Three of the current Christian doctrines are unscriptural and destructive. They indeed are myths. One is that there are two separate churches, two kingdoms—one Gentile and another Jewish. Another unscriptural, destructive doctrine is that the purpose of the ascension (catching-up; "rapture") of the believers after their resurrection is for the purpose of escaping suffering. A third unscriptural, destructive doctrine is that once we take the "four steps of salvation" we enter a "dispensation of grace" in which God does not see our actual behavior as a Christian.

If Satan and his angels were to scheme for a thousand years they could not produce doctrines more destructive of God's purposes in Jesus Christ. In this present essay we will focus on the first of the unscriptural doctrines, the concept of two separate churches, one Gentile and one Jewish. In some respects, the other two unscriptural doctrines look back to the two-church doctrine for support.

Part of this myth is that a Gentile church will be in the spirit Heaven for eternity while the Jews will inherit a kingdom on the earth. Although there is no scriptural support whatever for such a notion it is widely circulated among Christian people.

I have written before concerning the unscripturalness of the two-church doctrine. However, I would like to review this theme. I hope to see during my lifetime a vigorous repudiation of this fable throughout the ranks of the blood-washed believers in the Lord Jesus.

I intend now to explore this doctrine and show that it is unscriptural, and also point toward the destructive impact it sometimes has on those who believe in the Lord Jesus.

We often hear of the Gentile church and the Jewish church, or kingdom. The concept that there are two churches, two called-out people of the Lord, is not only not found in the Scriptures, but the opposite—that there is only one Church—is emphasized in the Old Testament and the New.

The term church means "called out." It does not refer to a building or a religion. A religion is a manmade system designed to approach and please God. The God of Heaven, according to His own sovereign will and foreknowledge, from the time the world began, chose specific people to belong to Him in a special way. These are God's elect, the members of His royal priesthood.

God calls these people to Himself at some point during their lifetime and gives them a firstfruits of His Spirit. This is a priestly anointing. In the next age the Holy Spirit will be given to every member of saved mankind. The Church is, you might say, God's firstborn. The members have a double portion of His Spirit that they might help other people learn how to please God.

The Church, God's elect, His true Israel, began with Abraham and Sarah and continued through Isaac and Jacob. These individuals were the beginning of the holy nation, the royal priesthood. The prophetic anointing rested upon them. They composed the olive tree, of the eleventh chapter of the Book of Romans.

To be continued.