When we refer to "the church of Christ," we refer to the body of Christ (Eph. 1:22); the church he promised to build (Matt. 16:18); the one he purchased with his own blood (Acts 20:28); and, the one to which he adds the saved (Acts 2:47). When we use the word "church" we mean: a body of baptized believers over which Christ is the head; the one body we read about in the New Testament (Eph. 4:4).
When we refer to a denomination, Webster defines as: "A particular religious sect or body, with a specific name, organization, ect."
Jesus said: "I will build my church" (Matt. 16:18). Jesus used the future tense of the verb here. This was late in Christ's earthly ministry, his church did not yet exist. Therefore, we know that Christ's church did not begin with Adam, or Abraham, or Moses, or John the Baptist.
The church was still in the future. In fact, it is not until the first Pentecost after the resurrection of Christ as recorded in Acts 2 that we read of the church coming into existence. "And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved" (v. 47). Of course, we understand the act of removing past sins would put one into a saved state. Peter said that bapism was "for the remission of sins" (v. 38). Then in verse 41 we read: "then they that gladly received his word were baptized; and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls." The church they were added to was not a denomination. It was Christ's church. There was no denomination in the first century. The Lord adds the saved to the church. And since he does the adding, he only, has the right to set the conditions for entrance, which are faith (Heb. 11:6), repentance (Luke 13:3), confession (Matt. 10:32-33), and baptism (Mark 16:16, John 3:5, Acts 2:38).
All the saved are added to the church by the Lord after their obedience to the gospel, then their names are enrolled in heaven. The apostle declared in Hebrews 12:22-23: "The the general assembly and the church of the firstborn, which are written (enrolled) in heaven..." Obviously, this is the church of Christ. Paul declared that Christ is "the firstborn of every creature" (Col. 1:15). The Lord does the adding, and the enrollment is in heaven! How different this is from denominationalism. Men are accepted or rejected by the respective denomination. The enrollment is made by the hands of men on paper. The Lord's church is not a denomination.
Paul says: "Keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Eph. 4:3). Then he lists the seven things in which that unity consists. There is ONE GOD-unity in worship. There is ONE LORD-unity in authority. There is ONE FAITH-unity in the message, one gospel. There is ONE BAPTISM-unity of practice, one action. There is ONE BODY-unity of organization. There is ONE HOPE-unity in plan and desire. There is ONE SPIRIT-unity in revelation, one mind, the mind or disposition of Christ. These are all essential in order to "keep the unity of the Spirit." A loyal and consistent member of any denomination cannot teach all these divine principles of Christian unity.
These divine principles of unity constitute the only basis for the unity for which our Lord prayed (John 17:20-21). If all denominations would unite upon these great principles of unity, as ordained by God, there would no longer be any denomination. Then, only the undenominational church of the living God would exist.
"If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God" (1 Pet. 4:11).
By Don H. Noblin
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