In many cases, the spiritual meaning of "own," both as a verb and as an adjective, is relatively literal. When people are described as the "Lord's own," however, it specifically means those people who know Him and have His Word. This has taken various forms since the dawn of humanity; in the prehistoric church known as the "Most Ancient Church" the Lord's truth -- the direct expression of His love -- flowed into people directly. In the Ancient Church the Lord's Word was recognized in nature and in the form of deeply representative stories, some of which were passed on to us in the early chapters of Genesis. Among the Children of Israel the Lord's Word was expressed through the Ten Commandments, the laws of Moses, the very history of the nation of Israel and the various psalms and prophecies. The early Christians had those stories along with the teaching and inspiration of Jesus himself. We now have the whole Bible, including the teachings of Jesus, and can understand the Bible's true meaning. Each of these churches, then, was at some point the Lord's own.

3155. It would be superfluous to explain all these individual meanings since they have already been explained above in this chapter. They have been repeated for the sake of informing the natural man. In fact the introduction and joining of truth to good is like the betrothing and after that the wedding of a virgin to her husband; that is to say, she has to be informed about everything before she gives her consent. Though not visible to him these are nevertheless the things that take place in a person when truths in the natural man are being introduced and joined to good, that is, when he is being reformed. That is to say, an informing takes place first - good is informed about truth, and truth about good - and after that both parties give their consent, which is the subject in what follows next.