Biblical Church Behavior
This section of this website is dedicated to showing what we can learn from Scripture as to how God had intended for the Church to behave within the anointing of Christ. And to show how God worked through the early Church in showing His presence through them before the world. Scriptures are full of examples of where people made decisions on their own in departing from the will of God, and then God no longer manifested His presence to them. So I think it is very important to go back in Scripture and study for all the truths that are written and see how they could apply in today's situations. We must also remember that tradition, no matter how established, will not and cannot make an untruth a truth. So for those that are willing to place their trust in God's authority being given to the King James Scriptures will find the truths that God has reserved for those seeking His will. These Scriptures were written by men that were inspired by God and I believe we need the inspiration of Christ in us to understand these divinely inspired Scriptures. It is clear to me that the Church, as defined by Scripture, are those that are committed to Christ:
Acts 8:3. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.
1 Corinthians 16:19. The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Priscilla greet you heartily in the Lord, with the church that is in their house.
Acts 14:27. And when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
Contraire to tradition, Scripture will show that the church is not a building, but the body of Christ, people that have committed their lives to imitating Christ. I think we should be very careful not to support the traditional lies of our forefathers. The church is not a building but rather those that have found the grace of God through the blood of Christ. Let there be no mistake! The church is made up of the temples of God and has no other location other than in the heart of those in fellowship in Christ.
Also consider this: 1 Corinthians 14:23. Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, ... Notice the word "place". This is where the body of Christ came together and there is absolutely no reverence made to the "place" where they came together. No mention of a holy sanctuary, nothing special, nothing divine, just simply a location where the church, the children of God, came together. Taking that word "place" and giving it the title of "Church" or "Church sanctuary" is redefining what Christ died for and in my opinion, is a lie. Giving a building reverence and calling it a church may seem insignificant but I don't see it that way. Calling a building a church is not the truth. It is clear that according to Scripture, the church is the people that have accepted the Way of Christ. Besides that being an untruth, it also removes the reverence and understanding of the presence of God in us from being at home to a location as the children are being taught that they must go to a place to find the sanctuary of God rather than they realizing that their own bodies is that holy sanctuary. Therefore teaching our children that a church is a building is a lie with significance, and supporting that lie cannot be a good position to take before God!
Revelation 21:7. "He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. 8. "But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.''
Notice that the apostle Paul's ministry continued out of his home. We can see for at least these two years after organizing and teaching church business/fellowship behavior, that he did not go to a building to organize a service to preach but rather opened his doors of his own home, showing that the church is wherever those that are committed to Christ, gather together.
Acts 28:30. Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, 31. preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.
Temple of God: Matthew 21:12. Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who sold doves. 13. And He said to them, "It is written, `My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you have made it a `den of thieves.' ''
John 2:19. Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.'' 20. Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?'' 21. But He was speaking of the temple of His body.
1 Corinthians 3:16. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17. If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
1 Corinthians 6:19. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20. For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
I see a very good purpose for Jesus' anger in those that bought and sold in the temple of God for it was an example comparatively to the behavior of those claiming Christianity in the future. The bible tells us that each of us was purchased for a price and our bodies are to be the temple of God for God's Spirit to dwell within. Our bodies are to be a house of prayer. When we live out our lives, not committed to the Lord but to our own lusts and desires, we are doing exactly what they were doing. We have stolen what was purchased by the Blood of Christ and using it on our pleasures. Either we are servants of God or of Satan. If indeed we are the sons of God then our bodies are a house of prayer seeking and living out God's will in our lives, otherwise we are using this temple to do amiss according to our selfish desires.