IS THE CHURCH YOU ATTEND IN THE BIBLE?
Many times we hear, “Go to the church of your choice.”, or “It doesn’t matter how or where we worship.” While this may sound appealing to many today, it is totally foreign to the word of God. Actually, this is just another one of the devil’s attempts to divide the one true body of Christ.
The Holy Spirit makes it very clear when it comes to the oneness of the church. Jesus said; “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18) Any honest person will read this verse and notice Jesus did not say “my churches” he said “my church”). This is the one, and the only one, you read about in the New Testament.
We challenge anyone to examine the scriptures and see for themselves. Every mention of the church in the New Testament after the promise that our Lord made is singular in nature. For example, Luke said, “Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved” (Acts 2:47) Paul said, “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.” (Ephesians 5:23) Of course there are also instances where a particular writer would speak of the church in a particular location e.g.,“the churches at Galatia or the churches of Asia.”, but it is still referring to the one and only church of Christ.
The Bible never mentions the Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Catholic or any other denomination one might find today. They are all foreign to the Bible. You will never once read of a ‘Baptist Christian or Methodist Christian. Why? Because there is no such thing as “hyphenated Christians”, there are only Christians. Just think about this for a moment: if you are in a denomination, you are in a church that God has never spoken of or recognized! Do you really believe you can get to heaven this way? “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, But the end thereof are the ways of death.”(Proverbs 16:25).
The word of God gives plain instructions as to how to become a Christian and be added to His body, the church of Christ.
1. Hear the Gospel. (Romans 10:17, John 8:32)
2. Believe the Gospel (Hebrews 11:6, John 20:31)
3. Repent of past sins (Luke 13:3, Acts 17:30)
4. Confess faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 10:10, Matthew 10:32)
5. Be Baptized (Galatians 3:27, Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38)
6. Be faithful unto death (Revelation 2:10)
Simply put, we are New Testament Christians. We put God first and do all that we are authorized through His inspired word. We strive to live our lives and conduct our worship in accordance to His word and only His word.