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(Revelations 7:1-17; Revelations 22:17; John 7:37-39; John 1:12-13; Isaiah 28:16; Acts 10:35-36, 43). The covenant God made with Abraham was oflly effective upon circumcised Jews and proselytes. But the uncircumcised were cut off from the chosen people (Ephesians 2:11-12; Gen. 17:14).
However, the blood of Christ, when once shed, abolished all bloody ordi nances of the old covenant, including circumcision of the foreskin, which was a type of the New Testament baptism. The generational propagation of the sinful Adamic nature had a temporary purging with circumcision, whereas the baptism of new birth and regeneration by water and Spirit, brings us into everlasting spiritual sonship (See John 1:17; Titus 2:11; Romans 6:14). This new birth experience propagates the incorruptible spiri t u a l s e e d , w h i c h is C h r i s t (Genesis 17:10-14; Exodus 24:8; Hebrews ft22;Cblossians
2:11-14; I Peter 1:23-25; Galatians 3:15-16; 24-29; Ephesians 211-17.)
9.3 Metaphorical Representation of the Church
The New Testament writers use different metaphors to describe the Church. There are four main analogies applied to the universal "ecclesia".
X The Church Is the Body of Christ
By partaking of His divine nature. Spirit, flesh, and bones, the church has become the body of Christ by faith (Ephesians 1:22-23; 5:23-27, 30;
Colossians1:18;2:19;1Corinthians12:11-14;Colossians3:15;Acts2:42). The distinctive characteristic that unites the different members of that body is the exhibition of love, which is a fruit of the Spirit (John 13:35; Galatians 5:22).
2 The Church Is the Temple of God
In Acts 7:48-49, we read, "Howbeit the most high dwelleth not in temples made with hands...what house will ye build me? saith the Lord or what is the place of my rest?" Isaiah 66:1; Speaking of the temple of His body, Christ said, "destroy this temple and in three days 1will raise it up" (John 2:19,21). We have seen that the Church is His body. The apostle Paul asks, "know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (I Corinthians 3:16; 6:19,20). Colossians 2:9,10 further explains, "For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him." The implication of these scriptures is that God had rejected all man- madetemples. HepreparedHimselfaneternalabode,whichistheChurch, the body of born-again believers, who are separated from the earthly Adamic nature and made complete.in Him, as He abides in them by His Spirit (Revelations 21:3).
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