God declares that He has a church and this church has two distinctive characteristics: it has the faith of Jesus and believes in the validity of His commandments, as recorded in the Bible. These are the characteristics of God´s church since Eden. There in the Garden, Adam and Eve constituted God´s church. They were His children, His people. But the enemy, disguised as a serpent, was there to destroy God´s people, attempting to depreciate the two basic points of the relationship with the Creator: worship and obedience. "If you eat of the tree," said the serpent, "you will be like God. You do not need God; you can be your own God. You have no reason to obey."
Adam and Eve fell. But afterwards they repented and returned, making up the people of God. Then came their children: Cain and Abel. During that time, God asked for the sacrifice of a lamb as a symbol of Jesus, the Lamb of God, who would one day take away the sins of the world. Abel obeyed. He took a lamb, expressing his faith in worship to the fruit of his work. It was there that the church of the enemy of God originated.
The days went by and the Bible records the clear division between these two groups of people. "The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful" (Genesis 6:2). Do you understand? Sons of God and sons of men. There are only two churches in the world, because there are only two commanders.
Before the Flood, Noah, his family, and the many people who helped build the ark were part of the church of God. Unfortunately, many abandoned the ranks of the faithful. When the Flood came, only Noah and his family made up God´s people, whom He saved. They were the only ones who worshiped the true God and obeyed His command to build the ark.
Then came the time of Abram (later called Abraham), who lived worshiping and obeying the Lord in a land full of unbelievers. One day God called him saying, "Leave your country, your people and your father´s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great" (Genesis 12:1, 2). Abraham and his descendants are clearly identified in the Bible as the church of God. The two characteristics of these people were: the worship of the true God, Creator of heaven and earth; and faithful obedience to His Word, which includes the commandments written by God later on the tablets of stone at Sinai.
When Jesus came, His people, Israel, did not accept Him. They rejected Him. They said they do not accept anyone less than Caesar. There were Israelites, however, who accepted Him, and the disciples, who Jesus used to establish the Christian church. For this reason, we can say that God´s people have always existed throughout history, and they always have two characteristics.
Israel thought that they were God´s people through heritage, but they forgot that they would only be God´s people if they worshiped Him as the true God − the God who became flesh in the person of Jesus − and obeyed His commandments.
The Christian church runs the same risk. It is not the church of God only because Jesus established it in the beginning of its history. It will continue, however, being the church of God only as it worships the true God, in the person of Jesus Christ, and obeys His Word, including His commandments. After all, these have always been the characteristics of God´s people throughout history.
Which church is of God? Characteristics are important. God knows that we today are confused with so many churches and religions. All intend to be the church of God and some benevolent ones even defend the idea that all churches lead to God. It is very easy to take radical positions in different aspects of life − although it is not very prudent to do this − but not when one is dealing with life or death. Always put in mind that God has a church that has these characteristics: believes in Jesus and keeps the commandments of God.
Is your church keeping the commandments of God?
and have the faith in Jesus?
The answer is yours alone.
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