The Foundation of Christ's Church

Today I read Ephesians 2. I sometimes forget that the Epistles of Paul were written to different groups of people and so I find myself wondering at how so often I am reading the same concepts over and over again. Then of course I remember that this was written to people who had little to no contact with the other group of people and so it makes sense that Paul tells them similar things. I am referring here to the statement that we are saved by the Grace of God.

This is not a new concept for those of us centuries later who are reading the Bible in a way that was not even thought of when it was penned. We see all the things that the Apostles were trying to accomplish and help their people understand and it is quite easy for us to draw conclusions and patterns, but when Paul wrote this, he was trying to focus on what his audience needed most. He was only worried about what the Saints needed to hear.

The other part of this chapter that is pretty well known and that I am familiar with is the part about the Church of Christ being built upon the foundation of Apostles and Prophets. This is yet another instance of where I don't understand how other churches manage to convince themselves that they don't need a living Prophet or Apostles when Paul, quite clearly, tells us that the Church of Jesus Christ is going to be built upon these things. Or in other words, the Church of Christ is going to have a Prophet and Apostles.

People who correctly understand the nature of God, that He is unchanging and is the same yesterday, today and forever, understand that what was in the church that Jesus established when He was on the earth, it going to still be in His church today. Jesus had Apostles and He had a prophet once He left the earth and could no longer personally govern the Church's affairs on the earth. So if God is unchanging, wouldn't His church today, if it were on the earth, still include those things? Of course it would. People change, but God is the same always. So if we are to have the same church that Jesus established, we need to know what that church was like when He was here on the earth. And Paul is telling us just that.

I'm honestly not sure why people would not want a prophet on the earth anyway. I mean, someone who talks to God on behalf of the whole world? That seems like it would be pretty beneficial and important to me. Fortunately though, those of us who belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints know that there is a prophet on the earth today. His name is Thomas S. Monson, and he does receive revelation for the entire earth. We have a Quorum of Twelve Apostles on the earth, just like Jesus did. We have a Quorum of Seventy, just like Jesus did. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the same in every way to what Jesus had in His church that He established on the earth. And I am grateful for every bit of it! I love this church with all of my heart and I love God. I am grateful for His tender mercies and how His love for us in manifest in so many ways. He has not abandoned us. He stands ready to receive us, even still. And that is a wonderful thought. Until tomorrow.