Today there are more than 600 different denominational churches, each teaching
different man-made doctrines, each with different forms of worship, each with
different human devised plans of salvation, and each wearing different
religious names. There is no
scriptural justification for this confusion, “For God is not the author of
confusion” (1 Corinthians 14:33). What
do you think the Lord thinks about all of this?
Such cannot be pleasing to the Lord.
The word "denomination" comes from the same root word as denominator
in fractions, which means to divide. Religious division is sinful.
God’s word says, “Now I plead with you, brethern, by the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no
divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same
mind and in the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10).
This
is not happening in denominationalism. Denominations
are of human origin and have no scriptural authority to exist.
Every denomination is in conflict with the one church which Jesus
built.
Jesus says in Matthew 16:18, “I will build My church”.
The word “church” is singular, meaning one and only one and the
word “My” is possessive, meaning it belongs to the Lord. The
Lord only built His one church. Jesus
never promised to build even one denomination.
The
church
of
Christ
, which Christ built, began nearly 2000 years ago.
There were no denominations in the first century and for hundreds of years
thereafter. The Lord did not establish any of the denominations, but man
did. The denominations have had their beginnings during the past 500 years.
The Lord never built any of the more than 600 different denominations so man could have a choice of which church he
wants to join. All of this is
man’s doing. Now there are
literally hundreds of differing denominations, each with its own name, its own
peculiar man-made doctrine and practice which contradicts the Bible.
How can any of these differing doctrines be true?
They can’t. Anything that
contradicts or is different from the Bible is false doctrine, which is
designed by Satan to cause people to be eternally lost.
Their divisive human creeds that govern them come from the minds of men
and not from God. Their creed
books hold their group together as a denomination.
Methodist Churches preach the Methodist Discipline, Baptist Churches
preach the Baptist Manual, Catholic Churches preach the Catholic Catechism,
etc. The main reason for the
religious division of denominationalism is man will not accept God’s word as
final authority.
Even by their names they do not claim to be the Lord’s
church. They seem to be ashamed of
the Lord by not wanting to wear His name.
Jesus says, “For whoever shall be ashamed of Me and My words in this
adulterous and sinful generation, of Him the Son of Man also will be
ashamed” (Mark 8:38). If the
Lord is ashamed of people, they will be eternally lost in Hell. Since
they are not the Lord’s church they call themselves by names that give glory
and honor to the many different people, places, or things other than the Lord.
The Lutherans honor their founder, Martin Luther.
The Methodists who were founded by John Wesley give honor to the
methodical way they do things. The
Presbyterians founded by John Calvin give honor to the presbuterous (Greek
word for elders). The Baptists
give their honor to John the Baptist while the Pentecostals give honor to the
Jewish Day of Pentecost. The
Apostolic
Church
give their honor to the apostles. And
the list goes on and on. All denominations are unscriptural since each
denomination has a human founder, and not Christ. Denominationalism is
plagued with division, conflicting creeds and doctrines, unscriptural worship,
and false "salvation practices", which leave a person lost since it
is different from what God requires in the Bible. They
want to do man's will and not God's will, thus God will not save them in their
folly.
When a
church has the wrong name, teaches the wrong doctrine, is organized the wrong
way, worships the wrong way, has the wrong terms of membership, and the wrong
plan of salvation, it cannot be the Lord’s one true church.
A denomination is a substitute of man’s creation and has no authority
from God to exist. What benefit is
there in joining a man-made denomination?
One will be eternally lost in doing so.
As sad as it is, Jesus says, there will only be a few people in this world saved
(Matthew 7:13-14). This is in
spite of the Lord making a tremendous sacrifice for unworthy man to enable
him to be cleansed from soul condemning sin so he can be saved. The
division and confusion of denominationalism has paved the way for atheism,
agnosticism, humanism, skepticism, modernism, and a denial of the Bible.
This division is in contradiction to the prayer of Jesus for all who
claim to believe in Him, “that they also may be one in Us that the world may
believe that You sent Me” (John 17:21).
All of this division and confusion has come from man and not from the
Bible.
It is often the case that people do not want the truth.
“In latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to
deceiving sprits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having
their own conscience seared with a hot iron” (1 Timothy 4:1-3).
Denominations have their conscience so seared with false teaching that,
most of the time, they are impossible to reach with the truth of God’s word.
Near the end of the first century the apostle John said, “many false
prophets are gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).
They are still around and have had 1900 years to multiply.
Men have altered, revised, manipulated, rearranged, added to, and
ignored what God has said in the Bible into whatever they have seen fit.
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of
death” (Proverbs 14:12). The
confusion in denominationalism is guided by opinion, pride, prejudice,
impulse, physical sensations, emotionalism, and assumptions.
Denominations give their allegiance to the authority of men over that
of Christ. Since God’s
word is true (John 17:17), that which disagrees or is different from it is
false. Their sin is not in
changing man-made laws, but in making their own religious laws and setting
aside the laws of God. All denominations are the result of the many
departures man has made from the teaching of the Bible.
People need
to renounce the sin of denominationalism.