The Bride of Christ

Good. People should note that the City of God, the New Jerusalem is not the Bride but the word says it is LIKE a bride.

Hello @Euphemia,

Rev.21:2 = '... prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.'
Rev.21:9 = ' ... Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. ... ... the holy Jerusalem (v.10)
* Isaiah 62

In Christ Jesus
Christ
 
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Hello @Euphemia,

Rev.21:2 = '... prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.'
Rev.21:9 = ' ... Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. ... ... the holy Jerusalem (v.10)
* Isaiah 62

In Christ Jesus
Christ
We, the redeemed, are the Bride. The City of God is our home, our adornment.
 
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Ephesians 5:25-27 ..............
"Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish."

Revelation 19:7-9 ................
"Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God."

Revelation 21:2.....................
"And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband."

Revelation 21:9 ....................
"Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.”

The imagery and symbolism of marriage is applied to Christ and the body of believers known as the church. These are those who have trusted in Jesus Christ as their personal savior and have received eternal life. In the New Testament, Christ, the Bridegroom, has sacrificially and lovingly chosen the church to be His bride. Just as there was a betrothal period in biblical times during which the bride and groom were separated until the wedding, so is the bride of Christ separate from her Bridegroom during the church age. Her responsibility during the betrothal period is to be faithful to Him. At the Second Coming of Christ, the church will be united with the Bridegroom, the official "wedding ceremony" will take place and, with it, the eternal union of Christ and His bride will be actualized.

At that time, all believers will inhabit the heavenly city known as New Jerusalem, also called “the holy city” in Revelation 21:2 and 10. The New Jerusalem is not the church, but it takes on the church’s characteristics. In his vision of the end of the age, the Apostle John sees the city coming down from heaven adorned “as a bride,” meaning that the inhabitants of the city, the redeemed of the Lord, will be holy and pure, wearing white garments of holiness and righteousness. Some have misinterpreted verse 9 to mean the holy city is the bride of Christ, but that cannot be because Christ died for His people, not for a city. The city is called the bride because it encompasses all who are the bride, just as all the students of a school are sometimes called “the school.”

The Lord is coming FOR His bride. Who will meet him in the air.
Then after she has gone the restraining power of the Holy Spirit is gone as well and the antichrist will have his rope.
But there will be people saved or born again after the Bride has gone .
Those gentiles who were not ready BORNagain will be tried and 'proved' " as through fire" and become martyers .
Then you have the Jews as a people who will "see Him whom they have pierced" and a remnant will be saved in a day .
The Bride is the first fruits . Those saved after are the general harvest and the few who will be saved after the millenium reign will be the gleaning. Then commeth the end for the whole harvest is gathered.
It is not enough simply to quote all those well known verses .But ignore all those scripture that I have before given that paints another picture.
I point out the 5 foolish virgins and it is simply claimed but not proved that that does not pertain to believers but to the world or unsaved. Despite the fact as I have pointed out among other things that they are barred from thje marriage .
Was not John the Baptist 'saved'? Yet he considered himself but a "Friend of the g room"
In heaven there are people "under the alter" "before the throne" in the throne" seated with Christ and others standing .
There are people in all sorts of places IN heaven and believers . But NOT in the bride.
I point out Lot .ignored.
I point out Enoch, who was translated BEFORE the outpouring of Gods wrath upon the earth . and Noah who was saved FROM it but saved THROUGH it .
I point out that the first Adam who was "a foreshadow of him who was to come " had a bride .who was not created FROM THE EARTH . But from his BODY .
So too then I mentioned that Abraham sought a bride for the Son by the servant not from the world but "from among his bretheren"
I also in passing mentioned that Joseph was ALREADY married when he revealed himself to his bretheren the SECOND time .
As also was Moses and both to gentile wives.
The Bride will be primarily made up of gentiles but there will also be SOME Jews . For out of every tounge and tribe etc.
I also mentioned how as Eve was out of the body .
So too was the bride for Issac .
That the tribe of Levi was a body out of the body whos inheritence was God.
As also was Peter James and John out of the 12.
I mentioned that Lot was counted righteous but walked by sight .
That a carnal christian will not be or can be ready fro the coming of the Lord.
That the lord by His own words when he "speaks to the churches" is OUTSIDE knocking on the door .
That too has been rejected as a message to the church and applied to the world and the unsaved.
That Paul warns the church not to be like those who were 'saved' and who came out fo Egypt but failed to enter into the promise because of unbelief.
He also warns the church and was concerned that she be not like the Eve who was deceived ,She too if you remember listened to and believed the wrong message. and she too did that which was good in her own eyes and by her own reasoning.
I have reconciled the fact how the church which you mentioned can be the Bride but not count all of His body being in the Bride but still part of His body. By scripture .
But you by the scriptures you mention do not reconcile how all believers of the gospel and are BORN again and thus 'saved' are saved before the translation of the bride as some are also after she has gone to the "marriage". Wether they be Jew or gentile.
I also pointed out how the children of Isreal like the foolish virgins were given the same gospel (thats more than beign BORNagain) and the same promises but missed the oppurtunity to "enter into the promise " when the door was opened for unlike the TWO who were ready they were not.
and by the time they were ready the door had been closed to them.
These too you must reconcile with those scriptures you have quoted.

You may say you do not have to. They are enough .
"we are rich increased with goods and in need of nothing"
The church is a prodigal church and it cannot be less than it was in the beginning .
and "little children " may well and do "know the father" But it is not little children who get married .
It is "ye fathers" who are as it were married .
"Who know Him who is from the beginning"
There are many children of God who are in truth "BORNagain but do not believe Gods account in the book of Genesis . But for the sake of peace with the world have mixed truth with error or deny it all together.
How can you know Him who is from the beginning if you do not believe His Word who first spoke "in the beginning"?

In Christ
gerald
 

Brother, running the "race" has absolutely nothing to do with salvation. It has to do with rewards. Salvation is NOT a reward but a free gift.

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the GIFT of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Does anybody earn a "gift"? No, they earn rewards!! Nobody can or will earn salvation.

The church having reduced our so great a Salvation to being but BORNagain. Has as it were but taken the 'S' and made it the all .
True THAT part of our Salvation is a gift and is not obtained by works . But I suggest you look up REWARDS in a good concordance and see if there are not those also AFTER we are 'saved.'

In Christ
gerald
 
geralduk...there is no such thing as a prodigal church.

The true Church of Jesus Christ is still a vibrant Church. You may be jaded about what you see in the world, but what God sees is His redeemed people, righteous and faithful, pure and unblemished, and His Son will come for her!
 
Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both great and small!”

6Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah!

For our Lord God Almighty reigns. 7Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come,

and his bride has made herself ready. 8Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)

9Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”

10At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.”

If fine linen is on the bride, and the linen is the righteous acts of Gods people, then the bride is either
a. the church
b. a reborn Israel
I think B is more likely and A are the wedding guests.
 
The church having reduced our so great a Salvation to being but BORNagain. Has as it were but taken the 'S' and made it the all .
True THAT part of our Salvation is a gift and is not obtained by works . But I suggest you look up REWARDS in a good concordance and see if there are not those also AFTER we are 'saved.'

In Christ
gerald

Hello @geralduk,

Yes indeed, salvation brings the promise of 'life' in Christ Jesus, yet not all who 'live' with Him, will have the added honour of reigning with Him. That is the reward of faithfulness, for those who endure to the end.

Thank you for your input, @geralduk, I have not always followed your reasoning, have not always been in agreement, but praise God for you.

In Christ Jesus
Chris
 
geralduk...there is no such thing as a prodigal church.

The true Church of Jesus Christ is still a vibrant Church. You may be jaded about what you see in the world, but what God sees is His redeemed people, righteous and faithful, pure and unblemished, and His Son will come for her!

Then you see only what you want to see.
The church of today is not the church that was BORN on the day of Pentecost.
That church that left its first love ,opened the door to the works of the Nicolaitins that opened the door to the doctrine of the same .
That is the separation of ministers to the church to a form of un lawful priesthood and them lording it over the flock and making merchandise of them. First by practice then by doctrine where by the laity were now to believe such a doctrine .
That then opened the door to Jezebel and all her ilk of idolatory etc . That opened the door to baalamites who prophesied for gain etc.
The woman who secretly hid leven in the meal which changed the whole was fullfilled in part .
The Apostolic church was effectively 'dead and buried'. by what followed and dominated by the Roman church.
It was not until the reformation when the seed of the church that fell into the ground and died as it were put forth its first green shoot with the revelation or understanding "the just shall live by faith" But like every shoot of a plant with two leaves on it it still had the dirt of this world attached to it and Luthor despite his courage and great reforming work got quite a feww things wrong .
The next development was Calvin and a more biblical based theology that replaced Romes. the next development was the Baptists ,It is interesting to note that each move of God was opposed by the ;last one who like Peter thought that their understanding or revelation or measure of light was all the light there was.
But when the Lord had acknowledged the blessing on peter and said his understansding was not of men byt of God . He then began to give them more light as to how the Son of God would be rejected and suffer and die . Peter sought to correct him and denied the truth to the extent that the Lord had to severely rebuke him.
A man with one breath had been a spokesman for the truth in the next had become a spokesman for Satan. Another reason why Peter was not what some claim him to be .
When I say then a prodigal church . I mean that the church since the Reformation has been returning to that Church that it was in the beginning . It is not yet there.
You say the church is vibrant?
Then I say that there is far more land yet to be posessed.
That the Bible speaks of things for the church that we do not know of yet .
That the eyes of our understanding still need to be opened to see how exceeding greatness of His power that is towards us who believe .........."
That the church needs a revival and has the Lord OUTSIDE knocking on the door . When after the resurection no door was an obstical to the Lord entering any building.
Im saying that it is saying "it is in need of nothing" when in fact it has lost much and does not know it .
That the church does not know God though it has heard of Him "who is from the beginning"
It is then in that respect then a prodigal church .

In Christ
gerald
 
Hello @geralduk,

Yes indeed, salvation brings the promise of 'life' in Christ Jesus, yet not all who 'live' with Him, will have the added honour of reigning with Him. That is the reward of faithfulness, for those who endure to the end.

Thank you for your input, @geralduk, I have not always followed your reasoning, have not always been in agreement, but praise God for you.

In Christ Jesus
Chris

We have passed from death to life already.
and even the gates of hell shall not prevail against us .
In Him we move and have our being .
Yet a young man may live in the same house as his father yet be not in agreement with him and thus be far apart .
I fear much that the church reduces the Word of God to that of mans own thinking and experience rather than raise up the Word of God and seek to bring our experience in harmony with the Word of God.
The children of Israel only took 40 DAYS to reach the promised land after beign saved from Egypt.
Yet how oft do people say it took them 40 YEARS ?
The church has taken the 40 years as the NORM of a christian life . When in very truth despite the fact that God was with them for those 40 years and gave them miracles every day and twice on Saturday they were out of the center of Gods will.
Without belitleing the great deliverance of being BORN again and getting out of Egypt.
That was not the be all and end all nor was it what God was about . He intended to make a people who had known nothing but cruel bondage for 400 years ; more than conquerers.
Have you ever considered what MORE than a conquerer is?
To the extent that not even the gates of hell will prevail against them.
Yet the church has by and large understood that to mean and taught it that the gates of hell are as it were atttacking the church and yet still will not prevail .
It is not the church that is supposed to be on the back foot .But the gates of hell.
I dont know what all that means .But I do know this . That gates never attack anybody. Indeed they are the weakest point of a great cities wall and thus the most heavily defended .
It is not then the gates of hell that is attackign the church and not prevailing .
But somehow the the church is attackign the gates of hell and the gates are not prevailing!
A somewhat more radical and vibrant church than is at present perceived.
in Christ
gerald
 
'Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,
according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, ... '

(2Ti 1:1)

Yes, @geralduk,

We have passed from death to life, in Christ Jesus, in regard to our 'standing' before God. Yet 'resurrection life' is yet to come. It is hid with Christ in God, and when Christ, who is our life, shall appear in glory, we shall appear with Him also (Col.3:3,4).

Praise God!

In Christ Jesus
Chris
 
The Bride of Christ :

Before Adam ate of that other tree ,he would never have died . For it was only in the eating of that tree that God gave him no liberty to eat would he die . "For in the day ye eat of that tree ye shall surely die"
By that statement alone it blasts out of the water the idea that God wanted them to fall and willed it be so.
For he revealed by those words that not only shall man live by every tree that was good to eat but by that Word that came out of his lips as to what was good and what was evil to eat . But His will was that Adam should not die but live.
For not only did God give them every choice to eat of every tree and therefore to do what was good to eat . But he by that word gave them the liberty to eat of the tree of life also.
The only tree he gave them no choice to eat from was the fruit of the tree that would bring them death.

A good question then to ask would be why was there a tree of life when had they not eaten of the other tree they would never have died. But when they had eaten of that other they were then barred from eating of the tree of life lest "They live forever ............." in their sin and rebellion.
But the fact remains that the first Adam had he not so eaten would still be walking about in the flesh today having never died.
But God who is not a liar had said "in the day ye eat thereof ye shall surely die" may not be believed by the fact that Adam lived for another 800 odd years . But we should always believe God and seek understanding when our thinking ,reasoning contradicts the Word of God .
The truth of it is that God had created man with so much life in him it took 800 years for that death that now reigned in him to manifest itself . and then that which was not seen at the time manifested itself and he died.
It gets very interesting then when we consider the last Adam.
Who being a perfect man and God manifested in the flesh could not have died as he had not sinned and therefore would be still walking about in the flesh today .
"No man taketh my life from me " said the Lord , for I have power to lay it down and power to take it up again."
If the Lord had not laid down his life for sin he could not and would not have died .
But he came to those under the law and was made subject to the law for our sakes and willingly so.
and by the law was made an offering for sin a perfect sacrifice "Behold the lamb that taketh away the sin of the world"
and thus "he who knew no sin became sin .........." and died under and by the law .
Now we read that "the sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law "
Is it not a strange thing that a man is afraid of a wasp? Yet it is not the wasp that men are afraid of but the sting.
and whats sayeth the scriptures who through fear of death bring many men into bondage" Hebrews 2:15
and in the previous verse that the devil has the power of death.
ALL power is from God and even the power of death is from God and was given I suspect to Lucifer . Who holding the truth in unrighteousness ensnared Adam and Eve with a lie that led them to do that which was good in their own eyes but which was evil in the sight of Gods. Even as Ballam taught the enemy of Gods people to get them to marry others and ensnare them in idolitary so that God being a jealous God would judge Israel and by so doing their enemy could overcome them.
But the power of sin is the law .
Thus the gates of death and hell could not be shut against the Lord;s entrance . "open up ye gates......". for the king of glory comes
For the law is of God and not fo the devil. and thus the doors were opened to him . For he who knew no sin became sin and under the law the penalty of sin is death.
But seeing that Jesus had committed no sin himself and was righteous in all his ways then death and hell could not keep him in either and God could justifiably raise him from the dead.
He thus took the keys of death and hell and put them on his girdle .
Death is no refuge fro the wicked . Nor hell a place the devil can hide in as it were .
There is also no pit that God cannot deliver a man from or place where his arm cannot reach. and the devil then can make no claims as to who are his either . For God can take a child of disobedience and make his own. if he so wills it.
What then?
That that victory in death and hell unseen by the world and over the devil is not yet manifested in the world ,In truth it looks like quite the reverse. But as you apply weed killer to a plant it seems for a little while to actually grow more its death is certain .
So too then is the prince of this world cast down and the death has lost its sting .
and the Lord is building his church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it and even death will die and death and hell will one day be cast into the lake of fire. Rev.
What then ? even this.
That even as death reigned in Adam but took 800 years to manifest itself because God had given him so much life .
So then if we are Christs and he reigns in us ;that death that now reigns in our bodies has something else .
"For the body is dead because of sin ." But if the same Spirit that raised up Jesus from the dead abides now in us then he who quickened Him will also quicken our mortal bodies .
For not only are we "crucified WITH Christ, We are also BURIED with Christ and if we are buried with Christ we shall also be raised TOGETHER WITH Christ .
Thus that victory over sin and death that was accomplished by our Lord and is now wrought in us means that despite the death that reigns in our bodies that life that now reigns in us will and should progressively manifest itself in and through us.
So that we live yet not I but Christ that liveth in me .

When Jesus said "who is my mother ......." He denied the mother of his flesh and in effect said my true mother are "they who do the will of God "
How can I be the mother of the Lord?
In this wise.
Mary the mother of his flesh received the Word as a seed . There was conception then gestation then the manifestation of the life and of Christ.
So too then of all men who truly believe .
There is the receiving of the Word . Jesus said "the seed is the Word" Then there is a period of gestation and finally the life of Christ is manifested.
Progressively and in maturity.

When a person is BORNagain by the Word of God and the Spirit of God . They do but enter into the eternal will of God preordained from before the foundations of the world and first manifested or spoken of by God ,in the beginning.
We are not only translated from one kingdom to another .But we are also translated from one predestination to another as well . Even as we are born again not of the corruptable seed which is of the first Adam but of the incorruptable seed which is of the last Adam.

in Christ
gerald
 
'Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,
according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, ... '

(2Ti 1:1)

Yes, @geralduk,

We have passed from death to life, in Christ Jesus, in regard to our 'standing' before God. Yet 'resurrection life' is yet to come. It is hid with Christ in God, and when Christ, who is our life, shall appear in glory, we shall appear with Him also (Col.3:3,4).

Praise God!

In Christ Jesus
Chris

"The body is dead because of sin" But if the same Spirit that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you he shall also quicken your mortal body "
When Mary replied to Jesus near the tomb of Lazerus that yes she believed that the Lord would raise him from the dead in the la;st day . Jesus replied to her "I AM the ressurection and the life .................."
I would also draw your attention to the fact of Ephesians 2...
"That the eyes of your understanding may be opened that ye may seen and comprehend with all the saints what is the exceedign greatness of His power that is towards us who believe even...............................................................?

in Christ
gerald
 
geralduk...there is no such thing as a prodigal church.

The true Church of Jesus Christ is still a vibrant Church. You may be jaded about what you see in the world, but what God sees is His redeemed people, righteous and faithful, pure and unblemished, and His Son will come for her!

Agreed. To tell you the truth, I am having a great difficulty of trying to understand what he is saying at all.
 
Agreed. To tell you the truth, I am having a great difficulty of trying to understand what he is saying at all.

It was said that the church is not a prodigal church.
Oh but it is . and since the reformation it has been h not only homeward bound. But will come to know Him "who is from the beginning"
The difilculty may well be due to the fact that having a fixed idea as to what and who the Bride is anything that is outside that fixed idea cannot be received.
I have simply presented a lot of other scriptures in an argument to show that the scriptures quoted by your good self and others gives only a 1/4 of the picture and alone they in fact mislead.
But I am quite happy to go through any parts you do not understand .

In Christ
gerald
 
'Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,
according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, ... '

(2Ti 1:1)

Yes, @geralduk,

We have passed from death to life, in Christ Jesus, in regard to our 'standing' before God. Yet 'resurrection life' is yet to come. It is hid with Christ in God, and when Christ, who is our life, shall appear in glory, we shall appear with Him also (Col.3:3,4).

Praise God!

In Christ Jesus
Chris

Im sorry " resurrection life is yet to come"? Then what life do you now have?

The only life I am aware of in scripture is the Lord s. and in the Father it si the same life .
But even as the father hath life in Himself so too he ahs given this to the Son who has life in himself also .
He then that has the Son has life and he who has not the Son has not even seen life "
The only life available to us IS the resurection life.
Even as the scriptures says so.
That the church and many of believers need to have the eyes of their understanding opened that they may see and comprehend what is the exceeding greatness of His power that is towards us who believe ................." What power? The same power that raised up Jesus from the dead.

"Paul : That I might know the power of his resurrection"
Are you trying to tell me that Paul did not know already that power?
Of course he did .Or else he could not do what eh did .
But even he was aware of how much the more there was to know .
I would suggest that there are not many who walk closely fowlowing Paul these days.
I would also suggest that you cannot know a power of a resurrection unless you are dead!
if then the church does not know such power its because they are not made as conformable with his death as they might think!

in Christ
gerald
 
geralduk...there is no such thing as a prodigal church.

The true Church of Jesus Christ is still a vibrant Church. You may be jaded about what you see in the world, but what God sees is His redeemed people, righteous and faithful, pure and unblemished, and His Son will come for her!

It is not what I see in the world .It is what I see in the church .
Nor am I jaded by it. But I will not close my eyes to it and say/do nothing.

in Christ
gerald
 
Im sorry " resurrection life is yet to come"? Then what life do you now have?

The only life I am aware of in scripture is the Lord s. and in the Father it si the same life .
But even as the father hath life in Himself so too he ahs given this to the Son who has life in himself also .
He then that has the Son has life and he who has not the Son has not even seen life "
The only life available to us IS the resurection life.
Even as the scriptures says so.
That the church and many of believers need to have the eyes of their understanding opened that they may see and comprehend what is the exceeding greatness of His power that is towards us who believe ................." What power? The same power that raised up Jesus from the dead.

"Paul : That I might know the power of his resurrection"
Are you trying to tell me that Paul did not know already that power?
Of course he did .Or else he could not do what eh did .
But even he was aware of how much the more there was to know .
I would suggest that there are not many who walk closely fowlowing Paul these days.
I would also suggest that you cannot know a power of a resurrection unless you are dead!
if then the church does not know such power its because they are not made as conformable with his death as they might think!

in Christ
gerald

I suggest that you calm down.

In Christ Jesus
Chris
 
There is no perfect local church. If any of us, including you, found one, the moment any of us would go there, it would cease to be perfect.

Encouragement of the Body of Christ is what is needed over the constant lamenting of the evidence of weaker brothers and sisters.
 
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