There is no salvation in denominationalism. Salvation is only in the
body of Christ (Ephesians 5:23), which is His one church (Ephesians
1:22-23). The lost need only the true gospel message of salvation.
Most denominations do not believe that baptism is essential for one to
be saved. But Jesus says, “He
that believes and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16).
One needs help to misunderstand this. If we would have salvation we must do what the Lord says and not
what man says.
What does the Lord do with those who are saved when they are baptized?
“And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved”
(Acts 2:47). The Lord never added
the saved to any denomination. The
Lord adds only the saved to His one church and there are no unsaved people in
the Lord’s church. Since the Lord does not add the unsaved to His
church, the unsaved have to join a denomination.
There is no
salvation in any of the many denominational churches which men have begun.
Those who follow false denominational doctrines have been deluded into
thinking they are saved. The Day
of Judgment will be too late for one to find out this awful truth.
This is a sad situation.
The Lord has only one church. This fact is very unpopular with many
people who belong to the many differing denominations. But the Bible
says, "There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called
in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one
God and Father of all" (Ephesians 4:4-6). We might ask, is one
God as good as another? No. Is one Lord as good as another?
No. Is one body as good as another? No. What is the Lord's
one body? Jesus is the "head over all things to the church, which
is His body" (Ephesians 1:22-23). We see that the Lord has only one
body and that one spiritual body is His church, the church of Christ.
Jesus only promised to build His one church. He said "Upon this
rock I will build My church" (Matthew 16:18). "My" is
possessive, meaning it belongs to Him, and the word "church" is
singular, not plural. Ephesians 5:23 says that Jesus "is the
Saviour of the body", the church. Jesus has only promised to save
those in His "one body", His one church. But the sad and
tragic thing is that all other people in the many differing denominations are
going to be lost. Christ has only one church that belongs to Him.
The one church for which the Lord shed His blood and died is far superior to
all the denominations founded by men. The Lord's church was
"purchased with His own blood" (Acts 20-28). Christ
"loved the church and gave Himself for her" (Ephesians 5:23).
If one expects to be saved, he must be in the Lord's one body, His church, and
not in a man made denominational church. So we have seen that each of
the denominational churches are as good as all the other denominations since
they are all worthless and will only cause one to lose his soul in the eternal
fires of Hell. But the Lord's one true church is far, far superior to
any denominational church. There is no
comparison.
What is Christ going to do with His one body which is His one church?
Ephesians 5:23 says, “Christ is the head of the church and He is the
Saviour of the body”. Only the
Lord’s church contains those who are saved, and Christ is only the Saviour
of that one church. The Lord only
has His one true church, the church
of Christ. Christ built only it, died only
for it, and has only promised to save it.
Jesus never built a denomination. The
Bible says nothing about the Lord saving a denomination.
Ephesians 5:25 says, “Christ also loved the church and gave Himself
for her”. Christ only gave
Himself for His one church “which He purchased with His own blood” (Acts
20:28). Christ only died for His
one church. Christ does not have
any illegitimate churches. Christ
did not give Himself for or purchase any of the more than 600 different
denominational churches.
One of Satan’s most effective lies is “one church is as good as
another”. Satan tries to
complicate the Lord’s plan of salvation with unscriptural ways to be saved,
such as “accepting Jesus as your personal Saviour” and to “join the
church of your choice”. Eternity
awaits each of us. We cannot
afford to be wrong about our eternal salvation.
If only the pure word of God is obeyed without addition, subtraction,
innovation, or alteration, it will only produce Christians.
If people will take only the Bible and believe only what it teaches,
teach only what it teaches, obey only what it teaches, and practice only what
it teaches; only then can one be a Christian and be pleasing to God and go to
Heaven.
God will root up all the illegitimate denominational plants, since He
did not plant them. Jesus says,
“Every plant My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted” (Matthew
15:13). Since Jesus did not build
any denominational church, they all stand under His condemnation.
There are many people laboring in vain in their man-made churches.
God’s word says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in
vain who build it” (Psalms 127:1). People
must come out of denominationalism by being baptized for the remission of
their sins (Acts 2:38) so they can be saved (Mark 16:16).
Then the Lord will add them to His church (Acts 2:47) where Jesus
promises, “Be faithful until death and I will give you the crown of life”
(Revelation 2:10).
If
you are in a denomination and you want to be saved so you can go to Heaven
when this short life is over, then please come out of your denomination and
obey what Jesus says you must do to be saved. Jesus says, "He that
believes and is baptized shall be saved" (Mark 16:16). To assist
you in obeying the Lord, please find a congregation of the church of Christ
near where you live. If you need further study they will be glad to
study with you. They will be happy to baptize you for the forgiveness of
your sins so you can be saved. It is then that the Lord will add you to
His church (Acts 2:47), where you can continue to worship God with them,
"in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24). If you would like for me
to help you locate a congregation of the church of Christ, near where you
live, then please email me your city, state, and ZipCode to ron@netbiblestudy.net
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