This We Believe
The Church of Jesus Christ
by Masakazu Iwata, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of History
T h e t h em e to which I would like to give some consideration today is “The Church of Jesus Christ.” Being a layman, however, who professes having neither great spiritual insight nor theological training, it would na turally be futile for me to attempt an exposition of the fine points of a doc trinal definition of the Church of Christ. I shall, therefore, deal with the topic in a very general fashion. To me, the Church of Jesus Christ denotes that body of believers who, through the mercy of God, have been raised from sin through faith and made eligible to sit with Christ in heavenly places. The Church of Christ is com prised of once unregenerate men who have been regenerated through God’s grace. And most significantly, the Church does not exist apart from the Saviour, Jesus Christ. Paul says, in Co- lossians 1:18, “And he is the head of the body, the church . . .” Christ, then, is an integral part of the Church — its very life. Hence, we who belong to this body, are assured of Christ’s continual leadership and guidance if we will but yield ourselves to Him. Some branches of the Church, un fortunately, have sometimes been cri ticized because Christians have not acted like Christians. Their lives fre quently have not been consistent with the teachings of Christ. No one can deny that there have been occasions when men have lost sight of the ideals of the Apostolic Church, when they have forgotten the words of Paul, so penetrating and pregnant with mean
ing: “ . . . If I have all faith . . . but have not love, I am nothing.” If we were to focus our attention upon the inconsistencies within the Church, we might become disillusioned. Unfor tunately, it is very easy for frail hu man beings to note the bad and over look the good in persons as well as in institutions. But when we view the body of Christ in its proper perspective, its majesty and worth will appear so overwhelming that the inconsistencies of its components become completely overshadowed. Men may fail, even the greatest and noblest among them; we are all weak and have feet of clay. The Church may falter and fail; it is, after all, composed of fallible men. The amazing thing is that despite its shortcomings, the Church has been the means of blessing for nearly two thousand years. Why has this been so? Because, it would seem to me, in its weakness it has al ways had an omnipotent Leader, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is to the credit of the Church that within it men may make the greatest of all discoveries, the love of a forgiv ing Christ, the One alone, who is perfect. He has always been present to counsel and encourage those in need. There have been times in the history of the Church, when His message of salvation has been distorted and the Church has failed Him; but we have yet to find a time when Christ has failed the Church. In each generation the Church has been a place where men are captured by Jesus Christ. We 24
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