Works of the Church ... are

thunder · Lion King Joined: 13 Sep 2003 Posts: 1222

Works of the Church ... are seen in the OT that God moved some men to teach that He made us, that He made everything and has placed fallen man on a disciplinary plan, a short leash as it were, that must be obeyed in order to make us worthy to Him.

All who refuse to honor the discipline and choose to live according to a man made version of the same thing using a morality code, logic, reason, intellect, science, the law, etc., and will be judged by God for disobdience.

He made the disciplinary plan and means for it to be obeyed.

In the NT, God saw the weakness of the law when applied to sinful man and initiated a new covenant through Christ, based on better promises, by becoming a man ( like we are ) and going through an earthly life then going through an earthly death that entered Him as the testator of the will.

With that new law active, a spiritual law of obedience, He now reaches out to humanity and shares with each His own willingness to fulfill the law while applying the new yet continuing discipline that He placed on man in the OT.

That act through Christ provides man with a person with whom we can identify, a man who pleased God by submitting His own earthly life ( of flesh ) to God in the Spirit and there by satisfied every qualification of God on man.

Today, we satisfy our calling by following Christ through obedience, in order to face Christ here and now and forever as we walk through this world each day, while not conforming to carnal sensuality.

So, we the Church, behave in a way that provides a human participant present, like Christ brought the light of Godly faith into every aspect and activity of His life, we too enter and live each day with the same light of Godly faith and discipline, providing God our life to use as human subjects to use to fulfill His own glory on earth among men.

All that the world needs is us, we the Church, to be present for His use when the time is right for each of them to be called into His holiness.

The Church cannot make her self holy. Only the presence of God makes a tabernacle become holy. When that happens to use, our tabernacle ( that is this flesh ) only then are we suitable for His use.

We don't have to strive for greatness, for glory, for self adornment as if that would please God. God is pleased when He sees our broken and contrite spirit.

Beyond that, He edifies the body of Christ, the Church, in His own way, in His own time, here a little, there a little.

Is there more?

thunder
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Submit to God in Christ