Answer: The church of the living God is the pillar and
foundation of the Truth, (verse 15).
MORE INFORMATION AND/OR OTHER SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:
The Greek word for "pillar" is stulos, and
denotes a column supporting the weight of a building. The
Greek word for "foundation" ("ground" in
the KJV) is hedraioma, and denotes a support, bulwark, or
stay. ("Support" is to carry the weight of,
uphold or hold up; "bulwark" is a defensive wall,
rampart, a defense, protection; "stay" is to brace,
support, prop up--also to test for accuracy). This word
is akin to hedraios, meaning "steadfast,
firm." A preferable translation rather than
"foundation" or "ground" would be
"support" or "bulwark" as they are much
more descriptive of the original meaning.
The church of the living God being the pillar and foundation
(support or bulwark) of the Truth means that the church is to
protect and defend the Truth. This responsibility is for
every member of God's household, from the elders
(Galatians 2:9) to all members of the local
church. All of God's family has the responsibility, in
a collective capacity (and individually), to maintain the doctrines
of THE FAITH (see Glossary)--maintain the Truth--by
teaching and practice, and to maintain the Truth in its integrity
in the face of all forms of opposition.
One could sum up the church of the living God as children of
His household, who support, advocate, uphold, defend and protect
Truth (Jesus, the Word, the Gospel), while supervising or testing
for the accuracy of all teaching, and putting a sudden stop to, or
bringing under restraint, that which is NOT Truth, whether in the
household or outside of the household.
The following Scriptures explain why we, the church of the
living God--His household, are to live, teach and defend
Truth:
Psalm 40:10: "I do not hide Your
righteousness in my heart; I speak of Your faithfulness and
salvation. I do not conceal Your love and Your Truth from the
great assembly."
Jeremiah 7:21-29: [God speaking about
Israel through Jeremiah, the prophet:] "This is what the Lord
Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go ahead, add your burnt
offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat
yourselves! For when I brought your forefathers out of Egypt
and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt
offerings and sacrifices, but I gave them this command: Obey Me,
and I will be your God and you will be My people. Walk in all the
ways I command you, that it may go well with you. But they
did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the
stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and
not forward. From the time your forefathers left Egypt until
now, day after day, again and again I sent you My servants the
prophets. But they did not listen to Me or pay attention.
They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their
forefathers. When you [Jeremiah] tell them all this, they
will not listen to you; when you call to them, they will not
answer. Therefore say to them, "This is the nation that
has not obeyed the Lord its God or responded to correction. Truth
has perished; it has vanished from their lips. Cut off your
hair and throw it away; take up a lament on the barren heights, for
the Lord has rejected and abandoned this generation that is under
His wrath."
Daniel 9:13-14: "Just as it is
written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us,
yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning
from our sins and giving attention to Your Truth. The Lord
did not hesitate to bring the disaster upon us, for the Lord our
God is righteous in everything He does; yet we have not obeyed
Him."
Matthew 16:6-12: "'Be
careful,' Jesus said to them. 'Be on your guard against
the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.' They
discussed this among themselves and said, 'It is because we
didn't bring any bread.' Aware of their discussion,
Jesus asked, 'You of little faith, why are you talking among
yourselves about having no bread? Do you still not
understand? Don't you remember the five loaves for the five
thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? Or the seven
loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you
gathered? How is it you don't understand that I was not
talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast
of the Pharisees and Sadducees.' Then they understood
that He was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in
bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and
Sadducees."
John 18:37: "'You are a king,
then!' said Pilate. Jesus answered, 'You are
right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born,
and for this I came into the world, to testify to the Truth.
Everyone on the side of Truth listens to Me.'"
Acts 17:11: "Now the Bereans were
of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received
the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every
day to see if what Paul said was true."
Acts 20:25-31: [Paul, speaking to the
elders of the church in Ephesus, said,] "Now I know that none
of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever
see me again. Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent
of the blood of all men. For I have not hesitated to proclaim
to you the whole Will of God. Keep watch over yourselves and
all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be
shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His Own
blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in
among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own
number men will arise and distort the Truth in order to draw away
disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for
three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with
tears."
Romans 1:18-25: "The wrath of God
is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and
wickedness of men who suppress the Truth by their wickedness, since
what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made
it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's
invisible qualities--His eternal power and divine
nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has
been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they
knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him,
but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were
darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools
and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look
like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore
God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual
impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.
They exchanged the Truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served
created things rather than the Creator--Who is forever
praised. Amen."
1 Corinthians 16:13: "Be on your
guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be
strong."
2 Corinthians 4:2-5: "Rather, we
have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception,
nor do we distort the Word of God. On the contrary, by setting
forth the Truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's
conscience in the sight of God. And even if our Gospel is
veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of
this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot
see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, Who is the
image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus
Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus'
sake."
Ephesians 6:10-18: "Finally, be
strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full
armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's
schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but
against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of
this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the
heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so
that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your
ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand
firm then, with the belt of Truth buckled around your waist, with
the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet
fitted with the readiness that comes from the Gospel of
peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith,
with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil
one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the
Spirit, which is the Word of God. And pray in the Spirit on
all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in
mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the
saints."
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11: "Now,
brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for
you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief
in the night. While people are saying, 'Peace and
safety,' destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor
pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you,
brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you
like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the
day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So
then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be
alert and self-controlled. For those who sleep, sleep at
night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since
we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith
and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a
helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to
receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for
us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together
with Him. Therefore encourage one another and build each
other up, just as in fact you are doing."
1 Timothy 6:20: "Timothy, guard
what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless
chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge,
which some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the
faith. Grace be with you."
2 Timothy 1:13-14: "What you [the
evangelist, Timothy] heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound
teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good
deposit that was entrusted to you--guard it with the help of
the Holy Spirit Who lives in us."
2 Timothy 2:15-26: "Do your best to
present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not
need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the Word of
Truth. Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it
will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread
like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have
wandered away from the Truth. They say that the resurrection has
already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some.
Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this
inscription: 'The Lord knows those who are His,' and,
'Everyone who confesses the Name of the Lord must turn away
from wickedness.' In a large house there are articles
not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are
for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses
himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble
purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any
good work. Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue
righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on
the Lord out of a pure heart. Don't have anything to do with
foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce
quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead,
he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.
Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God
will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the
Truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the
trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his
will."
2 Timothy 4:1-5: "In the presence
of God and of Christ Jesus, Who will judge the living and the dead,
and in view of His appearing and His kingdom, I give you this
charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of
season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and
careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not
put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires,
they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what
their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears
away from the Truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep
your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an
evangelist, discharge all the duties of your
ministry."
2 Timothy 4:14-15: "Alexander the
metalworker did me [Paul] a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay
him for what he has done. You too should be on your guard
against him, because he strongly opposed our
message."
Hebrews 10:26-39: "If we
deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge
of the Truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful
expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the
enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died
without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How
much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who
has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an
unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who
has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him Who said,
'It is Mine to avenge; I will repay,' and again,
'The Lord will judge His people.' It is a
dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when
you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of
suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and
persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who
were so treated. You sympathized with those in prison and
joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you
knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.
So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly
rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done
the Will of God, you will receive what He has promised. For
in just a very little while, "He Who is coming will come and
will not delay. But My righteous one will live by
faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with
him.' But we are not of those who shrink back and are
destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved."
James 5:19-20: "My brothers, if one
of you should wander from the Truth and someone should bring him
back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his
way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of
sins."
1 Peter 5:8-9: "Be self-controlled
and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion
looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in
the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world
are undergoing the same kind of sufferings."
2 Peter 3:14-18: "So then, dear
friends, since you are looking forward to this [the home of
righteousness], make every effort to be found spotless, blameless
and at peace with Him. Bear in mind that our Lord's patience
means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with
the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all
his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain
some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and
unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their
own destruction. Therefore, dear friends, since you already
know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by
the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position.
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever! Amen."
2 Peter 2:20 through 2 Peter
3:2: "If they have escaped the corruption of
the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again
entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than
they were at the beginning. It would have been better for
them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known
it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was
passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: 'A
dog returns to its vomit,' and, 'A sow that is washed
goes back to her wallowing in the mud.' Dear friends,
this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as
reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. I want you
to recall the Words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the
command given by our Lord and Savior through your
apostles."
