The True Christ

SOME HE GAVE AS APOSTLES

“And he gave some as apostles, and some as prophets; 

 some as evangelists; and some as pastors and teachers”

 (Eph.” 4:11) 

   The original Church of Christ was very well organized and until this day this statement remains true. The above quotation is continued in the Bible and shows this to be factual as you will now see:

     “And he gave some as apostles, and some as prophets; and some as evangelists; and some as pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints; for the work of the ministry; for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith, and the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the fulness of Christ” (Eph. 4.11-13).

    The Church is a divinely organized body and has been wonderfully functioning for almost two-thousand years! And herein its entire purpose is firmly declared: “for the perfecting of the saints”, “for the work of the ministry”, “for the edifying of the body of Christ”; “till we come to the unity of the faith.” The purpose is very well defined and its various members are declared as, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers catechists and catechumens. Each group has its particular function, for the apostles spread the Faith, the prophets declare and interpret prophesies, the evangelists preach the holy Gospel. The pastors watch over the flock and the teachers instruct the faithful. This process forms men and women into Orthodox Christians and this arrangement has been shown to be successful for twenty centuries. It clearly shows that there can only be one Church, the Orthodox and others are not divine but are human institutions. The Church cannot be simply human for its Head Jesus Christ the Godman, is both divine and human. The Church is His body and is therefore also divine and human  which has been demonstrated over the years. Miracles are divine and frequently occur in Orthodox Churches throughout the world.

     In our own bodies different organs have different functions but all act and contribute to the common good of the whole body, and the Lord instituted this system in His Church, His Body, with its various organs and functions. Among them were established the apostles, evangelists, pastors, prophets and teachers etc. for Christ established them in His Church.

     The organization of the Church as described is in need of standardization in every Orthodox Church in the world and there should be no deviations. This ought be done by the bishops but many of whom are too taken up by the modern extreme heresy of ecumenism which denies the exclusivity of the Orthodox Church, and seeks unity with non-churches. For there can never be a church outside the Church, as we all believe and declare in our sacred Creed: I believe “in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic church.” The word “one” excludes every other  “church;”  “and in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life” So “holy” includes the spirit of God and there is only one Holy Spirit. Catholic means it is the only Church for the human race; nor can there can be another. Apostolic means it is the Church whose teaching is that of the apostles – the original Catholic and Apostolic Church – Holy Orthodoxy.

     The divine human perfection of Holy Orthodoxy which is almost two-thousand years old is seen in its preservation of truth and firmness, having embattled with many heretical attacks over the years, and always preserving the truth, for it is headed by the Truth, the Logos who came down from heaven and became man.