The Bible,
The Baptists, and
The Bride of Christ
by Dr. Thomas Cassidy, Pastor First Baptist Church 8758 Troy
Street Spring Valley, CA 91977
© COPYRIGHT 1995 BY THE AUTHOR
This work is copyrighted only to preserve the author's ownership
of his work. Any part of this work may be used without the author's permission. All that he asks is
that proper credit be given. (All quotations are from the Authorized Version)
One of the most controversial subjects being discussed in
independent Baptist churches today is the identity of the Bride of Christ. Unfortunately, more confusion
exists as to the meaning of the term, than as to the identity of the Bride. Much of the controversy
surrounding the identity of the Bride is centered on our understanding of Revelation 19:7-9. "Let us
be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made
herself ready. And to her was
granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and
white: for the fine linen is the righteousness
of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed [are] they which
are called unto the marriage supper
of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of
God."
There are many differing opinions as to the true identity of the
Bride of Christ. Some say the Bride is
Israel, which will be reunited with its Messiah during the
Millennium. The Old Testament does
portray Israel as the "wife" of the LORD, but describes
her as unfaithful, divorced, and rejected.
Israel will be reunited with her estranged Husband at the time of
the second coming, but according
to Zechariah 12:10 and 13:9 that reunion will take place on
earth, not in heaven as the events of
Revelation 19 obviously do. Some say the Bride is all the
redeemed from all ages (John Gill's note
on Matthew 22:2 in his New Testament Expositor is a good example
of this view). This cannot be
true because, (a) Everyone that will be saved is not yet saved at
this time (tribulation saints, and
those born and saved during the Millennium), (b) John the Baptist
was definitely saved, but said he
was not part of "the Bride" (John 3:29).
And some say the Bride is "The Church", meaning the
universal, invisible, mystical body of Christ
made up of all of the redeemed from the time of Christ until the
rapture. This is by far the most
prevalent view held today by most Baptists. Those who hold this
view generally interpret Ephesians
5:23-33 and 2 Corinthians 11:2 to mean the "universal"
church rather than the local church, to
whom the letters were addressed. The problem with this position
is Eph. 4:4&5, "There is one
body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your
calling; One Lord, one faith, one
baptism..." It is obvious here that the Bible clearly
teaches there is only one body. This passage
does not indicate a numerical singleness, but a typical
singleness. By this I mean there is only one
type of true New Testament church (called the body in Col. 1:18)
. We must now ask ourselves a
question. Which type of church is the true New Testament church?
Is it the "universal, invisible"
church of liberal ecumenical protestantism, or the local, visible
church of the Independent Baptists?
There are three positions that prevail today. (1) The true church
is local, and visible. (2) The true
church is universal and invisible. (3) The true church is both
local and universal, both visible and
invisible. The first position is both logical and Biblical,
having over 99 verses of Scriptural support.
The Second position is logical, but without any Scriptural
support. The third position assumes the
Bible is wrong, not one (type of) body, but two (types of) body,
which of course means, if the Bible
is wrong, God is a liar!
So, what is the answer. Does the Bible specifically say, one way
or the other, what the identity of
the Bride of Christ really is? I believe it does, and does so
most emphatically.
I believe much of this confusion is based on two unfortunate
facts. 1. A misunderstanding of the
identity of the true New Testament church. 2. A misunderstanding
of what is meant by the term
"Bride of Christ." If we can clarify these two areas of
confusion, we can make much progress in
identifying the Bride of Christ.
The word "church" is used seventy-seven times in the
New Testament. The word "churches" is used
thirty-seven times. Of these 114 references to "church"
or "churches," by reading the context, you
can see that 99 references are to local churches. One reference
is to the assembly of the Nation of
Israel in the wilderness, and the remaining 14 are references to
the "church" generically, that is, no
church specifically, all churches in general.
In referring to the true New Testament church, the Bible uses
three metaphors: The Body of Christ
(Colossians 1:18, 24), The Bride of Christ (John 3:29; Rev.
18:23; 22:17 cf. Eph. 5:31-32; 2 Cor
11:2), and The Building of Christ (1 Cor 3:9; Eph. 2:21). I fear
that many (if not most) who call
themselves Baptists, misunderstand one, two, or occasionally all
three of these metaphors. Most
Independent, Unaffiliated Baptists realize the church of the New
Testament is Local, Visible,
Organized (having officers: Pastors and Deacons), and duly
Constituted (having been properly
planted, exercising church authority, and having a membership
roll). However, when we see the
metaphors: Body, Bride, and Building; we often revert to the
"universal, invisible, mystical" thought
patterns of protestant teaching.
When we see the term "Body of Christ", we often forget
this term is a metaphor used to illustrate
truth concerning the true New Testament church. The term
"Body" when referring to the church is
never used in a mystical fashion, but is used simply as an
identifier. Here at First Baptist Church, we
have a day school ministry called Spring Valley Baptist Academy.
Our Academy has a "student
body", this body is not mystical, or universal, or
invisible, but merely identifies our students as a
group of young people belonging to Spring Valley Baptist Academy.
The "Body" of Christ is said to
be "fitly joined together" in Eph 4:16. That word
"joined" is the same root word we use for
"joint",
as in the "elbow joint", the "knee joint",
and so forth, indicating our body is all one piece, joined
together in one place, visible, and organized (the arm bones are
connected at the elbow, if one arm
bone and one leg bone were joined at the elbow, we would not be
very well organized!), and the
"Body of Christ" is joined together, in a local,
visible, organized body. In like manner, "the Body of
Christ" is a metaphor of identity, a group of people, joined
together, belonging to Jesus Christ!
There is nothing mystical about it. The term "Body of
Christ" is simply a way to illustrate the
relationship between Jesus Christ and His local, New Testament
churches. The "Body" metaphor
illustrates the church's service to the Lord. That service is
Pastoral (caring for established churches),
and Missionary (establishing new churches). Every person in a
true New Testament church ought to
be involved in one of these areas of service. Deacons assist the
Pastor in caring for the people in the
church. The Sunday School teachers help teach the people in the
church. The nursery workers help
greatly in assisting the Pastor by providing safe and loving care
for infants and toddlers during the
services. The members of the church assist the Pastor, and the
Missionaries, by the regular giving of
their tithes and offerings. The term "Body of Christ"
illustrates the relationship of Christ to His church
in the area of service.
Likewise the metaphor "Building" is simply a reference
to that which Christ has built, namely His true
New Testament church (Matt, 16:18). In Eph. 2:21, the
"Building" is said to be "fitly framed
together." Together means "all in one place", or
local, and if local, then also visible, and organized
(not a pile of wood, but a framed together building). The term
"Building" refers to the relationship
between Christ and His church in the area of His guarding,
keeping, and protecting the church. As a
building is a place of shelter and safety during a storm, so also
is the true New Testament church a
place where we will be kept safe and sheltered from the storms of
daily life, and be protected from
the onslaughts of the world, the flesh, and the devil. The
"Building" or Temple of God also speaks of
our worship of Him as a "Royal Priesthood," offering
Spiritual Sacrifices to Him who is our keeper
and protector. Now we come to the "Bride." Each true
New Testament church is pictured as a
bride, with Christ as the Bridegroom. This metaphor is used to
illustrate the love relationship of
Christ for His churches, and the obligation for the Lord's
churches to be faithful, in contrast to the
false churches that are pictured as a harlot in Revelation
chapter 17. "And there came one of the
seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me,
saying unto me, Come hither; I will
shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon
many waters:" This false church is
(a) unfaithful [a great whore] (b) condemned [under judgment] (c)
universal [sitteth upon many
waters]. This chapter goes on to say, "With whom the kings
of the earth have committed fornication,
and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the
wine of her fornication," which
identifies this false church as a state church ("with whom
the kings of the earth have committed
fornication"), formalistic ("And the woman was arrayed
in purple and scarlet colour, and decked
with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in
her hand full of abominations and
filthiness of her fornication:"), and persecutes the true
New Testament church of Jesus Christ ("And
I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with
the blood of the martyrs of Jesus:
and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration."). So
we see that the term "Bride" refers to
the relationship of Christ to His churches in the area of purity
(separation), and possession (the
Bride belongs to the Bridegroom), in contrast to the false,
unfaithful "church" called a "harlot".
There are two passages of Scripture to search in order to
properly identify the Bride. In Genesis
chapter 24 we see a beautiful picture of the Bride. Abraham (type
of God the Father), sends his
servant (type of the Holy Spirit), into a far country to call out
a bride for his son Isaac (type of the
Lord Jesus Christ). In reading this passage there are some very
important things to notice. (1) The
servant (the type of the Holy Spirit) was sent (in verse 4)
"unto my country, and to my kindred, and
take a wife unto my son Isaac." The servant was sent only to
the country (kingdom) of the Father,
to call out a wife only from the kindred (family) of the Father.
In the New Testament the Kingdom
of God is clearly identified as consisting of all of the redeemed
(Matt 8:11; Luke 13:28-29), and the
family of God (Eph. 3:15) is identified as also including all of
the redeemed. It is from this kingdom,
and from this family, that the servant is instructed to call out
a bride for the son. The bride is to come
out of the kingdom of the father, and out of the family of the
father. You will notice that Isaac did
not marry the whole family, but only one part of the family,
Rebekah (the one who was faithful in
doing all that the servant asked of her). All of the redeemed
will not be part of the Bride, but only
those members of the family of God who have proved their love for
the Lord through true
obedience to His Word, by being faithful to His true New
Testament church, and all that church
membership entails.
The second passage that we must look closely at is Hebrews
chapter 12:22-24. "But ye are come
unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the
heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable
company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the
firstborn, which are written in
heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just
men made perfect, And to Jesus the
mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling,
that speaketh better things than [that
of] Abel." Here we see a prophecy of our coming into heaven
and seeing all that is in store for us
there. We see first of all (1) an innumerable company of angels,
(2) the general assembly, (3) the
church of the first born, (4) God the Judge, and (5) the spirits
of just men made perfect, (6) Jesus
the mediator, and (7) the blood of sprinkling.
Number 1, the angels, is self explanatory.
Number 2, the general assembly, is an interesting group. In the
time of Christ the Greek nation was
divided into many independent City-States. Each City-State had
its own Assembly, or governing
body, that made all of the laws for that City-State, and
functioned as a general court of last appeal.
We see this City-State Assembly illustrated in Acts 19:28-41.
However, all of the people living in
the Greek nation at that time did not live in one of the
organized City-States, some lived in the rural
areas, not under the governing authority of any of the
City-States. These un-represented people (not
part of any particular assembly) would meet together once a year
in a great General Assembly and
conduct the business of the rural areas of the nation. The Bible
says there will be a General
Assembly in heaven, that is, a group of people who are not
represented by, or under the authority
of, any of the organized specific assemblies. The Bible clearly
identifies the specific Assembly as the
local New Testament church (see Scripture quotations from above
paragraphs). This heavenly
"General Assembly" are clearly those folks from the
gospel era who were saved, but were never
baptized into the membership of, and faithful to, any of the
Lord's specific assemblies, the New
Testament churches.
Number 3, the Church of the First Born, is that group of saved,
baptized people who were
members of, and faithful to, the Lord's (the First Born, Col.
1:18) true New Testament churches.
Number 4, God the Judge is also self explanatory.
Number 5, the spirits of just men made perfect, is a reference to
the Old Testament saints according
to Hebrews 11:32-40.
The rest, 6 & 7, are also self explanatory.
So then, we see there will be a gathering in heaven of three
distinct groups of redeemed people, (a)
the General Assembly (those saved during the Gospel era, but not
members of, or under the
authority of, any Special Assembly), (b) the Church (Special
Assembly) of the First Born, and (c)
the spirits of just men made perfect (Old Testament Saints).
These three groups will be (a) General
Assembly: the friends of the Groom (John 3:29), (b) the church:
the Bride (Eph. 5:31), (c), Old
Testament Saints: the honored Guests (Rev. 19:9). We see,
therefore, that the Bride of Christ is not
all of the redeemed, nor even all of the saved from the Gospel
Era (Church Age), but only those
faithful members of true New Testament churches.
WAIT A MINUTE!!! It sounds to me like the writer of this article
is a "Baptist Brider." That
depends on what you think a "Baptist Brider" is.
If the average Christian is asked for a definition of the
"Baptist Bride" position, he would be hard
pressed to give an intelligible answer. Some would say the
"Baptist Bride" position means "Only
Baptists are going to Heaven." Others would say, "Only
Baptists will be raptured." Others would
say only, "I don't know." If the Baptist Bride position
means only Baptists are going to heaven, then
I'm not a Baptist Brider. If the Baptist Bride position means
only Baptists will be raptured (partial
rapture theory), then I'm not a Baptist Brider (nowhere does the
Bible ever teach the "rapture of the
Church", but it does teach the rapture of the saints, all of
them: Old Testament saints, New
Testament saints, church members, and non-church members, all
will be caught up to meet the Lord
in the air). But if you believe the Baptist Bride position means
the Bride of Christ will be made up of
those who have been faithful to the true New Testament church of
Jesus Christ, then, yep, I'm a
Baptist Brider! I have to be. You see, I believe the Bible - all
of it! The Bible says the Bride is the
Church. It also says the Church is local and visible. If you have
a local, visible church, then you must
also have a local visible Bride, for the Bible teaches they are
one and the same thing. If you have a
universal Bride, you must also have a universal church, for they
are still one and the same thing!
Why is all of this so important? If we win souls, but do not make
every effort possible to baptize
them into local New Testament Baptist churches, and teach them to
be faithful to the local New
Testament church, we cheat those precious souls out their full
reward (2 John 1:8). A proper
understanding of the true New Testament church is absolutely
necessary in order for our church
members to realize it is their faithfulness to their local church
that will enable them to be called out of
the family of God and placed into the Bride of Christ following
the judgment seat of Christ, at the
Marriage feast of the Lamb, and receive their full reward. Every
pastor must be made to understand
that his job is to: Pray, Prepare, Preach, Protect, Preserve, and
Perfect the Flock. The pastor's final
task will be to Present the church, the Bride of Christ,
faultless, a chaste virgin, to the Bridegroom,
the Lord Jesus Christ, at the Marriage Feast of the Lamb. Think
about it.