1. Do you believe that Jesus founded or built a Church?
I do, as our Lord promised and prophecied specifically about this Church: "on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it" (Matt. 16:19). Christ our God again speaks of this Church a couple chapters later, specifically including it in his teaching on how to resolve disputes among Christians: "“Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector." (Matt. 18:15-17)
Notice that Jesus gave the Church authority, for if someone does not listen to them, then they are to be excluded to some extent. But how can "the Church" have authority if everyone disagrees on what the Church should think? The Apostles were told: "Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." (Matt. 18:18; Jn. 20:23) It was the Apostles who appointed their successors. For example, the Scripture says: "For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee" (Tit. 1:5). This was the will and plan of God: "And God set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers" (1 Cor. 12:28).
This is why Paul says, "Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation" (Heb. 13:7); and "Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your soul , as they that give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you." (Heb. 13:17).
2. Do you believe that this Church has the truth?
I do, since the Scripture says: "I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." (1 Tim. 3:15). I believe that this Church is the body of Christ, with Jesus Christ as it's literal head. I also believe that God leads this Church and uses her in a specific way, in which He does not use people who are Christians but outside of her. "Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit." (Eph. 2:19-22)
3. Can the Holy Spirit Lead You into All Truth?
Yes, but God does not typically work that way. Such only happen in extremely rare circumstances, and I am not so presumptuous as to assert that I am such a person. If even the Apostles had to come together in Council to understand things (Acts 15), how much more so do I need to seek the help of others, and imitate the good Ethiopian Eunuch, who said that he could not understand what he was reading unless someone else taught him the meaning (Acts 8 ). What's more, St. Paul clearly says that there were things handed down to the Church which were not written down, so clearly by taking all the above into account I cannot just read a book and pray and somehow imagine myself as being one of the blessed few who will get it right while still apart from the Church. "Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle." (2 Thes. 2:15)
This is what Jesus has put on my heart to say tonight.
