THE ORTHODOX CHURCH IS THE BODY OF CHRIST

THE ORTHODOX CHURCH 

IS THE BODY OF CHRIST

      In the make believe nether realm of ecumenism, there is a great deal of  talk about the churches and what needs to be corrected in the churches. Topics include repairing the divisions of the churches, the great need for unity of the churches and ridding the churches of the evil of  division. Promised for these corrective efforts  are the arrival of the happy day when Christ’s will shall be fulfilled, that they may  “all be one as we are one.”

    This quest is fictional and tragical and stems from the minds of unfaithful Orthodox leaders, unfaithful papists, and confused Protestants. None of these have any idea about the church established by Christ  and its true nature, so the blind are leading the blind and will all fall into the ditch of a new religion positioning itself as the true church. The true Church is perfect and will always be the true Body of Christ its Head, and it never needs anything or lacks anything.  It is the people who need to be corrected and conform to the Church’s guidance unto the fulness of Christ. It is the people who need to be united to the Church and thus to each other/

     The Church is the Body of Christ its Head and the Foundation Stone upon whom the Church is built. It is a divine human institution, pure and blameless, indivisible  and not subject to  anything or anybody. Rather, everyone needs to be subject to the Church. Its doctrine and discipline and through such attachment to the Body of Christ, they will have Christ as their Head, for the Church, gets its life and light constantly and directly from Christ and is never subject to division or error. “I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church. It is one, with one Head and one Body. It remains the Church, welcoming those who enter, and casting out those who are heretics, she is catholic having everything needful for our salvation and sanctification. She remains  pure and undefiled like her head, for she is divine and human. She sanctifies her members, with divine power and grace.

The Church is One, is not subject to division, nor can there be any real dialogue  between the Church and heresy, which is always outcast, and  it is the Church who keeps the heretics outside the Church. They will remain outside until thy repent and renounce their heresy and embrace and confess the truth, enabling them to enter the Church again. Many others have voluntarily embraced heresy which always appears as an easier path to salvation. Another important thing is that those outside the Church, teach and preach against the Church numbering themselves her enemies. 

     The true Church becomes highly visible to those seeking it, First, it cannot be identified as the Papacy. For they have firmly established  a different head who is not divine and human and is called the Pope of Rome. 

Also with a sordid history of tortuous inquisitions and bloody crusades,  it is not possible that the papacy even resemble the holy church. Nor can the church be identified among the Protestants who are hopelessly divided, unable to unite together, much less can they claim to be united as the church.

Only in Orthodoxy can the church be clearly identified as the Body of Christ, being pure and blameless, faithful and true. Only in Orthodoxy is there absolute purity, absolute truth and perfect unity.  For the Body of Christ is a living Body subject to its Head, and is healthy in every respect.  When some are cast out or leave the Church it has no affect its unity or integrity.  When the ecumenists look at Orthodoxy and  the heretics outside, they suffer from a blurred double vision, they see the Orthodoxy and the Papacy as a divided church which they intend to unite into one as Christ intended, and they do observe the division  correctly for the two are divided and shall never unite. The so-called division is the result of purging heresy from the Church, for none of those outside hold fast to the truth, but they mix truth and error. They suffer from double vision, having lost the singular vision of the holy Orthodox Church which always prevails  against the gates of Hades. They see a divided Church  because of their blurred vision causing them to see Orthodoxy and the  papacy as a church which it is not. For the papists built their own man-made edifice and placed the Pope in place of Christ as His vicar and head of the Church, They even replaced the Holy Spirit as guide to the Church, by having an all knowing pope as their reminder and guide.

     The pseudo churches seek unity in this world but not the unity of the Father Son and Holy Spirit, which is the only unity called for by the Lord in Scripture, saying: “That they may be one even as we are one.” This unity is not physical but spiritual, it is not imperfect but perfect,  uniting minds and hearts, not under a Bishop or Pope, but in the Godman, our Lord Jesus Christ, the one authority in the Church.

     Members of the Church are not called to unity with those outside, but are called to “be holy as I am holy,” and to  “be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect. This unity unites us with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the Trinity one in essence.  It is easy to see why papism is foreign to Orthodox Christians, who see all glory,  authority and majesty stripped from Christ and applied to the Pope of Rome whom they call His replacement.

     There never was and never will be any division in the Church, and as in Noah’s Ark, a person was either in the Ark or lost. Those who are outside of the Church are headed for disaster just as those outside of the ark. and there is no chance to change after flood of death arrives, for now is the time for repentance and  action, but after death is the time for crowns or judgment.

It is obvious that those seeking unity with other Christian sects, are certainly not seeking unity in Christ, but are seeking unity with the outcasts, who believe whatever they choose. What is needed is unity with Christ and the only way to achieve this unity is by each individual heeding the call to “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,”and through triune baptism becoming part of His Body, the holy Orthodox Church– and those who do this will certainly have Jesus Christ as their Head, as their Bridegroom and Savior.