What original understandings of Proper Church Organization are missing from the World's Christianity?
Each of us was baptized into God’s Church after repenting of our sins (the transgressions of God’s holy, righteous and perfect law). We also accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Master, our High Priest in heaven, and the soon coming king in the world tomorrow. We were not baptized into any sect or denomination of this world (or any organization of men), but into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of our sins. We were completely immersed into water, then raised out of that watery grave. We were prayed over with the laying on of hands in order to receive the Holy Spirit.
We were told that the Church of God is a spiritual organization. True. It is likened to the body of Christ, and Christ is the head of the Church. True. Next, we were told that the corporate church organization we were in was the only true church. This was a SLEIGHT OF HAND.
Is Church Authority the Government of God?
What happened after baptism? Then we assembled together with other baptized believers in various congregations, and then we were introduced to the government of God/Church authority, which was a SLEIGHT OF HAND. We were told that the ministers had rule over our lives. As time went on, that rule became more and more stifling. Why was it so hard for people to re-adjust once they left an authoritarian Church of God? It was partly because they had allowed the ministers to think for them. But it ran deeper than that. We were told that if we left the authoritarian rule of the Church, we would lose our salvation.
We were originally told that the Church was a spiritual organism. We were also told it was possible that there could be people sitting in the one true Church of God who did not have the Spirit of God. Therefore, these people were not truly a part of God’s Church. Even though an individual might be a member of a congregation of the Church of God, he must have the Holy Spirit of God to truly be in the Church of God.
But then a change came. We were then ruled over by the church government, meaning the whole ministry, with authority from the top down. We were told that the ministry was the government of God. Why was this a SLEIGHT OF HAND? Those in authority twisted the scriptures to uphold their own authority. The truth is: The ministry is NOT the government of God. They are supposed to be the servants of the people, not overlords and dictators. (From cbcg.org)
