Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He {began} asking His disciples, saying, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some {say} John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Simon Peter answered and said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” –Matt 16:13-16 NAS

The tendency was to give Jesus a label, to put Him into some category and to dismiss Him from their thoughts. This saved them the trouble of really looking at Jesus and making a fresh, independent evaluation of Him. However, the different categories into which the people put Jesus were all wrong. Jesus was not John, Elias, » Continue reading “Can One Be Just A Christian?”

Denominationalism is so prevalent that people usually find it hard to understand how there could be a church that is not a denomination. Therefore, they see the church of Christ in a context of numerous “churches” and they assume that it is simply another one among the many. This concept of modern denominationalism is foreign to the Bible.

A denomination is by definition a part of the whole, hence a party among parties. The theory of denominationalism is that one may be a Christian and a member of the universal and “invisible” church, but by choice may be also a member of a particular segment (party) of “Christianity.” That segment or party will have certain features which distinguishes it from other “Christian” segments or parties. » Continue reading “Is The Church Of Christ A Denomination?”

Jesus said, “I will build my church” (Matt. 16:18). The word “church” in this passage is in the singular. Our Lord did not say “churches,” or “one of the churches,” or, “a church.” Rather, Jesus said, “church” (singular). To illustrate, if there is a vacant lot (absolutely empty of everything) and I say to you “I will park my car in this lot.” How many cars would be in this lot? Suppose I then say to you, “Take the car of your choice.” You would respond by saying, “I cannot take the car of my choice, for there is but one car there.” The same applies in the Lord’s promise to build His church. He was not giving us a choice; rather, He was promising to build one church.

Paul told the Ephesian elders to “Feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood” (Acts 20:28). Paul also said that Christ, » Continue reading “Does The Bible Teach There Is Only One Church?”

It is very sad that the majority of people of our day have become so accustomed to thinking in terms of denominationalism that it is a most difficult task to persuade them that the church of Christ is not a denomination. Neither Peter, Paul, nor any other Christian of the first century belonged to a denomination. Yet, all Christians in apostolic times belonged to the church.

The term “church” translated from the Greek word ekklesia appears in the New Testament more than one hundred times. Literally, it means “the called out.” Therefore, the phrase “church of Christ” simply means “the called out belonging to Christ.” Such people are called by the gospel (2 Thess. 2:14; Rom. 1:16) out of the world of darkness into the glorious light of the kingdom of Christ (I Pet. 2:9; Col. 1:13). » Continue reading “What Is The Church?”