Jesus is the One True Church

[David Lamb]

Hey Rock

Would Jesus be the Church if no one was yet placed into Him? Using the Temple, He called Himself a spiritual Temple. Church would is the same spiritual house, according to what the types were pointing to, right?

The only verse I can think of is the one where Jesus referred to His body as the temple:

NKJV Jhn 2:19 Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."
Jhn 2:20 Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"
Jhn 2:21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body.

Where does He describe Himself as a spiritual temple?

 

[Dave...]

The body /church is made up of many members but Christ is the head.

Eph_5:23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. NASB

Col_1:18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. NASB

Agreed, but look at 1 Corinthians 12:12-13. We're all placed into one body (the body of Christ). The body is not a place where Jesus is, that we can spiritually connect with Him, it's actually Him. We're all placed into the body by one Spirit [indwelling]. We become spiritually connected as believers with each other because we're all "in Christ". He is the one common denominator. In other words, we're not placed into the church to be saved (believers included), we're placed into Jesus alone, who is the Church, to be saved, which also has other believers included. I don't see the contention between the two ideas.

1 Corinthians 12:12-13 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free--and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.

On the flip side of that, the church is called a "her" and a "she" in Ephesians 5:25-27, which plays into the bride of Christ, and the two becoming one flesh picturing that spiritual union. I believe that "she" is in reference to the Church separate from Jesus, but still part of Him. Which could complicate things.

 

[Dave...]

The only verse I can think of is the one where Jesus referred to His body as the temple:

NKJV Jhn 2:19 Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."
Jhn 2:20 Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"
Jhn 2:21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body.

Where does He describe Himself as a spiritual temple?

In the OT, God's literal presence dwelt inside the physical Temple in Jerusalem. By calling His body the Temple, Jesus is declaring that He is now the meeting place between man and God. Because Christ was raised, the spiritual application extends to us believers. We're now the Temples of the Holy Spirit. Spiritually, He is in us (Holy Spirit/Spirit of Christ), and we're in Him (The body). The NT Temple, Jesus, apply that idea to the Church.

 

[Silverhair]

Agreed, but look at 1 Corinthians 12:12-13. We're all placed into one body (the body of Christ). The body is not a place where Jesus is, that we can spiritually connect with Him, it's actually Him. We're all placed into the body by one Spirit [indwelling]. We become spiritually connected as believers with each other because we're all "in Christ". He is the one common denominator. In other words, we're not placed into the church to be saved (believers included), we're placed into Jesus alone, who is the Church, to be saved, which also has other believers included. I don't see the contention between the two ideas.

1 Corinthians 12:12-13 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free--and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.

On the flip side of that, the church is called a "her" and a "she" in Ephesians 5:25-27, which plays into the bride of Christ, and the two becoming one flesh picturing that spiritual union. I believe that "she" is in reference to the Church separate from Jesus, but still part of Him. Which could complicate things.

We are baptized into Christ spiritually. The body is a spiritual body of which Christ is the head/the leader. The believers are the body. So we have a body of believers and the head Christ forming one body. We are not baptized into His head.

When a man and a woman get married do they become one physical being? No, they become one unit, a married couple.
We are told the husband is the head of the wife {still separate individuals} as Christ is the head of the church {the leader/the authority} His body, {those believing ones} of which He is the Savior. {Does Christ have to save Himself} Eph 5:23

Actually your use of Eph 5:25-27 clears things up quite nicely.
Look at what those verses tell us

1] Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her {the church is not Christ}
2] sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, {did Christ need either}
3] to present her to Himself {how does He present Himself to Himself}

What do we see in Rom_8:10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin,,... How does Christ put Himself into His own body?

You are struggling with something that you do not need to struggle with.

The church did not always exist as you are trying to prove. The church consists of those that have freely trusted in the risen Christ.

 

[Dave...]

We are baptized into Christ spiritually. The body is a spiritual body of which Christ is the head/the leader. The believers are the body. So we have a body of believers and the head Christ forming one body. We are not baptized into His head.

The Bible says that Jesus is the body. When we're baptized in Christ, we're baptized into Him, and as result, becoming one with Him, and as a result of that, also becoming one with everyone else who is baptized into Him.

We're not baptized into other believers. We become one with them also by being one with Jesus first. I see Him as the entire Body. We are not adding limbs to Him, to His head, right? lol

It's not just us in Him. He is in us. That's how we're in Him. I do not have other believers in me, nor am I in them. It's only through Jesus that we have a connection.

When a man and a woman get married do they become one physical being? No, they become one unit, a married couple.
We are told the husband is the head of the wife {still separate individuals} as Christ is the head of the church {the leader/the authority} His body, {those believing ones} of which He is the Savior. {Does Christ have to save Himself} Eph 5:23

1 Corinthians 6:14-17 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For "the two," He says, "shall become one flesh." But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.

Actually your use of Eph 5:25-27 clears things up quite nicely.
Look at what those verses tell us

1] Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her {the church is not Christ}
2] sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, {did Christ need either}
3] to present her to Himself {how does He present Himself to Himself}

We're one body "in Christ" (Romans 12:5). Not attached, but in. The body is Jesus, we become the body in Him.

What do we see in Rom_8:10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin,,... How does Christ put Himself into His own body?

1 Corinthians 12:12-13 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free--and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.

You are struggling with something that you do not need to struggle with.

You keep trying to paint this desperate picture of me. I'm not struggling. But statements like that are usually made by people who are struggling. just a thought.

The church did not always exist as you are trying to prove. The church consists of those that have freely trusted in the risen Christ.

By your definition, the church is the people who believe, and Jesus becomes the church when He is joined to us?