The Church of Christ

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There can be only ONE.

In today’s pluralistic society where “anything goes” when it comes to religion, Jehovah God calls us (2Thes 2:13-15) to a higher, and narrower, standard. The sad fact of the matter is that there will be far less souls in Heaven than in Hell (Lk 13:24, Mtt 7:13-14). This is not God’s will (2Pet 3:9), but sadly, it is the choice most people make. God has always let His will be known for those who are willing to hear. His final revelation has come to us through His Son Jesus (Heb 1:1-2, Jhn 14:24). We will ALL be judged by God’s word (Jhn 12:48, Rev 20:12). With this in mind, let us answer the question; How many “churches” are acceptable to God? According to His word, only one!
Eph 4:4-6 reads There is one body, and one Spirit, even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all.
1 Cor 1:10 reads Now I beseech you, brethren, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
From these two verses alone we see one body (the church) which is joined together in the same teachings! See also Mtt 16:18 (Jesus calls it “my church”), Jhn 17:20-21, and 1Cor 4:6, 16-17. There is NO room for any other “church” in the parameters laid out by God. It must be Christ’s church, established 33AD, at the right place (Jerusalem), and organized per the pattern and examples we find in the New Testament. Ephesians 4:4-6, as shown above, means exactly what it says. God means exactly what He says. How long shall we halt between two opinions? Choose ye this day whom you will serve, God or man. As for the Susq. Valley church of Christ, we will serve the Lord!

Mike Sullivan 6/6/04

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POST by Dave Hart

The Distinctiveness Of The Church

Gary L. Hutchens

The church is distinctive by its design and very nature.  In order to live up to its identity, the church must maintain its distinctiveness.

Jesus told Peter, "I will build My church" 
(Matthew 16:18).  

***JESUS did NOT build any denomination. 
FROM “A” to “Z”, name after name of churches, denominations, have been established on the whims & desires of men & women, NOT OF GOD. 
These are churches of Satan. 

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There was distinctiveness in that statement.  Jesus declared that He would do the building and that it would be His church.  If anyone else builds (establishes) a church, it is not the Lord's church.  

The Lord established His church on the first Pentecost following His death, burial, and resurrection almost two thousand years ago.  Any church established since that day cannot be His church.

The Lord Himself, by God's distinctive design, is the only head of His church (Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians 1:18).  

Any church that has any other head, including some governing board or body, cannot be the true church of the Lord.

The church is distinct in what it stands for.  It is described as being "the pillar and ground of the truth" (1 Timothy 3:15).  

Therefore it must stand on, and uphold, the truth of God's word (John 17:17).  

Truth is narrow; that's what distinguishes it as truth.  Jesus emphasized that narrowness of truth and the importance of living one's life in the truth (Matthew 7:13-14).

The church should be distinct from every other philosophy in that it does stand on the truth of God's word.  

Truth stands out from error, exposes error to be error.  It matters what the church believes and teaches and practices (Ephesians 4:4-6).  

It is the truth that offers mankind freedom from the guilt of sin (John 8:32).  

Only by living according to the truth of God's word can a person be a true disciple of Christ (John 8:31).  

A person who does not live "in the doctrine of Christ does not have God" (2 John 9).

The church is distinct in how it worships.  

Worship is directed toward God and is primarily intended to express adoration to Him.  

The true church will submit itself to worship God in the ways God has instructed in His word that He wants to be worshiped.  

The scriptures teach that we are to worship through prayer (1 Timothy 2:8), singing (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16 - instrumental music is nowhere authorized as part of New Testament worship), 

giving (1 Corinthians 16:1-2), 

partaking of the Lord's Supper (1 Corinthians 11:20-29), 

and preaching/teaching from God's word (2 Timothy 4:1-4).

The church cannot allow itself to become just another denomination within the realm of denominationalism.  

To do so would indicate that it has lost its distinctiveness.  The church is supposed to stand out as a shining light on the hillside, lighting the way for all the world to see the path to eternal salvation (Matthew 5:14-16).  

We must maintain, judiciously guard, our distinctiveness as the Lord's church.

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What if you were going to try to find the church of the New Testament today—the one that we read about in the pages of our Bible?  How could you go about identifying it?  Is there any way to know for sure, in one’s examination of “churches” today, if a “church” that he finds is actually the one that Jesus established?  As one reads through the New Testament, there are certainly a number of identifying marks of the Lord’s church.  Perhaps first and foremost is identifying the authoritative pattern that the church uses.

First, it is important to understand the authoritative pattern that the church of the Bible does not use. Many religious groups today are following doctrines that come from creed books, such as various church manuals, church disciplines, catechisms, etc.  Is there anything wrong with that?  Well, consider that man is not to “add to” or “take away from” God’s Word (Rev. 22:18-19), and he is to “speak” only “the utterances of God” (1 Pet. 4:11).   To find our teaching or authoritative direction in a book other than the Bible is to “go beyond what is written” (1 Cor. 4:6).

Second, it is critical to understand the authoritative pattern that the church of the Bible must certainly use. When Moses built the tabernacle in the Old Testament, he made “all things according to the pattern shown” to him by God (Heb. 8:5).  Even more so, God gave a clear “pattern” for His church to follow in all things, and that “pattern of sound words” (2 Tim. 1:13) is His inspired Word (2 Tim. 3:16-17).  The command is distinct and comprehensive—“Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Col. 3:17).  His authoritative Word is the pattern for the church!

Third, it is vital to understand the consequences of not following the authoritative pattern prescribed in Scripture. Going beyond what God’s Word authorizes and practicing a “Christianity” that is not firmly founded upon and grounded in the pure, unadulterated doctrine of the New Testament is not an insignificant matter.  Such will result in being “accursed” (Gal. 1:8-9) and taken from “the Book of Life” (Rev. 22:19), for such action forfeits one’s relationship with God Himself (2 John 9).  That verse affirms, “Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God.”  This is a matter of eternal consequence!

So, what if you were going to try to find the church of the New Testament today?  What if, in your search, you found a church that uses some other book as their guide instead of the Bible?  What if you found a church that uses the Bible some but also follows an additional creed or manual or catechism?  The reality is that if a “church” today uses or follows any law system, doctrine, creed or discipline other than the New Testament, it is not the church that Jesus established on this earth.  Our desire should be to find His church today and restore it to the pattern that He gave in Scripture. Palm Springs church of Christ.

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Christianity and the Church of Christ BEFORE Alexander Campbell
 
     Many people identify churches of Christ as owing their roots to Alexander Campbell in 1813. This is a common tendency among people thinking in denominational terms. Thus, in some circles, we have held the dubious distinction of being referred to as "Campbellites." The following is an interesting quotation from documentary research of a Dr. Robinson, principal of Overdale College, Birmingham, England. (From Odie: As you read it, remember that Alexander Campbell was born September 12, 1788.) It reads:
     "In the Furness District of Lancashire - in N. W. England-there existed in 1669, during the reign of Charles II, a group of eight churches of Christ. Most of them are not now in existence. An old minute book has been found of the year 1669 and it shows that they called themselves by the name of church of Christ, practiced baptism by immersion, celebrated the Lord's Supper each Lord's Day, and had elders and deacons. There was also a church of Christ in Dungannon, Ireland in 1804 and in Allington, Dengighshire. In 1735, John Davis, a young preacher in the Fife District of Scotland, was preaching New Testament Christianity twenty-five years before Thomas Campbell (Alexander Campbell's father) was born."
     Churches of Christ have always traced their origin back to the 1st Century, approximately 33 A.D. Men like Alexander Campbell, Barton W. Stone, and others were instrumental in the Restoration Movement, but the principle of New Testament Christianity is biblically and historically rooted within the soil of the Old Testament prophecy and Apostolic authority. The real truth of the matter is - when the seed of the kingdom (the word of God) is preached and men and women believe and obey it... there is the Church of Christ!!

You know it doesn’t matter what Alexander Campbell did back in his day or what other Christian leaders do in their time. What matters is what you do today. Do you follow God‘s holy Word? that’s what matters!!!!

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To say that all saved people in the first century were members of the church of Christ is not an arrogant statement—it is just a matter of fact. We must not read our times back into the New Testament; we should read the New Testament back into our times and conform to what it teaches. No one could read the New Testament without bias and come away with the idea that what Jesus prayed for and what the apostles taught is the prevalence of denominationalism that we see today. We must continue to preach and teach that Jesus only has one church, and when people become Christians the way the Bible says they become members of that one church (Acts 2:41). We must never apologize for the simple teaching of the New Testament.