What does the Bible say about the Church? Part 3. final

1 Timothy 3:15: . . . I write (to you) so that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is.... the pillar and support of the truth.

Being part of the local church is not optional. It is the household of God and if I am one of God’s children I belong where the Lord’s family meets and is edified.

The church is also called the pillar and support of the truth. In the Church God’s truth is discovered, taught and learned.

There is something special about knowing the truth in the context of the community of Christ’s household. Firstly, learning in the community of faith safeguards the truth. Anyone can go off track. Anyone can misinterpret God’s Word and individuals are prone to over emphasising one teaching of the Bible to the detriment of others. Within the community of faith we find the help and support to uphold the full counsel of God. This is why the Church is the pillar and support of the truth.

Secondly, the church is a pillar and support of God’s truth, because of the biblical promise that God’s Spirit will be present within this community and will guide his people. Although we know that the Spirit dwells in every individual follower of Jesus, God’s promise to reveal and uphold the truth that has to be taught and learned, is given to the community of Christ, as a body.

In church we are not merely expressing our personal opinions or share our private experiences of God’s guidance and help, but we in faith expect God to address his people on the universal, Christian and apostolic truth as revealed in Christ and testified to in the Scriptures. God calls men and women to preach and teach in his Name by the authority given to them to do so by Christ, who guides his Church in calling his servants to do his work.

God confirms the Gospel truth to his people and applies it to our lives today! This how we become disciples and it simulates the journey that the disciples of Jesus had when he was on earth.

The church provides the context where we challenge one another to fully live for the Lord on the basis of the truth God has revealed to us in Christ and through the Scriptures. We do this as a family in the household of God, the community of the King, the church of the Living God.

Remember what we said three weeks ago. The church is composed of people redeemed by the Son of God, brought together by the will of God to live together as the family of God, in order to do the work of God.
This is possible when we share the truth of God, through the guidance of the Spirit of God, because we desire to know the full counsel of God, as the church of God.