Find and Remain in the True Church — Part II

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Are you a member of the true Church? How many true Churches are there? What is the true Church? How can you know if you are in the true Church? And if you are in the true Church, how can you stay in the true Church of God? These are questions every person who desires to be a genuine Christian faces. We should know the answers. Not knowing the answers has already put the salvation of many in jeopardy, and can put your salvation in jeopardy. A good deal of misinformation has been propagated concerning the matter of being in the Church and how it relates to our standing before God. Years ago, in the midst of an apostasy being engineered by the leaders of a Church of God fellowship, people were told that God called them into a particular corporate Church body, and that’s where he expects them to stay. Individuals have said, “God called me into this Church,” meaning a particular corporate organization, “and this is where I’m staying.”

Is that what God called us into? Is that true?

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Find and Remain in the True Church — Part I

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Are you a member of the true Church? How many true Churches are there? What is the true Church? How can you know if you are in the true Church? And if you are in the true Church, how can you stay in the true Church of God? These are questions every person who desires to be a genuine Christian faces. We should know the answers. Not knowing the answers has already put the salvation of many in jeopardy, and can put your salvation in jeopardy.

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Was Peter the First Pope?

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The Roman Catholic Church and the Papacy have made extremely bold and audacious claims. The papacy has claimed authority to appoint kings or depose them, to grant salvation or to deny it.

Innocent III (1198-1216) claimed as pope that he was the “Vicar of Christ” and of God, and that he was “Supreme Sovereign over the Church and the World.” He claimed that “All things on earth and in heaven and in hell are subject to the Vicar of Christ.” (Halley’s Bible Handbook, p. 883).

Pope Nicholas I (858-67) declared: “We popes alone have the power to bind and to loose,” claiming that the judgment of a pope “alone is infallible” (cited, A Woman Rides the Beast, Dave Hunt, p. 85).

Pope Gregory VII (1073-85), “…declared that the power to ‘bind and loose’ granted by Christ to Peter gave the popes ‘the right to make and unmake kings, to construct and reconstruct governments, to wrest from those who disobeyed all the territory held by them, and to bestow it upon those who would hold it subject to papal authority'” (A Woman Rides the Beast, p. 233).

On what foundation do such bold claims rest? They rest on the proposition that Jesus Christ gave to Peter the power to “bind and loose,” and that power somehow was passed on to a supposed unbroken line of successors. The idea is that Peter was the first Bishop of Rome, and that he was the first Pope, and that his authority has been passed down to his successors as Bishops of Rome.

It would seem that anyone, especially those who are interested in following Jesus Christ, would want to carefully examine such claims, to test their legitimacy. Before turning over your hope of salvation to such claims, wouldn’t you want to know their validity? Let’s then examine the question: “Was Peter the First Pope?”
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Become Part of the True Church of God

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There are many Churches that claim to be Christian. The claim to be a Christian Church implies that its teachings are consistent with the teachings of Jesus Christ, and that Christ’s example is followed by the Church making the claim.

It ought to be obvious to anyone who seriously considers the matter that not all Churches that claim to be Christian really are following teachings consistent with the teachings of Jesus Christ found in the Bible. Some have wondered, “How can I be a part of the true Church of God?” I want to answer that question in this article.

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Unlocking the Mystery of Mankind’s Destiny

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As human beings our lives are largely consumed by those things that we think are important at any given time. In reality, however, those things we think are so important are really of fleeting significance, and will soon be forgotten. Those things that truly are important, however, and that are of lasting significance, are commonly given scant attention. Mankind’s destiny is not only a subject about which most people know almost nothing, but it’s also a subject to which most people give little thought or concern.

As Christians, however, we are instructed by our Master, Jesus Christ, to make God’s Kingdom not an afterthought, but the central focus of our lives (Matthew 6:25-34). Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 15:50). The revealing of what is indeed a mystery, something unknown to most people today and throughout history, mankind’s destiny, the destiny God has in mind for every human being who is willing to meet his terms, and in particular the destiny he has in store for us if we remain faithful, is the subject of this article.

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