Blog
“The Church”
Categories: Minister's Corner(Ephesians 4:4-6)
Today there are thousands of different denominations. Imagine a head that has 1000 different bodies … sounds like SciFi doesn’t it? Jesus said He would build His church in Mathew 16:18-19). Paul talks about the church as being a body (Ephesians 1:22-23) and then says there is only body (Ephesians 4:4).
So it is an entirely appropriate question to ask if the church of Christ is just “one” among many, or is it the church of our Lord, “the one” among many.
Before we go any further in this article it is important to note that during the ministry of Jesus there were groups of people who thought they belonged to God but had chosen to do what they wanted instead of what God wanted. Listen to Jesus, “Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: 'These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'” (Matthew 15:7-9). Not true people offering true worship.
Remember, it was Jesus who prayed for unity, (John 17:20-21), gave His life for unity, (Ephesians 2:16), begged for unity, (1 Corinthians 1:10) affirmed unity, (Ephesians 4:1-6), and yet He refused to unify with any of the known political/religious factions of His day. Therefore the only conclusion we can come to on this is that Jesus was not denominational, therefore His church cannot be either.
A prominent denomination came about starting in the early centuries (not the first century) which saw the rise of Catholicism and is certainly unlike any church we read of in the New Testament. Catholicism contradicts the sacred scriptures of our Holy God, i.e., praying to Mary and to the saints, the infallibility of the papacy, transubstantiation, indulgences, original sin, purgatory, just to name a few. The protestant denominations started showing up in the 15th and 16th centuries which all started by men with their own slant on scriptural truth and mainly in opposition to the Catholic Church.
By comparing the church of Christ today to Christ’s church in the New Testament, one can identify whether the church that bears Christ’s name is just another denomination or not. The first century church was designated as the church of Christ, (Romans 16:16), the church of God, (1 Corinthians 1:2) and the church of the firstborn, (Hebrews 12:23), etc.
The first century church was organized with elders, deacons, evangelists and members in the local congregations, (Philippians 1:1). Today, the Lord’s church is organized with elders, deacons, evangelists and members in the local congregations. Both the first century church and the church today (We, the Fulshear church of Christ) recognize Jesus as their sole authority, (1 Peter 3:22).
The first century Christians met on the first day of the week, (1 Corinthians 16:2), and engaged in acappella singing (meaning “in the way of the church “ referring to without instruments because that was the way of the church), (Hebrews 2:12), praying to God through Jesus, (1 Corinthians 14:15), teaching sound doctrine, (1 Timothy 6:2), eating the Lord’s Supper, (Acts 20:7), and giving financially, (1 Corinthians 16:2). We, the church of Christ in Fulshear do so as well. We follow the New Testament of Jesus Christ.
Both the first century church and the Lord’s church today are guided by the apostles’ doctrine (what Jesus gave them to teach) and is our only rule of faith and practice, (Acts 2:42; Galatians 1:6-9; 1 Timothy 1:3; 1 Peter 4:11; Jude 3). All teachings of men were then, and are now, disregarded in favor of (the New Testament scriptures) the inspired word of God.
The first century Christians entered into the body of the saved by hearing and believing, (Acts 15:7), repenting of their sins, (Luke 13:3), confessing Jesus Christ as the Son of God, (Acts 8:37), and being baptized into Christ, (Galatians 3:27) for the forgiveness of their sins, (Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16). Those who are in the church today enter by the exact same way.
The mission of the first century church was to evangelize the world, (Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15-16, Luke 24:47) and to support the truth, (1 Timothy 3:15). This mission has not changed since the beginning.
Why not strive to be exactly what Jesus built...NOTHING MORE & NOTHING LESS! You can become a part of the one body of Christ today by obeying Jesus and His teaching! If you have obeyed the teachings of Christ then you can place your membership with the Fulshear Family and under the oversight of our eldership. This is a great place to be because WE ARE FAMILY … RELATIONSHIPS BUILT FOR ETERNITY.
