What are some of the Biblical signs that identify the True Church?

Question

Edit: Jesus M, that was not the question.

Answer 1

Read Rev 12:17. it is a church that Satan hates , that keeps God,s commandments and that has the testomony of Jesus Christ which is the spirit of prophecy as you will read in the first chapter of Revelation. Also for a church to be able to say that they are keeping the commandments they must (according to James 2:10) also keep the seventh day sabbath which (according to the bible and calendars) is Saturday.

Answer 2

Revelation Chap 1....God gives us examples of seven "types" of churches. He tells us that He is only pleased with two of the seven,..Smyrna and Philidelphia. The others have left their first love which should be Christ and His true Word and have gone the way of doctrins of men. Gods TRUE church are a many membered body in the love of Christ and follow His Word. Gods TRUE church does not necessarily have to be in a building and Gods TRUE chuch is not built with mans hands. Gods true church is not a building and in Gods true church , Christ is the cornerstone.

Answer 3

The attributes of the Church according to the Nicene Creed are:

The Church is “one”
The Church is “holy”
The Church is “catholic”
The Church is “apostolic”

Christians may define these attributes differently but all Christians agree that the church created by Christ and the apostles have these attributes. There are actually two characters of the Church; one is the visible Church while the other is invisible.

When we say that the Church is one we are not relating monism which would be more similar to Islam, Hinduism or Buddhism. This approach relates specifically to the simplicity of the number one in describing god. It relates more to philosophy than to the oneness of the Church who instead witnesses to the unity of God. To the Christian, this unity is professed as the three persons of the Trinity reflecting to the world the Triunity of God expressing the oneness of God as a unity of community. Oneness represents hearts and faiths drawn together in mutual love and adoration of God through Christ. It is a oneness kindled out of desire and obedience and a common hope in Christ.

Oneness does not represent the visible Church but the invisible Church of the faithful. In the sense that the oneness of the Church is invisible, it remains a mystery. The oneness of the invisible church will only be revealed in the eschatological full disclosure of the Church. It is a unity with God rather than a unity with the visible Church.

The Church is holy in that it is ordained by God when speaking of the visible Church. Jesus certainly built the visible Church using construction vernacular He said that He is the cornerstone and the apostles and prophets are the foundation. The 12 went on to train their own disciples and ordained them in apostolic succession establishing the Episcopal character of the visible Church.

The invisible Church is also characterized as holy. The Scriptures often refer to the “hagioi” or the saints and holy ones. The Scriptures speaks of the invisible Church in the following verse:

(Eph 4:12) For the perfecting of the saints, for the word of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

In this sense it represents the Church triumphant and suffering as well as the Church militant.

The Church is Catholic in that it exists for and in the world to call the world to salvation. The universal character of the Church is not in its being everywhere but the fact that none of humanity can escape from its prayers, its intellectual pursuit of God, its redemptive purpose and the Gospel it proclaims.

And finally, the Church is apostolic. This speaks to the fact that our faith is based on the original witness of those that walked with and were taught by Jesus and passed that teaching on to their disciples by the example of Jesus. This is the Episcopal tradition of the church maintained from the apostles. Those outside of the reach or authority of the bishop for whatever reason may still listen to and be informed of the witness of the apostles forming an imperfect union with Christ’s Church. In this sense, the Church may still retain its apostolic nature where its life and its thought still retain the purity of its original apostolic witness of Christ while missing the fullness of truth within the visible Church. But, teaching and practice must still lead to the reality of God revealed in the Trinity and be a reliable guide to faith, hope and love.

In Christ,
Fr. Joseph

Answer 4

"By this shall all people know that you are my disciples -- if you love one another."

You know the sad thing about the majority of churches around today? They have NO IDEA how to fulfill this one simple commandment. They know how to judge others, take on positions of spiritual elitism, practice idolatry with their own leaders or pet teachings as idols, ..., but to simply love and show the world that we are his disciples? THAT is sooo rare it must make even the Lord sad!

The greatest success of the common church of today? Driving people away from the faith. Sorry, seen it myself, to many times.

Answer 5

They are hot and not cold: they do works for the kingdom; They do not deny the name of the Lord Jesus; They stay in repentence and live Holy lives; they preach the gospel and evangelize; they put others above themselves.
The True Church speaks truth embraced in love. People must know that you love them and that your words are loving and kind or God's truth will not be heard in its proper format. Christ spoke the word of God yet prostitutes, and drunkards and tax collectors were drawn close to him. Why? Cause He embodied love in its entirety. Love must be true and pure. People know a phony. We must Love as He first loved us! Love never fails....

Answer 6

The Bible says in Revelation 14:12 "The dragon(Satan) was angry with the woman(True Church) and went to make war with the remnant(Small part of something) of her seed, which keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus Christ".

God's true church, will keep all of God's ten commandments , which includes the Sabbath truth and they will profess a saving faith in Jesus Christ.

Answer 7

This is the description of a true religion.

Jas 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
jtm

Answer 8

A "true" church would be one where the faithful (those people who have entered into the covenant of the New Testament) assemble in fellowship.

Answer 9

A big flashing neon sign in the shape of a big arrow blinking on and off saying "True Church: Because we tell you so"

Yes, Jebus loves me!
The bible tells me so.

Answer 10

GRACE unto you, and peace,
from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

IMPure religions: arrive defiled, and then get worse-end.
Pure religion: arrives undefiled, and remains unspotted.

The GRACE of our Lord Jesus Christ with you all. Amen.