Borrowed from:

IN DEFENSE OF...CHRIST’S CHURCH

by

Bert Thompson, Ph.D.

There would be one and only one church. Paul wrote that Christ “is the head of the body, the church” (Colossians 1:18). In Ephesians 1:22, he stated concerning Christ that God “gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body .” Thus, Paul clearly identified the body as the church. Three chapters later, however, in Ephesians 4:4, Paul stated: “There is one body.” Expressed logically, one might reason as follows:

There is one body (Ephesians 4:4).
But Christ is the Savior of the body (Ephesians 5:22).
Thus, Christ is the Savior of one body.

And,

Christ is the Savior of one body.
But the body is the church (Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians1:18,24).
Thus, Christ is the Savior of one church.

The body, Christ’s church, would be known as “the church of the Lord” (Acts 20:28)...

...The Lord’s people were to bear Christ’s name (Acts 11:26; 26:28; 1 Peter 4:16). The church would be His bride (Revelation 21:2), His wife (Revelation 19:7-8), and His kingdom (Revelation 1:9). Those in it would be victorious over Satan and death forever (1 Corinthians 15:26,54-56; 2 Timothy 1:9-10).

Unfortunately, men sought to alter the divine plan, and to infuse it with their own personal belief systems. Thus, the concept of denominationalism was born. Denominationalism, however, is unknown to, and unauthorized by, the Word of God. A denomination is defined as: “a class or kind having a specific name or value.” We speak of various monetary denominations—a five dollar bill, a ten dollar bill, etc. They are all different. The same is true of religious denominations. They are all different.

Denominationalism ignores the singularity and uniqueness of the true church, and establishes various groups teaching conflicting doctrines that are antagonistic both to the Bible and to each other. It also ignores the church’s relationship to Christ, described so beautifully in Ephesians 5 where Paul reminded first-century Christians that “the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church” (5:23). The apostle’s point was this: In a physical context, the wife is the bride, and the husband is the bridegroom; in a spiritual context, the church is the bride, and Christ is the bridegroom. [John reiterated this in Revelation 21:9.] In Acts, Peter discussed Christ’s relationship to His church when he observed that “neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, wherein we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Denominations are man-made institutions that neither are recognized in, nor sanctioned by, the Word of God. The simple truth of the matter is that John the Baptist—while a marvelous harbinger of the Messiah—did not die to establish the church. Why, then, be a member of a denomination bearing his name? As great a reformer as Martin Luther was, the fact remains that he did not die to establish the church. Why, then, be a member of a denomination bearing his name? The early church’s presbyters (i.e., elders, bishops, overseers) did not give their lives on a cross to establish the church. Why, then, be a member of a denomination named after such men? The Bible—although it prophesies the coming of the church and documents its arrival—did not make possible the church. Why, then, be a member of a “Bible church”? Instead, should not Christians seek to be simply a member of the singular church that honors Christ’s authority, and that He purchased with His blood? It is His bride; He is its bridegroom. His congregations are called the “churches of Christ” (Romans 16:16).

Those who are true New Testament Christians are those who have done exactly what God has commanded them to do to be saved, in exactly the way God has commanded that it be done. In so doing, they have not “joined” some man-made religious denomination that, like a five-dollar bill is one denomination among many others, is simply one religious group among many others. If the church is the body, and there is only one body, then there is only one church. Further, one does not “join” the church. The Scriptures teach that as a person is saved, God Himself “adds” that person to the one true church (Acts 2:41) that bears His Son’s name.