1 Thes 1:1 ...the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace. 2 Cor 5:17 So then if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away; behold, they have become new. Rom 12:5 So we who are many are one body in Christ...
Now let us go on to consider what it means for the church to be in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a great matter to be in Christ. To be in Christ means that there is no sin, flesh, self, natural life, old creation, death, or Satan. If we are in Christ, everything negative has been terminated. For those who are in Christ everything other than God has been terminated. If we realize what has been terminated in Christ, we shall know that it is shameful for so-called churches to designate themselves by certain names. For example, in China there was a group called the American Presbyterian Church. Recently in southern California I saw a sign which read "The Orange County Chinese Taiwanese Church." There is no room for any such names or designations in the church. Those who take a name such as these indicate by doing so that they are not the church in the Lord Jesus Christ. The fact that they have a name indicates that many things among them have not been terminated. The church is in the Lord Jesus Christ. This implies that with respect to the church everything natural, everything negative, everything of the old creation, has been terminated. This means that in the church there are no Chinese or Americans, no Japanese or Koreans, no French or Germans. In the church there is room only for Jesus Christ the Lord. This is the significance of the church being in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Thessalonians, pp. 64-65. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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