Matthew 18:15-17
"15 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. 16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. 17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. "
It is obvious in this passage that "the church" refers to the local congregation.
It is very obvious that the Church was established with a teaching authority which supersedes that of an individual. The Church was to be viewed as a court of final appeal - the place where a final decision was to be made. This was done to protect the members of the Church from heresy, disunity, and sin. The Church has the authority to preach and teach in His name (Luke 10:16) so believers are protected from the theological or moral vagaries which result from "private interpretation" of Scripture.
Nowhere in this passage does one see the phrase "local congregation". In fact, nowhere in this passage are either the words "local" or "congregation" are used.
Show me the exact quotation in Scripture which says "His church is all the people who have accepted Him as personal Savior." Also, show the exact verse which states we need a "personal relationship with Jesus".
"Peter was just a man. You look to him instead of Jesus. Therefore, your spiritual focus is on a man, not Jesus."
Once again, you are putting words in another person's mouth. It was Jesus who established His Church on Peter - not I.
"At that moment, the Holy Spirit enters the individual, and the person becomes a member of the church body. No rituals required. No works required. Membership is permanent."
Of course, most of this is incorrect. Jesus instructs us to be baptised. We are to be reborn from above and with water. When baptism is discussed within Scripture, it also speaks of water. And membership is not permanent.
Romans 11:21-22
"For if God did not spare the natural branches, (perhaps) he will not spare you either. See, then, the kindness and severity of God: severity toward those who fell, but God's kindness to you, provided you remain in his kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off."
Phl 2:12
"Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."
"I don't like to criticize other people's religions in a negative way. I prefer to uplift Jesus and the Bible in a positive way. But you brought it up, so I can't ignore it. I would hardly say that the Catholic Church has prevented chaos! I would say it encouraged corruption, and tried to enforce its doctrines thru bloody force."
I have seen so much Catholic-bashing it isn't even funny. If you want to see chaos - you can look at Martin Luther. Since his split with the Church - look at how many different "denominations" have been formed. It has been established that about 10 new denominations are formed every week.
Christ had foretold that the Church will contain the good and the bad.
Matthew 13:24-30
"He proposed another parable to them. "The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off. When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well. The slaves of the householder came to him and said, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?' He answered, 'An enemy has done this.' His slaves said to him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?' He replied, 'No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, "First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn."'"
"This is NOT a reference to the Catholic Church. Jesus was speaking to His 70 disciples that He sent out to preach. The Catholic Church didn't even exist at that time."
Those 70 disciples WERE the Catholic Church. Once again, read Matthew 16:18-19.
