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English Rose said:
Yes, Christ promises to build His Ekklesia (his Elect, his called-out ones) not an organised "church" but a living body of believers! Please check out the Greek -

My husband says "you either see it or you don't"
Rose,

From a reading of Scripture, one would be hard-pressed to not see that the "Church" of the Lord Christ is BOTH "invisible", i.e., the body of believers which were on earth, are presently on earth and are yet to be called to faith in Christ, aka: the elect of God, and "visible", i.e., true believers who gather together on the Sabbath of the Lord for worship, training and edification. The latter, the "visible" church is and must be of necessity "organized" for it is comprised of those men called of God and gifted by the Holy Spirit and those who are under their care; the sheep (e.g., Acts 20:28; Eph 4:11, 12; 1Tim 3:15; Heb 12:23; 1Pet 5:2). From my perspective, either one accepts the Scripture's teaching on this matter or one deliberately rejects it. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Of a truth, not every group who professes to belong to the Church is part of the true Church. But nevertheless, the visible Church on earth is organized according to the regulations set forth by God in His infallible Word.

Perhaps the following three articles might shed more light on this for you:

1) The Church by Richard Baxter

2) The True Church by J.C. Ryle

3) Unity, Diversity and Division by R.B. Kuiper

In His grace,

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simul iustus et peccator

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