Jesus Christ was the first to use the word 'Church' in the New Testament. Today, many think of churches as buildings. What is the Church actually, according to the Bible? The biblical root word for 'church' is the Greek ekklesia. What does that mean? How does the Bible describe the original churches? How does one become part of Jesus Christ’s Church? Are there any specific things that need to be done?
Disregarding centuries of misuse of the English word, when we go to the original Greek, we see that repentance (Greek: metanoia) means 'a change of mind'. So what is it that we need to change our minds about? Why does the Bible say mankind is in an unjustified state? In Old Testament times, God gave Israel a set of rules called the Law Covenant. What was the deal there? How is that related to sin? And why did God provide the Law covenant (the Old Testament) if he knew there would be a New Testament?
The period of the Law Covenant showed us mankind needs to change its mindset from self-justification efforts and understand the need for a Savior i.e. Christ. But how can Christ justify us when we still remain in our fallen flesh? When Christ taught us to pray for forgiveness, did he mention how often do we need that? If the Law showed us Christ's necessity, what happened to it after his arrival? Is it still in vogue?
If the church's calling is not to struggle against sin and justification is rather only by faith in Jesus Christ, does it mean we do nothing to prove our faith? How can a person prove his or her faith in Christ? It's often been said that we should follow Christ. But how exactly can that be accomplished? What did Jesus command his followers to do?
Since the 2nd century, water baptism (Greek: immersion) has been used as a ritual to cleanse past sins and establish a relationship with God. Is that the intention of the original baptisms given by Christ's Apostles? What was the difference between the baptism given by John the Baptist and the one given in the name of Christ? Why does it imply a 'born again' notion? Is this symbolic action even necessary? Can infants be baptized in Christ? What happens when a person takes baptism?
‘For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink’ - 1Corinthians 12:13. What is the meaning of this? Why is the Holy Spirit given to us during our baptism? What did Jesus mention about the purpose of this anointment of the Holy Spirit of God? Is there a difference between baptism with the Holy Spirit and baptism with fire?
Scriptures, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Scriptures indicated NASB are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.