SpiritLedEd said:
"He went to Nazareth where He had been brought up, and on the Sabbath Day He went into the synagogue as was His custom. And He stood up to read." (Lk 4:16)
Jesus took part in organized religious sevices of the Jewish faith of that day even though He knew the duplicity that lay in the hearts of most of the synagogue leaders. He told people He had healed to "....go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them." (Lk 5:14). The "church" that was in place in Israel in Jesus' day was founded by God and went off course under the Pharisees and their cohorts. Jesus worked to change that from the inside. The present-day church is in a similar situation, it seems to me. Pharisaical leaders and their cohorts have deceived many and drawn them off course.
The Lord's desire is that those churches not be abandoned to the enemy, but that they be changed from within; that the enemy be expelled and his heresies exposed. We cannot do that if we sever all connection with them.
SLE
SLE
SLE the scripture you are using is good if you want continue to live under the old covenant. Jesus also paid a temple tax. But there is no record of Jesus telling His followers to go and participate in that organized system of worship or any other system of worship after the cross.
Church history gives evidence that there were not specific places of worship(church buildings) until the third century. They were only in a couple of the large cities, Nicomedia and Edessa. It wasn't until the forth century under the reign of Constantine that christian temples were erected everywhere within his empire. Constantine had a big influence in the developement of the organization of the christian religion. Although he was drawn to the christian belief he never denounced the roman-pagan religions and at his death he was proclaimed a god as was the roman custom.
In the sixth century Justinian had christian temples erected everywhere. There were twentyfour in Constantinople alone. When he built the St. Sophia temple with such beauty and splendor, that at it's completion Justinian exclaimed "I have surpassed thee O Solomon!" The St. Sophia was to become the pattern for Christian edifices through out the whole Christian world. Modeling itself in competition with an old covenant temple. One that God had already replaced with one of His own design and built to His liking. But, ofcourse man in all his wisdom can perfect what God started and make it better.
1Peter 2;4-10
4 Come to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by the people, but he is precious to God who chose him.
5 And now God is building you, as living stones, into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are God’s holy priests, who offer the spiritual sacrifices that please him because of Jesus Christ. 6 As the Scriptures express it,
“I am placing a stone in Jerusalem,*
a chosen cornerstone,
and anyone who believes in him
will never be disappointed.* ”
7 Yes, he is very precious to you who believe. But for those who reject him,
“The stone that was rejected by the builders
has now become the cornerstone.”*
8 And the Scriptures also say,
“He is the stone that makes people stumble,
the rock that will make them fall.”*
They stumble because they do not listen to God’s word or obey it, and so they meet the fate that has been planned for them.
9 But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are a kingdom of priests, God’s holy nation, his very own possession. This is so you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.
10 “Once you were not a people;
now you are the people of God.
Once you received none of God’s mercy;
now you have received his mercy.”
