an assembly is an easy and common way to distinguish it.

In the New Testament, remembering the Lord is always associated with an assembly. It is therefore clear that remembering the Lord is not a privilege of the Church, the Body, but is a privilege of a church of God, an assembly. Remembering the Lord is a responsibility for all in the Body, however (Luke 22:19); to the degree a believer fails to obey what the Lord ordained, he disobeys the Lord.

D. Oliver
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