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The Church of Christ . . .Who
Are We?
Matthew
16:18 '..upon this rock I will build My
church'
Romans
16:16 '..All the churches of Christ salute
you'
Welcome
to a brief introduction to the Church of
Christ! If you have any questions or
comments don't hesitate to
contact
us.
I.
The Origin of the Church:
From
Matthew 16:18 we learn:
A. The church wasn't
established in the Old Testament. Thus the
rules governing this relationship will be
found in the New Testament.
B. The church belongs to Christ, not
man.
C. The church is a very important
relationship. d. The word 'church' is spoken of in the singular,
Jesus desires that all believers be united and in one universal body
(Eph. 1:20-23; John 17:20-23).
Acts
20:28 '..the church of God which He
purchased with His own blood'. This verse
reveals: a. The church came into existence
after the death of Christ. b. It is an
essential relationship, for it is inherently
connected with the blood of Christ. c. The
church isn't a building, rather it is people
who have been redeemed (1 Peter 1:18-19). d.
The church isn't an optional relationship,
for one cannot be saved apart from the blood
of Christ. e. The church is the same
relationship known as the kingdom of God
(Compare Acts 20:28 with Revelation 1:5-6).
Acts
2:38,41,47 '...And the Lord added to the
church daily such as should be saved' (KJV).
From these passages we learn: a. Hearing the
gospel, faith (2:37), repentance and baptism
stand between the sinner and salvation. b.
Upon being baptized one is added by the Lord
to the church. The church that the Lord adds
us to belongs to Him. c. Being saved and
being a member of the church are the same
thing. d. Therefore the church is the body
of the saved (Eph. 5:23). e. Thus the church
that Jesus Christ established came into
existence upon the day of Pentecost in Acts
chapter 2.
II.
The Undenominational Church:
If
you have spent much time reading the Bible
then you already have realized that there
are no denominations mentioned within its
passages. Every Christian was simply a
member of one united body of believers.
Various congregations existed (Corinth,
Rome, Ephesus, etc..), but they were all
part of the same body. Each congregation
practiced and believed the same doctrines or
teachings, that is, what was being revealed
through the apostles (1 Corinthians 4:17;
14:37). Christians were admonished to remain
united, divisions based on following certain
leaders within the church, or dividing up
the body of Christ into various sects or
flavors of Christianity were condemned (1
Cor. 1:10). In fact, even sects based on
following elevating one apostle over all
others were rebuked (1:12-13).
III.
What Christians Believed/Practiced:
This
isn't meant to be a complete list. But here
is just a sample. Someone has noted that if
you were trying to find something then you
would look for its identifying marks, such
as the specific characteristics of a car
that had been stolen. In like manner, the
church that Jesus established has
identifying marks.
Worship
Christians
assembled on the first day of every week
(Sunday) (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:1; Heb.
10:25),and observed the Lord's Supper. Every
member partook of both elements (1 Cor.
11:23-26). They sang spiritual songs (Eph.
5:19; Colossians 3:16); gave as they had
been prospered (1 Cor. 16:1-2). Collections
were not solicited from non-members. They
prayed together (Acts 2:42), and listened as
the Word of God was taught (Acts 2:42).
Organizational
Structure
Jesus
was the sole head (Eph. 1:20-23). Each local
congregation was shepherded by a plurality
of men called elders/pastors/overseers or
bishops (Acts 14:23; 20:17,28; 1 Tim. 3:1-7;
Titus 1:5-11). The authority of these men
was limited to the congregation of which
they were members (1 Peter 5:1-3). Thus each
congregation was self-governing. The New
Testament provides no earthly organizational
structure for the church which is beyond the
local congregation. Including state,
regional, national or a world headquarters.
Basic
Teachings
The
church that Jesus established taught and
practiced: a. Water baptism is just as
essential to salvation as is hearing the
gospel or believing that Jesus is the Son of
God (Mark 16:15-16; John 3:16). b. Man is
born pure and innocent (1 Cor. 14:20). c. No
one has been predestined for salvation or
damnation (2 Peter 3:9). d. Heaven and hell
are both eternal (Matt. 25:46). e. The
Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit each
possess the qualities of Deity (John 1:1;
Acts 5:3-5). f. Jesus is the only way to the
Father (John 14:6). g. All non-Christian
religions are powerless to save (Acts 4:12).
h. God's moral standard is not changed by
time and culture (Galatians 5:19-21). i. A
Christian can lose their salvation (Heb.
10:26-31).
IV.
Church History:
The
unity found in the New Testament wasn't to
last. Through the apostles God predicted a
coming apostasy which would hit the church
(Acts 20:28-30; 1 Tim. 4:1-4; 2 Tim. 4:2-4).
Following
the death of the apostles changes started to
happen. For example, changes were made in
the organizational structure of the local
congregation. One elder began to be elevated
above his fellow elders and assumed the
title of bishop as applying exclusively to
himself. Such bishops began to oversee more
than one congregation, instead they were
ruling a geographical region containing many
congregations. Eventually, one bishop
assumed oversight over all the
congregations, thus the organizational
structure found in Roman Catholicism came
into existence. During the early centuries
many other foreign practices were being
introduced (the Bible clearly condemns
adding to the Word-Matt. 15:1-9; 2 John 9;
Revelation 22:18-19). We find such human
religious traditions as infant baptism,
prayers for the dead, the fruit of the vine
withheld from the members during communion,
a clergy-laity system, and so on.
Finally
people realized that these things weren't
right and began to "protest", thus
the beginnings of the Protestant religious
bodies. While many people had good
intentions, and some of the human traditions
found in Catholicism were removed,
unfortunately the Protestant Reformation
only succeeded in establishing even more
religious bodies based on human founders,
doctrines and practices. Among other things,
the Reformation introduced the unscriptural
idea of being saved by faith alone, which is
a complete reverse of what the Bible says
(James 2:24).
Conclusion
The
West End Church of Christ is striving to be
nothing more and nothing less than a
congregation that conforms to the Church
that Jesus established and purchased with
His own blood. We urge all believers to come
back to the teachings and practices one can
find revealed in the New Testament, to
discard all human religious traditions which
lack book, chapter and verse and to lovingly
and obediently speak and practice what the
Bible sanctions (1 Peter 4:11). Let's be
content to allow God to tell us how He wants
to be worshipped and served. |
