Dake Bible Discussion Board ⇒ Quote: People do not go to church because they are not Christians.

[bibleman]

People have become so worldly minded these days... that they have left God out of their lives... and don't even know it.

Example: Many people no longer feel the need to go to church.

I read this quote and after reading it and re-reading it about 15 times I finally understood it. Here is the quote:

"People don’t feel any more guilty about not being in church on Sunday than you feel guilty about not being in synagogue on Saturdays.
How many Saturdays do you feel bad about missing synagogue?
That’s how many Sundays they feel bad about missing church."
by Carey Nieuwhof

I do not feel guilty about missing synagogue because I do not go to synagogue.
I do not feel guilty about missing synagogue because I am not Jewish.
I do not feel guilty about missing synagogue because it is not even in my mind or my mental world.
I do not feel guilty about missing synagogue because it is not in my spirit to go are be a part.
I do not feel guilty about missing synagogue because I am not connected to synagogue are anything it represents.
I do not even know who the God of the Jews is.

People who have no guilt about missing church could say the same thing.

I do not feel guilty about missing church because I do not go to church.
I do not feel guilty about missing church because I am not Christian.
I do not feel guilty about missing church because it is not even in my mind or my mental world.
I do not feel guilty about missing church because it is not in my spirit to go are be a part.
I do not feel guilty about missing church because I am not connected to church are anything it represents.
I do not even know who the God of the Christians is.

It took me a while to see it, but the relationship is so true.

People do not go to church because they are not Christians.

Hebrews 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

[Ironman]

Jesus never taught becoming a Monk brings salvation.

Jesus never taught becoming a Nun brings salvation.

Jesus never taught Jesus + some special church, including the Catholic Church brings salvation,

Jesus never taught Jesus + certain sacraments brings salvation,

Jesus never taught saying the rosary brings salvation,

Jesus never taught Jesus + legalism brings salvation,

Jesus never taught Jesus + purgatory brings salvation,

Jesus never taught confess to a priest brings salvation,

Jesus never taught circumcision brings salvation,

Jesus + nothing else brings salvation.

We cannot do anything, or add anything to all Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit, did to save mankind.

Paul, in Acts 16:30-31, Paul and Silas said to the prison guard when he asked what he must do to be saved;

And Paul said!

BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND THOU SHALT BE SAVED, AND THY HOUSEHOLD.

We are JUSTIFIED in the eyes of God by FAITH ALONE, just-if-I'd never sinned. The precious literal blood of Jesus (sprinkled on the heavenly Mercy Seat) takes our sins away forever (1st Peter 1:18,19; Hebrews 9:12,24). This is true righteousness, and it is found ONLY in Christ Jesus! We are commanded to seek HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS if we want to enter into the Kingdom of God. “But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, Who of God is made unto us wisdom, and RIGHTEOUSNESS, and sanctification, and redemption” (1st Corinthians 1:30). The Lord Jesus Christ is our righteousness through faith in Him!!!

[bibleman]

Jesus never taught becoming a Monk brings salvation.
Jesus never taught becoming a Nun brings salvation.
Jesus never taught Jesus + some special church, including the Catholic Church brings salvation,
Jesus never taught Jesus + certain sacraments brings salvation,
Jesus never taught saying the rosary brings salvation,
Jesus never taught Jesus + legalism brings salvation,
Jesus never taught Jesus + purgatory brings salvation,
Jesus never taught confess to a priest brings salvation,
Jesus never taught circumcision brings salvation,
Jesus + nothing else brings salvation.
We cannot do anything, or add anything to all Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit, did to save mankind.
Paul, in Acts 16:30-31, Paul and Silas said to the prison guard when he asked what he must do to be saved;
And Paul said!
BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND THOU SHALT BE SAVED, AND THY HOUSEHOLD.
We are JUSTIFIED in the eyes of God by FAITH ALONE, just-if-I'd never sinned. The precious literal blood of Jesus (sprinkled on the heavenly Mercy Seat) takes our sins away forever (1st Peter 1:18,19; Hebrews 9:12,24). This is true righteousness, and it is found ONLY in Christ Jesus! We are commanded to seek HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS if we want to enter into the Kingdom of God. “But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, Who of God is made unto us wisdom, and RIGHTEOUSNESS, and sanctification, and redemption” (1st Corinthians 1:30). The Lord Jesus Christ is our righteousness through faith in Him!!!

The catholic church is corrupt for sure.

BUT the church of Jesus Christ is not.

Matthew 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

[luchnia]

The catholic church is corrupt for sure.

BUT the church of Jesus Christ is not.

Church is not somewhere you go, but who you are. A gathering is where you go. This subject can get sticky because one can ask the question of what church (small c) isn't corrupt in some way, shape, or form? Why single out the RCC when there are umteens of millions of churches that are corrupt just not as visible? I am sure we could all include most any denominations and various titles and tags today and find corruption of some sort but maybe not as visible as the RCC. Many will say to you, "You have found the real Church with us." That is the first line of garbage that one should get a red flag on.

A lot of this problem would have went away had the people that gathered stuck to the concept of the Church being based on locale rather than titles and tags which come from men separating and not the unity of the Spirit. Separatist tags do not unify believers. Paul and Jesus spoke of the Body of believers at various locations such as Corinth, Ephesus, etc., and not by name tags and titles as men do today. The Body is not disjointed nor dark and will never be as some teach it is.

The truth is there is no RCC, baptist, methodist, presby, or otherwise as those are simply name tags and titles that men love to hang above their doors to sit upon thrones high above others. The Church is His body of believers without schism or darkness wherever they are gathering together. You would see a lot of this separatist tag and title nonsense depart, if it was the way Paul and Jesus said it is by the unity of the Spirit of God.

The Church, called out body of believers, at (whatever location) is His Church. If you believe Christ and Him crucified and rose again from the dead, then you are my brother or sister whether we like it or not. The rest out there today is mostly a confused organizational complex corporate mess of "follow our rules and laws" of why one is right and the others are wrong. It is disheartening and almost turns the stomach of the child of God.

[Hill Top]

Jesus never taught becoming a Monk brings salvation.
Jesus never taught becoming a Nun brings salvation.
Jesus never taught Jesus + some special church, including the Catholic Church brings salvation,
Jesus never taught Jesus + certain sacraments brings salvation,
Jesus never taught saying the rosary brings salvation,
Jesus never taught Jesus + legalism brings salvation,
Jesus never taught Jesus + purgatory brings salvation,
Jesus never taught confess to a priest brings salvation,
Jesus never taught circumcision brings salvation,
Jesus + nothing else brings salvation.
We cannot do anything, or add anything to all Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit, did to save mankind.
Paul, in Acts 16:30-31, Paul and Silas said to the prison guard when he asked what he must do to be saved;
And Paul said!
BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND THOU SHALT BE SAVED, AND THY HOUSEHOLD.
We are JUSTIFIED in the eyes of God by FAITH ALONE, just-if-I'd never sinned. The precious literal blood of Jesus (sprinkled on the heavenly Mercy Seat) takes our sins away forever (1st Peter 1:18,19; Hebrews 9:12,24). This is true righteousness, and it is found ONLY in Christ Jesus! We are commanded to seek HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS if we want to enter into the Kingdom of God. “But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, Who of God is made unto us wisdom, and RIGHTEOUSNESS, and sanctification, and redemption” (1st Corinthians 1:30). The Lord Jesus Christ is our righteousness through faith in Him!!!

"Faith alone" is a bit of a misnomer, as even you have added "commanded to seek HIS righteousness if we want to enter into the kingdom of God".
The things done by those with faith are the things that allow our entry into the kingdom of God.
Without faith, the gift of repentance from sin is just a bandage; done over and over again fruitlessly.
Without faith, water baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins is just a bath.
Without faith, prayers are just talking into the air.
Without faith, going to church is just socialization.

[bibleman]

The catholic church is corrupt for sure.

BUT the church of Jesus Christ is not.

Church is not somewhere you go, but who you are. A gathering is where you go. This subject can get sticky because one can ask the question of what church (small c) isn't corrupt in some way, shape, or form? Why single out the RCC when there are umteens of millions of churches that are corrupt just not as visible? I am sure we could all include most any denominations and various titles and tags today and find corruption of some sort but maybe not as visible as the RCC. Many will say to you, "You have found the real Church with us." That is the first line of garbage that one should get a red flag on.

A lot of this problem would have went away had the people that gathered stuck to the concept of the Church being based on locale rather than titles and tags which come from men separating and not the unity of the Spirit. Separatist tags do not unify believers. Paul and Jesus spoke of the Body of believers at various locations such as Corinth, Ephesus, etc., and not by name tags and titles as men do today. The Body is not disjointed nor dark and will never be as some teach it is.

The truth is there is no RCC, baptist, methodist, presby, or otherwise as those are simply name tags and titles that men love to hang above their doors to sit upon thrones high above others. The Church is His body of believers without schism or darkness wherever they are gathering together. You would see a lot of this separatist tag and title nonsense depart, if it was the way Paul and Jesus said it is by the unity of the Spirit of God.

The Church, called out body of believers, at (whatever location) is His Church. If you believe Christ and Him crucified and rose again from the dead, then you are my brother or sister whether we like it or not. The rest out there today is mostly a confused organizational complex corporate mess of "follow our rules and laws" of why one is right and the others are wrong. It is disheartening and almost turns the stomach of the child of God.

Well of course we are the body of Christ and we are the Church! YES amen.
But church is also somewhere you go.
We have them on every corner in America.

Much like you might say I am going to work!
You could say that work is NOT a place but it is something you do.
But we also know that it is a place we go as well.

And Workers go to work and Christians go to church. I see them there all the time.

[Ironman]

Jesus never taught becoming a Monk brings salvation.
Jesus never taught becoming a Nun brings salvation.
Jesus never taught Jesus + some special church, including the Catholic Church brings salvation,
Jesus never taught Jesus + certain sacraments brings salvation,
Jesus never taught saying the rosary brings salvation,
Jesus never taught Jesus + legalism brings salvation,
Jesus never taught Jesus + purgatory brings salvation,
Jesus never taught confess to a priest brings salvation,
Jesus never taught circumcision brings salvation,
Jesus + nothing else brings salvation.
We cannot do anything, or add anything to all Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit, did to save mankind.
Paul, in Acts 16:30-31, Paul and Silas said to the prison guard when he asked what he must do to be saved;
And Paul said!
BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND THOU SHALT BE SAVED, AND THY HOUSEHOLD.
We are JUSTIFIED in the eyes of God by FAITH ALONE, just-if-I'd never sinned. The precious literal blood of Jesus (sprinkled on the heavenly Mercy Seat) takes our sins away forever (1st Peter 1:18,19; Hebrews 9:12,24). This is true righteousness, and it is found ONLY in Christ Jesus! We are commanded to seek HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS if we want to enter into the Kingdom of God. “But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, Who of God is made unto us wisdom, and RIGHTEOUSNESS, and sanctification, and redemption” (1st Corinthians 1:30). The Lord Jesus Christ is our righteousness through faith in Him!!!

The catholic church is corrupt for sure.

BUT the church of Jesus Christ is not.

Matthew 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Christ is the rock, Peter is a pebble.

[bibleman]

Jesus never taught becoming a Monk brings salvation.
Jesus never taught becoming a Nun brings salvation.
Jesus never taught Jesus + some special church, including the Catholic Church brings salvation,
Jesus never taught Jesus + certain sacraments brings salvation,
Jesus never taught saying the rosary brings salvation,
Jesus never taught Jesus + legalism brings salvation,
Jesus never taught Jesus + purgatory brings salvation,
Jesus never taught confess to a priest brings salvation,
Jesus never taught circumcision brings salvation,
Jesus + nothing else brings salvation.
We cannot do anything, or add anything to all Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit, did to save mankind.
Paul, in Acts 16:30-31, Paul and Silas said to the prison guard when he asked what he must do to be saved;
And Paul said!
BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND THOU SHALT BE SAVED, AND THY HOUSEHOLD.
We are JUSTIFIED in the eyes of God by FAITH ALONE, just-if-I'd never sinned. The precious literal blood of Jesus (sprinkled on the heavenly Mercy Seat) takes our sins away forever (1st Peter 1:18,19; Hebrews 9:12,24). This is true righteousness, and it is found ONLY in Christ Jesus! We are commanded to seek HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS if we want to enter into the Kingdom of God. “But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, Who of God is made unto us wisdom, and RIGHTEOUSNESS, and sanctification, and redemption” (1st Corinthians 1:30). The Lord Jesus Christ is our righteousness through faith in Him!!!

The catholic church is corrupt for sure.

BUT the church of Jesus Christ is not.

Matthew 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Christ is the rock, Peter is a pebble.

I love Jesus's church!

The church has taught me all that I know about victory in Christ from the Word of God.

I would never denigrate the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.