Church of the Modifier? Or Church of the Living God?

If I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. 1 Timothy 3:15

It is safe to say that the Church of Jesus Christ has never been an organization of perfected or fully mature disciples. All we who claim membership by a formal ecclesial association or a quasi-ecclesiastical affiliation with an ideological or spiritual agreement and compatibility have placed ourselves into an earthly organization. The earthly, voluntary organization is comprised of those whose hearts have made a firm and ultimate connection… no, an ultimate communion to the Living God by having received a birth from above, or not.

In which kind of church do you find yourself? The earthly church is populated with true sons and daughters of Living God the Father and those who believe that they are such sons and daughters… but, alas, are not. The negative status of a church member then is not finally and ultimately a matter willed, wished, or made an actuality by what they do or have done, but only by what they have received and held onto as their own. One’s status as a member of God’s church and family is only determined and finally decided by the Holy God. There is no Other Judge or Determiner than He, if one believes that the Bible, the Holy Scriptures, is in fact the Word of God – the absolute Truth of reality and Reality. Should we not be in fearful respect of such a Holy One whose judgments are fiercely final and whose grace is correspondingly fiercely sufficient.

I had wanted to write this essay on the differences between the Church of the (American) State and the Church of the Living God. Such an essay is needed in these times. Not for the world, but for the true sons and daughters of the Living God. For encouragement. For parsing the multitudinous differences between those who are the true sons and daughters for their own edification and their resolve-ment - not resolution as if the tension inherent in having redeemed life though we live in a fallen and corrupt world of sin is finally resolved… our destination is secure biblically, theologically, and ultimately, but each son and each daughter must live out that tension of the ”already but not yet” in their own unique process of sanctification which is not finalized in time until the individual son or daughter completes the race. We must all compete against sin and claim victory individually and corporately in the completion of the race and the proving our faith in this world until we have not breath any longer. Praise be to the Father Who according to His Own counsel was pleased with this arrangement to test and encourage the faithfulness, witness, and testimony of the daughter and son in her or his victory over sin, death, and Satan!

What is the church of the modifier? Each church to which St. Paul wrote the New Testament canon could be described by a modifier. The modifiers given by John the Revelator to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3 have been discussed by Biblical scholars as different types, specific historical congregations, and theological motifs. Each may be a full-orbed description and approaches of the intention of the Righteous and Grace-giving Father. Today, when we are being overwhelmed by the number of interpretations, insights, and indoctrinations by information, the verse in 1 Timothy re-centers our minds and hearts to one focus of discernment: truth. For the daughter and son of the Living God, does “the truth” have a reality separate in substance, conception, and persuasion different from the world’s definition of truth? For the modified “Biblical Christian,” the answer must be an unqualified “Yes.” The unqualifying qualification is the certainty of the discernment given by the Spirit of Truth. This should not be a mystery or a debatable matter in the true church of the living God. By faith, the Paraclete is given to the daughter and son of the Living God and the truth is revealed through God-given discernment. Such discernment is unique, universal, and individually special in the relationship between each child of God and the Father. It is the Way the Father has determined without violating His objective and subjective created and salvific orders.

So, are you a member of the church of the living God or a member of a church of the modifier? There is a righteous modifier as authorized by the Holy and Living God. It is the faithful church which denies all the modifiers of the world but which subscribes and lives out its true calling by being – by asserting, by committing itself to the truth in refutation of the propaganda, the labels, the interpretations, the characterizations and representations, the feigned authorities, the lies, the deceptions, and the blatant misrepresentations. Let us be true to the truth and the Truth and prove ourselves as true witnesses to the Living God. Amen.

See this inspiring, encouraging, and challenging 30-minute message given by Eric Metaxas at Houston’s Second Baptist Church and his book, “Letter to American Christians.”