Identifying the Church of God

The word of God is very clear in its teachings. Though at times hidden in prophecies, proverbs and parables, under divine revelation or teachings, one is able to decipher the meanings and the truth will be revealed.

There are over 1000 different denominations in the world today; which in essence is biblical doctrines interpreted a thousand times over, sometimes to the point of error. That for sure will cause confusion but I will attempt to shed some light on the subject. The Bible makes evident the identifying marks of God's true church in the last day.

The book, "The Search for the True Church" by Pastor Joe Crews inspired this post. In the book, he identified reasons why some of what we are practicing is not biblical which is why the latter rain has not yet been poured out on other churches. Without straying too much from the point, he used Revelation 12 to support his claims. It is a biblical prophecy to identify the true church of Christ. Revelation 12 speaks about a vision by John the revelator while he was on the isle of Patmos. The account is of a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet with a crown consisting of 12 stars. The lady was with child crying out because of labor pain. She is about to give birth to a son. Upon seeing this, the great red dragon stood before the woman  who was ready to give birth so as to devour her child.(Pharoah of Egypt killed all first born male babies. Mary and Joseph had to run away to hide their baby, Jesus) Read more in Matthew 2. The woman had to flee into the wilderness for 1260 days. The dragon was angry so he went to make war with the remnants of her seed (they that keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus).

First we must ask ourselves, what is a remnant? It is defined as the "last end piece of a cloth." In other words, it is identical to the first piece but it happens at the very end. So according to this definition of a remnant, Crew states that last part of the true church would be holding the same doctrines as did the early apostolic church.

According to Crews, that one Bible prophecy reveals to us that three identifying marks of the true church.

Lets find out what they are.


  1. Appear on the scene after 1798. "Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days." Revelation 12:6. In prophecy, one day equals a year. In Ezekiel we find that answer. I have laid on you a day for each year" Ezekiel 4:6. In A.D. 538, a decree was given by Emperor Justinian went into effect which gave absolute rule to the church of Rome. It gradually became a religious tyranny. The papacy rule ended in 1798 when the French Revolution occurred and the pope was captured.   
  2. Keep the commandments of God. "And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God..."Revelation 12:17. Crew points out (what I think is very clear to most of us) "The ten Commandments reflect the character of God, reveal His will for all His creatures, and form the basis for all morality and true worship." There are 10 commandments, not nine! The first four represents our love for Christ and the next six represents our love to our neighbors. As a matter of fact, the entire Bible can be summed up in one word; LOVE. God is love.
  3. Have the testimony of Jesus Christ. "and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Revelation 12:17. I know you want to know what exactly the testimony of Jesus is. The Bible explain itself. In the same book of Revelation we find that in a revealed word from an angel to John. "I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Only the prophets have the spirit of prophecy. The prophets and the law work simultaneously. If one checks the uprising of prophets in the Bible, we will realize that they are only raised up when nations are in apostasy...they have rejected the laws of God and have started to worship idols. When the law is adhered to, no prophets are raised up. The Roman Catholic church instituted sun worship and idolatry into the church so God had to raise up a prophet to warn His people, hence the term, spirit of prophecy.

This post now goes without saying that if you're apart of a church that doesn't meet the three characteristics of the true church then its time to do some searching of the scripture for yourselves. The Word of God is clear so it is my hope that this was a tad bit clearer to those who are confused and need to know the truth of God. Remember to read your Bible and pray everyday. The Word will never fail you. Continue to hold fast those of you who are of the fold of God. It is not the will of God that any should perish but that all should have eternal life. 



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