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What is perhaps most striking about God’s love, and what is
certainly most pertinent to our understanding of the church, is
that the Lord wants to share His love with us, not only by
making us the objects of that love but also by equipping us to
share that love with others. [11]
By vanquishing our sin in these two respects—paying sin’s
penalty and purging sin’s power—Christ fits us for membership in
His holy community. Costly to Him and priceless to us is our
induction into the body of Christ. [14]
To catch a glimpse of the local church, the local church in
action, whose members interact lovingly with each other, pouring
out their God-given gifts into each other’s lives, showcasing in
their relentless self-sacrifice the cruciform love of Jesus
Christ Himself, is to witness more light by exponents than
secular minds can begin to absorb. It is to see what society
lacks, a love without which souls wither and die, a love for
which all people (whether they know it or not) passionately
crave. It is the love found exclusively in the local church.
[19]
When local churches attempt to give people what they want, they
are at cross-purposes with the gospel of Christ. At some point
they will have to come clean, reverse course, and jolt their
auditors by the revelation that true followers of Christ
actually die to their wants—they deny themselves, take up the
cross, and follow Jesus. It is doubtful whether many churches
can bring themselves to unsay the things they have used to lure
people in the first place. [21]
The local church must remember that it is most useful to the
world when it is most different from the world. [21]
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