Bride of Christ

All believers are saved, but all are not in the Bride of Christ.

Ephesians 5:22-33

John 3.29

The Bride of Christ is comprised of only,

and all the members who have been scripturally baptized into a New Testament Baptist Church,

and that Christ will present this Bride to Himself at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

We totally reject the false doctrine of the universal invisible church.

The Church, according to divine purpose and plan, is a visible, local, organized body;

that is composed of baptized believers associated together by a covenant of faith and fellowship in the Gospel.

God’s plan for financing the ministry of the church is through the giving of offerings.

The Commission was given to the churches, not individuals.

Members should be voted into the fellowship of the local body by the local body.

Unruly church members should be prayerfully and Scripturally disciplined by the local Baptist church;

and that letters of membership should be granted to sister local Baptist churches of the same faith and practice.

Baptism and the Lord's Supper are ordinances personally set in the church of the living God by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Baptism places a believer into the membership of a New Testament Baptist Church.

The Lord's Supper is restricted to a closed communion within the membership of the local Baptist church.

The elements of the Lord's Supper are unleavened bread and wine.

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Taken from www.baptistpillar. com (down)

A Baptist Bride

To take the position that all saved persons will be a part of Christ’s Bride

is the equivalent of saying, that one church is as good as another,

and that all will receive equal honor at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

Beloved, this is just not so.

If this be true, then one might as well be a Catholic,

or a member of one of the many other organizations which call themselves New Testament churches,

but which, in fact, came into being fifteen, or sixteen hundred years too late

to be able to make claim to New Testament authority.

As the writer of the article from which I have quoted rightly declares,

all of the saved will be with the Lord in glory,

and will be present at the wedding supper,

but all will not be a part of the Bride,

nor have the special honor which will be accorded to the Bride of our Blessed Lord.

Jesus Established The Church

This Day-of-Pentecost origin of the church is too ridiculous to merit consideration here.

Jesus said that He — not the Holy Spirit — would build His church Matthew 16.17-18.

See Luke 6.12-16 where Jesus, after all night prayer,

called His disciples to Him, and out of them, chose twelve

whom He named apostles. See 1 Corinthians 12.28,

where it is stated that the apostles were set in the church first.

There are too many evidences of the fact that Christ set up the church

while He was on earth to need discussion here.

The Baptist Name

Although Baptists have been called by various names since the days of the origin of the New Testament church,

I believe that the name Baptist, itself, as relating to the church, is scriptural.

John was called “Baptist” in the New Testament.

He was sent from God to prepare the material of which Jesus would set up His church.

I believe that the one true church which Jesus set up was a missionary Baptist church.

We realize that today the name “Baptist” is used promiscuously by many groups which bear little likeness

to the new Testament church in doctrine, practice, organization, etc., etc.

True missionary Baptists today preach the same doctrines,

have the same kind of organization, hold to the same ordinances,

have the same kind of government, and recognize Jesus the one only true Head of the New Testament church (Eph. 1:22-23).

The church is also called His body.

Now a church, according to the Greek New Testament can only be a visible assembly.

Also the word “body” (Greek: soma), which is used many, many times to indicate the church,

means a visible, organized body.

It cannot be invisible, nor universal.

Jesus used the human body to picture the structure of His church.

The word is used 18 times in I Cor. 12, and every time has to do with the church.

The Bride of Christ

The Bride of Christ will be composed of the aggregation of all true New Testament churches —

of course, minus any unsaved who are members.

I believe these true New Testament churches are true missionary Baptist churches.

As to independent churches, we know that all New Testament churches were independent.

There were no Conventions, nor General Organizations.

Two Opposing Positions

There are two common objections raised pertaining to our claim of a Baptist Bride:

1. Opponents will raise the questions as to Paul’s words concerning Christ’s Bride, the church,

as given in Ephesians 4.4 and Ephesians 5.22-32.

In considering these scriptures,

keep in mind that he is speaking to a local church;

and truly there is only one church (one kind of church, as set up by our Lord).

Also he speaks of the church in an institutional sense,

as we might say, “the home, the school,” etc.,

without reference to any particular local home, or church, or school.

As to Ephesians 5.22, church is used in the same institutional sense.

2. The second objection raised by opponents of the Baptist Bride position is,

that the impurities, and disobedience of many of these churches, would disqualify them;

hence the Bride will have to be made up of all saved people.

This, too, I must deny,

for Ephesians 5.25-27 tells us: “Husbands love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, but holy, and without blemish.”

So, my friends, when the Bride is presented to Jesus, the Bridegroom,

she will have been cleansed and made acceptable to Him.

Other Evidences

Matthew 22.1-14 is an irrefutable reference,

for it is quite obvious that this parable has to do with the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

And, beloved, there were “guests” at this wedding.

Surely we never heard of a happy wedding occasion, such as this,

with only the Bride and Groom present.

Again, John 3.29 says, “He that hath the bride is the bridegroom;

but the friend of the bridegroom;

which standeth and heareth him rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice:

this my joy therefore is fulfilled.”

It is easy to see that the friend of the bridegroom here is John,

but he was not a part of the Bride.

I also urge you to read carefully Psalms 45.8-17.

Without doubt, this is a picture of the happy occasion of the marriage, and glorious reception.

Verse 14 says: “She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework:

the virgins her companions that follow here shall be brought unto thee.”

There is one other scripture which I shall mention here,

which is usually referred to by the anti-Baptist Bride group —

also by those who teach of an invisible, universal church,

and that everyone who is save is in the church, the body of Christ.

This is Heb. 12:22-23, where, in contrast with the law,

we are told of that to which we come.

“But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God,

the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,

To the general assembly and church of the firstborn,

which are written in heaven,

and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect.”

Now it is quite obvious to those who know anything about the Greek rendering of this,

that “general assembly,” and “church of the firstborn” are entirely two different things.

The word used for “general assembly” is panaqurei, and means “the assembly of an entire people.”

This evidently refers to all of the saved of all ages.

However church, in “church of the firstborn,” is ekklesia, and means “assembly.”

It is the word used for “church” throughout the New Testament.

The “general assembly,” and “church of the firstborn” cannot be one, and the same.

Dear friends, I must stand upon the proposition,

that the church that Jesus built while He was here on earth was an old time missionary Baptist church,

and that the aggregation of such churches will constitute the Bride of Christ.

All who are born-again will be there,

but only the Bride will have the place of highest honor.

The Bride and the Bridegroom will not be alone at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:9);

the saved of all ages will be there.

And what a time of glory it will be! Hallelujah!

There are so-called churches today which believe and preach salvation by works;

the New Testament churches preached salvation by grace, through faith,

and that unto good works (Eph. 2:8-10, Phil. 3:5).

There are so-called churches today which believe and preach baptismal regeneration;

the New Testament church preached the new birth by the Spirit of God.

They made disciples, then baptized them.

There are so-called churches today which believe and preach sprinkling or pouring for baptism;

the New Testament churches preached and practiced the only mode that can in any way be called baptism;

that is immersion in water.

There are so-called churches today which believe and preach church government by a select few;

the New Testament churches practiced authority and rule by the church,

believing in the autonomy given the church.

There are many so-called churches today which believe and preach that a group must belong to,

or be affiliated with some convention, or other organization;

the New Testament churches believed in the absolute independence of every local body of Christ,

and recognized no head except Jesus, the Founder of the church (Eph. 2:23; Col. 1:18).

There are many so-called churches today which believe, preach, and practice “open communion”

that is, let any Christian come and participate in that church’s observance of the Lord’s Supper;

the New Testament churches observed the Lord’s Supper as a local church ordinance.

Limited time and space prevent our going on and on with this list of differences in the practice of many so-called churches,

and that of old time New Testament Baptist churches today.

But we stand upon the Book.

In the light of these things, I must say that we believe in a true Baptist Bride.

And we believe that the bride will have the place of honor.

Otherwise, one church is as scriptural as another,

and that is not so.

All believers are saved,

but all are not in the Bride of Christ.

By M. H. Hall

Baptist Pillar

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