Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohio
If this principle of the ground of the church was so crucial, why was it never spelled out in the New Testament? Instead, the only N.T. references to the "ground" remotely related to this are in Colossians 2.7 where we are "rooted and built up in Christ established in the faith." Here Apostle Paul refers to believers in the church, the body of Christ, as both the farm of God (rooted in Christ) and the dwelling place of God (built up in Christ.)" Eph. 3.17 (a sister book to Colossians) says we are "rooted and grounded in love," the agape love of God. Col. 1.23 says further, "continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast and not moved away from the hope of the gospel."
I am now convinced that LSM's false ground of church oneness actually moves the believers away from the hope of the Gospel, which is uniquely Christ in us. Let me say this plainly: Christ is both the foundation of the church and the ground of the church. To use the physical site of the city Jerusalem as some metaphorical delineation of a future geographical church boundary has no N.T. basis and is easily negated by numerous verses including Jesus own instructions in John 4:20-24.
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I quoted Ohio's post because I agree with it heartily and anybody who reads Alt Views knows, Ohio and I rarely agree on anything. So I thought it must be significant.
I listened to the first 15 minutes of Ron Kangas' message and basically it's a cargo cult appeal.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_...es_of_the_term
In other words, the idea is that if you replicate the New Testament form of the church , you'll bring the Lord back. Witness Lee and his followers must make the case that the Bible implies that because it doesn't teach it. What it teaches it that what counts is authentic love and compassion, as the verses Ohio quoted above show. When love is present, Christ is present.
Now, let me add that there were many brothers and sisters in the Local Church who did show genuine love and compassion as individuals when I was there. But, the official position of the group as epitomized by Mr. Lee himself was sectarian and exclusivist and contradicted the true spirit of Jesus which is love.