Those Who Have Trusted Christ are the Bride of Christ

A dear sister was sharing with me her concern about someone on Facebook who was spreading lies about Christ claiming that the church is not the Bride of Christ. So many lies are being spread on the internet that sound plausible but are working against the truth of Christ.

The "Bride of Christ" is a metaphor for the church. There is no question that the Church is the Bride of Christ and here are the scriptures that prove it.

Ephesians 5:24

"Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything"

Ephesians 5:25

"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it"

Revelation 19:7

"Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him for the marriage of the Lamb is come and his wife hath made herself ready"

Revelation 21:9

The city of Jerusalem is described as "the Bride, the wife of the Lamb"

Isaiah 62:5

"As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you"

During the tribulation period, the church will be at the Marriage supper of the Lamb in Heaven celebrating our marriage.

In Ephesians God describes the relationship between a husband and wife as the picture of our relationship to Christ.

In the command for the wife to be covered during the gathering of the saints and the man to be uncovered symbolizes the man as a representation of Christ and the woman covered as a representation of the church, the Bride.

1 Corinthians 11:7-12 "7 For a man should not have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God. But the woman is the glory of the man.

8 For man did not come from woman, but woman from man.

9 Neither was man created for the sake of woman, but woman for man.

10 For this reason a woman should have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.

11 In any case, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman.

12 For just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman. But all things come from God."

Ephesians 5:25-27

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

Revelation 19:7-9

"Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”

2 Corinthians 11:2

"For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ."

This is clearly a picture of Christ betrothed to His bride, the Church.

Isaiah 54:5

"For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called."

Ephesians 5:25

"Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,"

All through the scriptures from beginning to end we see that Christ is betrothed to the Church and that the Church is the Bride of Christ.

Revelation 19:7

"Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready;"

Isaiah 62:5

"For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you."

There can be no doubt that Christ is the husband and the Church is the Bride. One has to do major scripture twisting to deny that the Church is the Birde of Christ.

Revelation 21:9

"Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.”

It was the Jewish custom that the woman was called "wife" to her betrothal to the man even though the marriage had not yet taken place. We as born-again believers are betrothed to Christ now and will be married to Him at the marriage supper of the Lamb, the Lamb being Christ.

Isaiah 62:5

"For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you."

I become excited when God reveals something to me that was different from what I was taught, but I also know it is very important that we develop discernment when reading many claims on the internet since we are living in the days of intense deception. The devil is very clever in making something sound plausible when it is against the Word of God.

Everything must be tested against what we read in the Bible as we pray that the Holy Spirit shows us truth from error.

Foolishness of the Modern Fashion Industry and Those Who Follow it!

Foolish young folks pay $80 in a fancy store for ripped and faded jeans.

I saw a homeless man the other day wearing faded and ripped jeans and I turned to my husband and said; "how could that homeless person afford those expensive jeans?"

Has the world gone mad? Yes it has gone mad, the worse the fashion industry can make people look the more the people clamor for it. I call it insanity!!!!

Isaiah 5:20

"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!"

Perfectionism the Disease of Pride

Perfectionism is a disease of pride. No one can be perfect even if we can do well. Perfectionism kills ambition and discourages others.

When we know we are not perfect we can enjoy our best, even if it doesn't meet the standards of the perfectionists.

Knowing we cannot "do perfectly" because we are not perfect, allows us to be satisfied with the best we can personally do. This does not mean we become slothful and lazy, it means we can praise God for what He has given us.

Because we know we are not perfect we need not put on pretense about anything, we are free to call a failure a failure and begin again with what we learned from it.

There is no learning without failure. There is no realization of the need for humility without failure, it teaches us things and keeps us trusting in Christ the Perfect One.

Proverbs 26:12

"Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him."

An attitude bent toward personal perfection is one who is self-focused and superior in their own eyes.

Let us walk in the freedom of truth admitting to ourselves those things that need work.

God's Way is the Only Way, All Others are the Devils Counterfeits

For many years now a disciplinary technique has been employed on two generations of people, that is "time out."

There is nothing more devastating to a child than to be isolated sending the message that if you don't act the way we want you to we are not going to love you. You will be culled out of the herd and disrespected because you are not like us.

God's way is to use the rod in discipline which shows the children they are being corrected and allowed to remain with the family. Physical pain corrects behavior but does not "throw away" a child to cause frustration and hurt. Spanking hurts for a short time but isolation continues to hurt long after the discipline has passed.

Those who have isolated their children to make them feel lonely and without love have caused anger in them.

The children I have known who were isolated in this way through "time out" do not change their heart only their outer appearance to accommodate the parent and those who have been disciplined God's way are more likely to change their heart because they know they are loved and can remain with the family.

I have noticed that those who have been isolated through "time out" often use this tactic of "setting aside" someone when they disagree as adults. The message they send is "if you don't agree with me I am not going to love you."

There is no reasoning with someone who thinks the only way they can love someone is when the person thinks just like they think.

Proverbs 18:1

"Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment."

1 Corinthians 12:14

"For the body does not consist of one member but of many."

Many modern techniques and ideas come from psychology based on evolution and not Biblical.

The modern idea of the hierarchy of the church, a wrong idea about forgiveness, the traditions of men that God never commanded are common in our world today. The pressure to conform to the traditions of men is immense and constant. It takes a Spirit filled person who is able to think for themselves to be able to stand against all the wrong thinking.

Isaiah 55:8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord”

When we add things to the Bible in our teachings that God never said we are placing man's wisdom above God.

Proverbs 13:24

"He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him".

Proverbs 19:18

"Discipline your children while they are young enough to learn. If you don't, you are helping them destroy themselves".

Proverbs 29:17

"Discipline your child and he/she will give you rest; he/she will give you delight to your heart".

Isolation is not discipline it is manipulation to frustrate.

Proverbs 29:15-17

15 A rod of correction imparts wisdom, but a child left to himself disgraces his mother. 16 When the wicked thrive, rebellion increases; but the righteous will see their downfall."

Proverbs 22:6

"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it."

When we train a child with isolation to manipulate it is the way they will act when they are adults.

We live in a day when correction is seen as the new hate speech. It is easier to isolate someone to cause frustration of loneliness than it is to use the rod and allow the child to continue with the family.

This problem of isolating people who are not just like us is a tactic of the devil he has used it beginning with child-rearing creating children who become adults using it with those who dare to correct them.

The devil is a clever fellow, seeking to cause rebellion against God's ways in favor of "good sounding" humanistic ways based on evolution that destroy families and relationships in general.

Yes, we are to remove ourselves from those who do not love God, but this does not mean we punish people on a regular basis for not thinking just like we think. Our removal of people is based on their destructiveness toward us not on how they think.

Hebrews 12:11

"No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields a harvest of righteousness and peace to those who have been trained by it."

Ephesians 6:4

"Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath; instead, bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."

Isolating children provokes them to wrath. God's way with proper discipline by the rod adjusts their behavior without separating them from the family.

Proverbs 23:13-14

"Do not withhold discipline from a child; although you strike him with a rod, he will not die. / Strike him with a rod, and you will deliver his soul from Sheol."

Those who use modern evolutionary ways to bring up their children will see those children using those methods on them when they are adults.

1 Corinthians 13:4–8a "Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth."

In my estimation isolation to correct children is mean and disrespectful causing resentment rather than correcting.

The first question to ask in this matter of child training is "What did God say to do." Everything else the culture tells us will be short of God's perfect way.

Why Did They Go Out From Us?

“They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.” 1 John‬ ‭2‬:‭19‬ ‭KJB

"Why did these walk away? They were never really believers. Same today. Many walk away from Christ because they were never saved to begin with. This is usually the result of religion across the board." The Berean Call

Gwendolyn Wehage: "Amen, Amen!!! I believe most who say they are Christians were never born again because they hold fast to cultural Christianity and all its trappings. Worse than that they defend those traditions of men when we expose them with the Bible."

Our Salvation Depends on His Faithfulness not Ours

2 Timothy 2:13 “If we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself”

 
It is not our faithfulness that keeps us saved, it is His!!!!!
The moment we decided to depend on ourselves is when we expose the real us, full of pride and self-will.

Our Character Must be Changed by Christ for the Deeds to be Acceptable to God

Our character cannot be changed by our deeds, it must be changed by a work of Christ in us.

Deciding to change our behavior only changes the appearances on the outside, it is Christ who changes us into a new creation which is permanent.

Ephesians 2:10

"10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

Those who backslide are those who are attempting to make themselves good by their deeds, this does not last it is only a change within our hearts and by the Holy Spirit of God that is real and lasting.

When we are changed by Christ all desire to do unkind things to others is removed. We care only about helping others through speaking truth that heals.

2 Corinthians 5:17

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!"

James 2:17-18

"So too, faith by itself, if it does not result in action, is dead. / But someone will say, “You have faith and I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds."

We first have faith with our changed mind and then follow the works that Christ has given us to do. We must first "BE" in our hearts before we can "ACT" in His will and purpose.

Many people try to "do" first without being changed by Christ, it is false, builds pride, and does not last. Trying harder is not the solution for the believer. Praying more and asking God to change our hearts is the answer.

Psalm 51:10

"Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me."

When we try to clean up our own heart it has the stink of pride and self-will all over it. When Christ cleans us up He gets the glory and it fosters a humble spirit in the one who has submitted to Him.