The reason we love God is because God loved us first when he sent his Son Jesus to save us by dying for our sins which made it possible for all who believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior to be saved and not perish which is to be separated from God forever but give us eternal life with God.
Jesus teaches how to love God in John 14 and that is to obey his teachings and commandments and his apostles’. When we do this Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit to make his home in us and becomes our seal that guarantee our eternal inheritance.
This is the gospel message which Paul teaches is the foundation of the church which we build on.
1 Corinthians 3: 10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the foundation of his church and everyone who goes to church must follow Jesus as its Lord and seek and obey his will. It’s not to go to church because it has thought provoking and entertaining messages, because it has great ministries, worship music or amenities, nor because of its denomination. Church is where everyone follows Jesus as their Lord and are united in the same faith and knowledge of him.
God said we can find him by seeking him with all our heart. (Jeremiah 29:13). This is the same with everyone in church we must all seek Jesus together with all our heart and then we will find Jesus as Lord over his church.
In Revelations 2, Jesus warned the Ephesian church if they did not make him their first love, he would remove his presence from them.
In John 10, Jesus said his church leaders must be his gate keeper who are responsible to only allow him into his flock, the church.
Keeping the church’s firm foundation in Jesus does not falls upon church leaders alone, but also those who are mature in their love for Jesus as their Lord. Those who are firm in the church foundation and only recognizes Jesus’ voice and will only follow him because they are disciples of his word.
Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 1:10, that those in church must not be divided but must be perfectly united in mind and thought in Jesus Christ. They must be single minded as faithful followers and disciples of Jesus that want to be with Him forever.
When the church foundation is true to Jesus as its Lord then it can build upon that foundation, but it must be worthy to Jesus.
1 Corinthians 3: 12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. 14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
When your foundation is true to Jesus you will be saved, but what you build upon it must be worthy to Jesus because it will be tested by his purifying fire. If it survives you will receive a reward from Jesus, but if it is unworthy, it will be destroyed, and you will feel the suffering of loss because what you thought was worthy was not to Jesus. You will be saved but you will feel like someone who barely escaped from a burning house.
So, as disciples of God’s word you must know what is worthy to your Lord and only use that to build up the church which will become evident by the fruit it will bear from the Holy Spirit.
Paul goes on to teach the importance for us to keep the church holy to Jesus because it is his bride. Paul rebuked the church for allowing someone to stay in the church who was sexually immoral, and he tells them how they must deal with those who are in church.
1 Corinthians 5: 9 I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—10 not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 11 But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. 12 What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?
Paul said the church members must judge its moral compass in the church and not in the world because God will judge the world.
In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul teaches that Godly love is to protect, and we are called to protect the body of Christ. So, we must all be sensitive to the kind of fruit we bear as brothers and sisters for Jesus and to love each other the way Jesus loves us. So, we must be willing to correct and admonish those who are bearing bad fruit in church because bad morals will corrupt the church’s good morals, We correct with the goal that they repent and be saved.
Paul teaches that church members should settle disputes with each other within the church and not with those outside who do not follow Jesus as their Lord.
1 Corinthians 6: 1 If any of you has a dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the saints? 2 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!
The biggest disputes you will find in church are divorces between people in church and most couples would rather take their dispute before the ungodly to settle it and not before the saints.
Paul raises the question of whether there is anyone in church that is competent to judge disputes between its members.
Paul said we should have Godly wisdom to be able to judge disputes in church because one day we will judge the world and angels as one of God’s saints. A saint is a believer who has been set apart for God use by having the whole knowledge of Christ.
When there is a dispute between believers, they both should seek the judgment from the same church overseer, but an overseer who has met the standards that Paul has set in:
1Timothy 3: 1 Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. 2 Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. 5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?) 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. 7 He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap.
Overseers and mature Christians who has these characters would only be able to help with disputes between believers and not with unbelievers who will not submit themselves to God’s word and Jesus as their Lord.
As the body of Christ, you must remain steadfast upon the foundation of your salvation in Christ and only build upon it what is worth to Jesus and not what you want church to be.
Be safe in Jesus. Ps. Glenn