THE CHURCH IS THE BRIDE OF CHRIST

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#CC9900" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="043005a0dwnjzk.gif"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="EDWARD WATSONS WEBWORLD"><U><B>home</B></U></A><B> | </B><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>EDWARD WATS</B><B>ON'S WEBWORLD</B></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="id118.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="INTRO"><U><B>INTRO</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id120.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="KNOWING TRUTH"><U><B>KNOWING TRUTH</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id121.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="WHY MORMONS?"><U><B>WHY MORMONS?</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id122.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="INTELLECTUAL APPEAL"><U><B>INTELLECTUAL APPEAL</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id123.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="PURPOSE AND USAGE"><U><B>PURPOSE AND USAGE</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id124.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="ADAPTABILITY"><U><B>ADAPTABILITY</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id125.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="WHAT IS MORMONISM?"><U><B>WHAT IS MORMONISM?</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><B>THE CHURCH IS THE BRIDE OF CHRIST</B><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id127.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="BIBLICAL EXPERTS"><U><B>BIBLICAL EXPERTS</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id128.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="IS MORMONISM A CULT?"><U><B>IS MORMONISM A CULT?</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id129.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="HISTORICAL REFUTATION VS SCRIPTURAL REFU"><U><B>HISTORICAL REFUTATION VS SCRIPTURAL REFUTATION</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id130.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="CREDENTIALS"><U><B>CREDENTIALS</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id131.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="BIBLICAL VIEW"><U><B>BIBLICAL VIEW</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id132.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="PERSONAL NOTE"><U><B>PERSONAL NOTE</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id133.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="BOOK OF MORMON"><U><B>BOOK OF MORMON</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id135.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="ABBREVIATIONS"><U><B>ABBREVIATIONS</B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> THE CHURCH IS THE BRIDE OF CHRIST</div> <div> <A HREF="id118.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="INTRO"><U><B>Introduction</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id120.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="KNOWING TRUTH"><U><B>The best way to know the Truth</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id121.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="WHY MORMONS?"><U><B>Why are we called “Mormons”? </B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id122.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="INTELLECTUAL APPEAL"><U><B>The intellectual appeal of Mormonism</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id123.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="PURPOSE AND USAGE"><U><B>What these books are for and how to use them</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id124.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="ADAPTABILITY"><U><B>The adaptability of Mormonism</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id125.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="WHAT IS MORMONISM?"><U><B>What is Mormonism?</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id126.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="THE CHURCH IS THE BRIDE OF CHRIST"><U><B>The Church is the Bride of Christ!</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id127.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="BIBLICAL EXPERTS"><U><B>The four types of biblical experts</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id128.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="IS MORMONISM A CULT?"><U><B>Is  Mormonism a Cult?</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id129.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="HISTORICAL REFUTATION VS SCRIPTURAL REFU"><U><B>Historical refutation vs Scriptural refutation</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id130.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="CREDENTIALS"><U><B>The issue of credentials </B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id131.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="BIBLICAL VIEW"><U><B>My view of the Bible</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id132.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="PERSONAL NOTE"><U><B>A personal note</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id133.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="BOOK OF MORMON"><U><B>Coming back to the Book of Mormon</B></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>[MORMONISM. The Faith of the Twenty-first Century. Volume 1. Edward K. Watson. (Liahona Publications. Copyright © 1998 Edward K. Watson.) pp. lxxvi-lxxix. MORMONISM: Series Introduction. All rights reserved.]</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>The Church is the Bride of Christ!</B></div> <bR> <div>      The church  is becoming more perfect. The stone that is rolling down the mountain is becoming more flawless and its imperfections are being chipped away by its contact with the mountain (Dan  2:34-35,44-45). The “restored” church of the nineteenth century isn't just a restitution of what was lost in the first century, it restored all that was lost and added onto the original church. <B>The church </B> <B>is the faith of the future and </B> <B>is growing in wisdom.</B> Each succeeding generation knows more about God's will than the preceding one. The  church <I>evolved</I> and the later version was an improvement in comparison to the original. The twentieth century church is better than the nineteenth. It understands the Gospel of her groom better than it previously did and is improving herself, making herself more pleasing to her fiancé. The twenty-first century church will be a vast improvement over the twentieth-century church with a greater maturity and comprehension than it has ever had in all its existence. <I>It will continuously improve until attaining perfection at the time of the wedding.</I> </div> <div>      Despite the vast similarities of our present church with Christ's first century church, there are many differences that show the modern church is superior (at least socially) to its counterpart of the first century. We don't practice slavery despite the ancient Israelites and the first century church did (Gen  9:25-27; Lev  25:44-46; Luke  7:1-10; 1 Cor  7:21-24; Eph  6:5-8; Col  3:22-25; 1 Tim  6:1-2; Tit  2:9-10; Plm  1:10-19; 1 Pet  2:18-25). We don't kill homosexuals (Lev  20:13 and Rom  1:27,32). We don't have our disobedient children stoned to death (Deut  21:18-21). Women have a lot of lee-way in the modern church despite the first century church's action (1 Cor  14:33-35; Eph  5:22-24,33; 1 Tim  2:9-15; 1 Pet  3:1-7). We don't view divorced members who remarry to be adulterers (Matt  5:32;  19:9; Mark  10:11-12; Luke  16:18; 1 Cor  7:12-16) and don't even practice blood atonement (1 Cor  5:1,5). Do these differences invalidate Mormonism? Which church on earth practices all these things? If a church were to exactly emulate the first century church, that church would be viewed by all to be going backward instead of forward.</div> <div>      The church (sometimes personified by Jerusalem) is the bride of Christ or the bride of God (Isa  49:18;  50:1;  54:1-8;  61:10;  62:5; Jer  3:1-3;  31:32; Ezek  16:8,32,38; Hos  2:16,19-20; Matt  22:1-14; Mark  2:19-20; Luke  5:34-35;  12:36; John  3:29; Rom  7:4; 2 Cor  11:2; Eph  5:22-32; Heb  11:10; Rev  19:7-9;  21:2,9;  22:17; D&C  58:11) whose wedding is held in the Last Days.<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >1</FONT> The groom is perfect and  infallible. Does it necessarily follow that the bride (especially before their wedding) is infallible as well? Of course not. <B>Christ's bride can make mistakes, has </B> <B>imperfections and blemishes, because she is composed of fallible human beings.</B><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >2</FONT> </div> <div>        The church will always have members and leaders who will make mistakes. There will always be members and leaders who will offend others, who act unbecoming followers of Christ, who teach false doctrine, who do bad things. They are merely “zits” or “blackheads” that will be removed prior to the wedding of the bride to Christ. Their presence in the church never justifies anyone to cease attending or dismiss the church since <B>the</B> <B>infallible Gospel of Jesus Christ is separate from the </B> <B>fallible church.</B> The church is “true” but this “Truth” is one of legitimate authority and isn't the same as the “Truth” of the Gospel, which is the infallible teaching of Jesus that leads to eternal life. </div> <div>      The church is supposed to be spotless and blemish-free (Eph  5:27; Rev  19:8; D&C  43:14) just prior to the wedding but the wedding hasn't occurred yet. Her perfection during our time is an <I>ideal</I> just as our perfection is an <I>ideal</I> as well (2 Pet  3:14; Matt  5:48). The  Holy Ghost continually teaches us more and more Truths (John  16:13) which causes the Church to evolve into the perfect bride. </div> <div>      Because Christ loves his bride, he corrects her and because she loves, respects and obeys her future husband, the bride does what Jesus asks and abandons her mistakes. Does her fallible nature mean she isn't really the bride of Christ? Does her willingness to abandon false positions invalidate their coming marriage? Of course not. What will Christ do to those who make fun of the mistakes of his bride whom he loves with all his heart? </div> <div>      If we are part of the body of the bride of Christ, we must obey any position she may take even if we believe she may be wrong (and she actually may be) having confidence in her, knowing that Christ will correct any faults in his bride when he feels the time is right.  <B>Separating ourselves from the church because of perceived errors within her doesn't benefit us since </B> <B>Christ will only marry his bride and those outside her won't be sanctified by their union.</B> </div> <div>      God's (Christ's) covenant is only with his bride who's made up of his “chosen people.” All who are outside the body of his bride won't receive his covenant. <B>Outsiders must become part of the bride to receive the blessings that God covenants.</B> This can only come by joining the church and abiding by the rules God has set. <I>We have certitude in the legitimacy of her engagement to Christ and of his love for his bride</I>. We have confidence in her and her interpretations knowing that <I>even if</I> she is wrong on a particular issue, she is still the  bride of Christ, whom he always loves, despite any imperfections she may have. Even if the bride is mistaken on a number of issues still doesn't cause the bridegroom to call off the wedding or abandon her at the altar since she is doing her best in obeying her groom. <B>We receive certitude of grace by inclusion into the church</B>, which is going into marital union with Jesus <I>even if</I> she misinterprets or misunderstands some of her future husband's sayings and wishes. <I>She obeys the best she knows how. Indubitably, </I> <I>she's made many mistakes, but she's continually trying to become worthy of her groom.</I><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >3</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>[ENDNOTES]:</B></div> <bR> <div> 1.The OT describes Israel as the wife of God and also describes Israel as the bride of God. The “wife” status of Israel was about their relationship <I>in the past</I> that Israel committed adultery on, while the “bride” status is focused <I>on the future</I>. </div> <div> 2.The other prevalent relationship of Christ with the church is one of him being the  head and the church as his body (Rom  12:4-8; 1 Cor  12:12-27; Eph  4:4,12-16; Col  1:18-22;  3:15; etc.). This is about our  complete unity with Christ. Just as the body receives directions from the head, so does the church receive directions from Christ. This relationship doesn't mean the church is infallible.</div> <div> 3.It's a mystery as to why the church is called “the Bride of Christ” (Eph  5:32).</div> <bR> <div> <B>e-mail me!</B></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>