The doctrine of Premillennialism advocates that Jesus Christ will return to this earth and establish an earthly kingdom over which He will reign for 1000 years from Jerusalem. The doctrine rests primarily upon the misunderstanding and misapplication of Revelation 20:1-7. Will Christ reign upon earth? We respond with a resounding “no” for the following reasons.

First, God never promised an earthly reign for Christ! It is true that prophecies of the promised Messiah were interpreted by materialistic-thinking Jews to mean that the Christ would rule the world upon David’s earthly throne (John 6:14-15), but the Jews totally misunderstood the prophecies and the nature of the kingdom of the Messiah.

This is obvious when we consider that all prophecies concerning the Messiah necessarily had » Continue reading “Will Christ Reign for 1000 Years On The Earth?”

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?”

There is a commonly held belief in the religious world that the Lord Jesus Christ came to this earth to set up or establish His kingdom, but because He was rejected by the Jews, He postponed His kingdom and set up the church instead. Those who hold to this view believe that Jesus will set up His kingdom on earth when He returns the second time.

This concept relegates the church to the role of a stop-gap arrangement, a kind of after-thought conceived by Christ to provide something to fill the gap between His return to the Father and His return to the earth. It is also believed that the prophets said nothing about the church since they saw only the first coming of the Christ and His yet to come, earthly kingdom. » Continue reading “Was The Church Predicted By The Prophets?”

There are different ideas about when the church began. There are those who speak of it as beginning in the Old Testament period, though such a view is a misunderstanding of what the church is. Others believe that it began with the ministry of John the Baptist. Still others believe that the Lord’s kingdom has not yet been established. With such different answers to our question it is no wonder people are confused.

The correct answer is rather easily determined, if one notices the tense of the verbs used in reference to the church. Throughout the Old Testament all references to the Lord’s kingdom are future. Notice just a couple of them: » Continue reading “When Did The Church Begin?”

When Paul made his defense before King Agrippa, he tried to persuade the king to become a Christian. “The Agrippa said to Paul, ‘Do you think that is such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?’ Paul replied, ‘I would to God, that whether with little or with much, not you only, but also all that hear me this day, might become such as I am, except these bonds’” (Acts 26:28-29).

There are really many good reasons for being a Christian. Rational people seek for reasons when challenged to do something and for this reason we are happy to present a number of excellent reasons given in the Scriptures for being a Christian. » Continue reading “Why Be A Christian?”

At the very heart of the gospel message is the Cross of Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul wrote, “But we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor 1:23-24). One of the reasons Jesus died and shed His blood was to establish redemption for mankind. Paul in writing to the church in Ephesus said, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph 1:7).

One of the great unchanging, immutable, principles of the Divine Government is the truth that, “without the shedding of blood there is no remission.” The Hebrew writer pointed this out when he wrote, “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission” (Heb 9:22). » Continue reading “At What Point Does The Blood Of Christ Save Us?”