The Nation of Israel is Personified

"Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel; thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets..." (Jeremiah 31:4). "I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the Lord my God" (Jeremiah 31:18).

The context of these passages reveals clearly that the prophet is not referring to a literal virgin or to Ephraim as a person, but to the nation of Israel, which in this instance is personified, in a similar manner as Great Britain is sometimes personified as 'Britannia' or 'John Bull'. There are no such persons as this woman and man, but when they are referred to in books or portrayed in pictures everyone knows that Great Britain is meant.

The Believers in Christ are Personified

"Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13). "There is one body" (Ephesians 4:4). "Ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular" (1 Cor. 12:27). "...Christ is the head of the church: and He is the saviour of the body" (Ephesians 5:23). "He (Christ) is the head of the body, the church:...who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church" (Colossians 1:18,24). "I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ" (2 Cor. 11:2). "...the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready" (Rev. 19:7).

 All these verses obviously refer to the community of people who were the true believers in Christ, sometimes referred to as "the church", though this must not be confused with any of the present orthodox churches, which have long since ceased to be the true believers in Christ.

 The true believers, that is, those who hold and believe the true doctrines taught in the Bible, are referred to as a "chaste virgin", indicating the purity of the lives they should lead, and as a "body", a suitable figure because just as a natural body has many functions, so the true church has many responsibilities and performs various functions.

 When the church is referred to as a "body", no-one mistakes it for an individual, nor would they mistake the devil or satan for a grotesque monster or fallen angel had the words been properly translated, or if men and women had not acquired wrong ideas derived from the false churches in days gone by.

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Bride of Christ

Do not take Bride in a literal sense. , but always recognise them to be figures of speech denoting the nature of the church, or denoting its relationship to Christ. f we would recognize that the term bride is simply a figure of speech denoting the relationship of every New Testament Church to Christ we would not have this maze of confusion.

Most Bible students agree that the New Testament Church is sometimes referred to as "The Bride of Christ." There is, however, much confusion relative to this subject. The author believes that the church is the bride, but he believes that this is a figure of speech not to be taken literally, but denoting the SACRED relationship of every true church to her Lord.

There is no such thing as the New Testament Church, except as it applies in the institutional sense and to a local assembly in a given place. Strictly speaking, there is no such thing as "The New Testament Church." You may find a church, but not the church of the New Testament. Once our thinking is sound along this line much confusion will vanish. There is also no such thing as a "universal" church.

Because of misconception on the church and the bride idea, there have been false doctrines set up with reference to what the bride really is, and with reference to Christ coming for His people, and with reference to what is called "the marriage of the Lamb." Some hold that Jesus is coming for His bride (church) alone and everybody else will be left on the earth to go through the Great Tribulation which is to follow. Others hold that only the faithful of the true church will be raptured and even unfaithful church members will be left behind. Some believe Jesus will marry this bride and she will reign with Him in the Millennium as QUEEN. There are others who believe that all the true churches (local assemblies) combined make up the one bride.

"Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years" (Rev. 20:6).

Thus we see that the saved, universally, shall reign with Christ, not just the church.

Note the following passages which refer to the church as a bride or otherwise suggest it. In John 3:29, John the Baptist speaking, "He that hath the bride is the bridegroom." It is evident that Christ and the church are under consideration here. In 2 Corinthians 11:2 Paul says, "I have espoused (engaged, betrothed) you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." Paul says to the church at Rome, Romans 7:4: "Ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." In Ephesians 5:23 we find the following, "For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church."

From the above references we learn the following:

        The Jerusalem church is called, or likened to, a bride.

        The church at Corinth is likened to a bride, engaged virgin.

        The church at Rome is likened to a bride that should be married to Christ, bringing forth fruit. This evidently means the fruit of marriage, to bear children.

        The church at Ephesus is likened to a wife, subject to her husband.

Here is an important question. Are we to take the above things literally, or, are they figures of speech, symbols, illustrating the churches’ relationship to Christ? It is evident that we cannot take them literally, for some of these churches seem to be engaged while others are already married. And we must conclude that if the church at Jerusalem was His bride, and, if the church at Corinth, the church at Rome, and the church at Ephesus are His brides, it follows that every New Testament Church is His bride, therefore, He has just as many brides as He has churches. And if they are literal brides, and if He is going to literally marry every one of them, He would be literally a polygamist, a thing which none will allow. If the church is the bride, Jesus has as many brides as He has churches.

The church is not a woman, but in the Scriptures, woman is used as the symbol of religious institutions. The nation of Israel is called the wife of God and the Scriptures say that God was married to Israel (Jeremiah 3:14). But no one would say that God came down, had a literal wedding and took Israel as a literal wife. In the same sense Israel is God’s wife, the church is Christ’s bride.

There are many figures of speech used in the Bible to denote the nature or relationship of the church to Christ. Most people never think of taking them literally, yet some will take the bride as a literal thing while ignoring all the other figures. Let us notice some of these figures:

        The church is called a flock, (like a flock of sheep), Luke 12:32; Matthew 26:31; I Peter 5:2.

        The church is called a sheepfold, a place where sheep are kept, John 10:16.

        It is called God’s husbandry, also God’s building, I Corinthians 3:9.

        It is called the house of God, also the pillar and ground of the truth, I Timothy 3:15.

        It is called the temple of God, I Corinthians 3:16.

        The church is called the light of the world and the salt of the earth, Matthew 5:13, 14.

        It is called the body of Christ, Ephesians 1:23; Colossians 1:24; I Corinthians 12:27.

        The churches are called candlesticks, Revelation 1:20.

        Then, of course, the church is called the bride, John 3:29.

In the 17th Chapter of Revelation we find described the great whore and her harlot daughters. Here is the great false religious system. They are called whore and harlots, but this does not mean that they are literally such. It simply means that they have been untrue to Christ as an unfaithful bride or wife who turns from her husband, and the figure is used in contrast to the chaste virgin who is faithful to Christ.

The Bride in Glory

It is evident from the Scriptures that this "marriage of the Lamb" to His bride tells of His being united with all the redeemed whom He has received unto Himself. But even so, this will be an assembly of the redeemed in one host and will be in heaven, constituting a local congregation.

He will not lose one sheep (John 10:16, 28). This fact is also made clear again when the great whore and her harlot daughters come to doom. It is there that God will call His people out of them. "And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not her plagues" (Rev. 18:4).

Let that be as it may, we cannot escape the promise that the glorious time is coming when, "There shall be one fold and one Shepherd."

Does not Romans 3:11 say that "there is no one . . . who seeks God"? That is why we love God because he first loved us.

"they refused to love the truth" (verse 10)

"they will believe the lie" (verse 11)

"[they] have not believed in the truth" (verse 12)

"but have delighted in wickedness" (verse 12)

Here, believing spiritual lies is called "refusing to love the truth" and "delighting in wickedness." That is, this passage views unbelief itself as sin. Why? Because we have a vested interest in not believing certain, unpleasant truths. Non-Christians don’t want to believe that they are as sinful as Scripture depicts, or that God will hold them accountable. Even Christians have an interest in disbelieving Scriptural truths.

Let us imagine a fire-fighter who tried desperately but failed to rescue his comrade from a burning building. Understandably, he is shaken. He cannot forgive himself. Let us say that years later he still cannot lose this feeling of being responsible. His feelings persist. He is "unable to believe" God’s words in the Bible that he is loved by God, that God alone controls the day of people’s birth and death, and so forth. Yet other fire-fighters have been able to recover from the same trauma. Why not this man? As with all of us, this man has heart-motives he is unaware of. "All a man's ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the LORD" (Prov 16:2). Perhaps for this fireman to embrace the fact that he wasn’t responsible for his friend’s death would mean facing the fact that he himself cannot control the world as he imagines — and perhaps control is highly important to him. Or perhaps another motive drives him. But his inability to believe God does not grow out of a vacuum. He is driven by values that are precious to him — values that are not strictly innocent. His unbelief, therefore, though understandable, is not innocent.

Consider a non-Christian’s disbelief in the Gospel. Perhaps professed Christians have mistreated and cheated him. Perhaps a minister ran off with his mother and split his family, or a drunken deacon ran over his son with a car. His pain leads him to believe that "all Christians are hypocrites" and that religion is a hoax. His unbelief is to some extent understandable. We sympathize with how these experiences make faith more difficult. But God still calls upon him to repent and believe the Gospel. His unbelief is a guilty unbelief — so guilty that if he does not turn from it, he will perish eternally. Most Christians would agree with this paragraph.

Now imagine that this unbeliever becomes converted. Imagine too that, as a Christian, he undergoes a painful experience that tempts him to believe lies — lies whispering that God does not love him, or that these trials happened simply because he is dirty. As a Christian, his unbelief is made of the "same stuff" as before his conversion. Perhaps his unbelief is quantitatively less, but qualitatively it is identical. It may be understandable, but still it is sinful.

Theophostic Ministry seems to make no account for this fact. It speaks of unbelief as if it were neutral, or as simply the natural response of a victimized person. Theophostic does grant that sin may keep a person from experiencing deliverance. It acknowledges the existence of "appropriate shame and guilt" that must be confessed and that can be forgiven by Christ’s blood. But belief in lies is not itself focused on as a sin problem. The focus is upon the suffering person’s pain and status as a victim needing the reassuring words of Christ.

This view of sin grows out of Theophostic’s view of man.

The soul is thus the seat of the conscience. It "rewards" or "punishes" the person according to its values, making him feel guilty or innocent. These values are "based on the mind’s current thinking," which may or may not be correct.

So rather than rely on human wisdom, stage presence, rhetoric, an entertaining speaking style, and a display of massive organization, he uses the weapons outlined in Ephesians 6 — truth, righteousness, evangelism, faith, salvation, the Word of God, and prayer. And he wields these while maintaining the character of a Christian, which includes meekness and humility, even when he must be confrontational and "not spare" rebels in the church (2 Cor 13:2). These are the weapons scorned by the world yet most feared by the powers of darkness.

But contrary to this perspective, Scripture continually prompts us toward Spirit-energized striving and self-control:

"Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control" (Prov. 25:28).

"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life" (Prov. 4:23).

"A wise man keeps himself under control" (Prov. 29:11).

"Each of you should learn to control his body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen" (1 Thess. 4:4).

"Prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed" (1 Pet. 1:13).

"Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (1 Pet. 5:8).

"Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge and to knowledge, self-control..." (2 Pet. 1:5-6).

His mercy is beyond all telling. He often rains down grace when people’s understanding is deficient, or even when they are rebelling. The woman who touched Jesus’ robe in Mark 5:25-34 did not "do it right" when she approached Jesus. Her faith was misguided — she attempted to receive healing not by a personal encounter with the Savior, but by stealing a touch of his garment, as if it were magic. Her faith was also selfish — suffering a discharge of blood, she knew that touching anyone else would render that person ceremonially unclean, and her plan was to slip off unnoticed without a word of thanks. Yet Jesus graciously healed her. Or consider when God told Moses to gather seventy of Israel’s elders to the entrance of the tabernacle so the Spirit would rest upon them and they could assist in Moses’ labors. Two of the elders, Eldad and Medad, failed to come but "remained in the camp." "Yet the Spirit rested on them" as well, and they too prophesied (Num 11:16-17, 24-26). Or consider that twice the prophet Balaam resorted to sorcery in seeking God, yet God granted him an oracle each time (Num 23).

Do any of these cases prove that the supplicants’ methods were justified? Not at all. They prove only that God sometimes responds generously to our misguided — or even sinful — approaches toward him. Many people no doubt pray sincerely during Charismatic sessions. God is at liberty to answer any of them with mercy, even while his Word demonstrates the error of their approach.