Brent Kercheville
We have noted in previous lessons that the word church in our Bibles is the Greek word ekklesia, which simply means people called out of one relationship or location and into another. Therefore, when we speak of the church of Christ in the scriptures, we are talking about people who have been called out of the world and into a relationship with Christ. We also noted that there is a distinction between the universal and local church in the scriptures. Sometimes the scriptures refer to all the saved that have every lived in any location, which we call the universal church. This concept is seen in passages like Matthew 16:18 and Hebrews 12:22-23. We also see the scriptures refer to the church in a local sense, referring to a certain geographical location of Christians. This concept can be seen in passages like 1 Corinthians 1:2 and Revelation 2-3. Last time we took another step in our understanding the Lord’s church. We found that the Lord’s body is undenominational, meaning that it does not consist of a coalition or association of local churches. John 15:1-10 and Hebrews 12:22-23 show that the Lord’s church is made up of saved individuals, and not denominations, institutions, or churches. Today we are going to see that when we understand that the Lord’s church is not a denomination (consisting of local churches), then we will be able to resolve an assortment of problems that arise when speaking to unbelievers. In our lesson today, we will see how our language and speech ought to change with this proper understanding of the Lord’s church. Do You Think You Are the Only One Who Will Be Saved? Universal sense When someone asks this question, there are three possible concepts that questioner may have in mind. A simple yes or no answer will not be sufficient until we understand what the questioner is driving at. First, we must understand the person is asking if we think only the church of Christ will be saved. If the person is using the phrase “the church of Christ” in the universal sense, then the obvious answer is yes. The Bible tells us that all the saved from the past and present are in the Lord’s church. We see this in Acts 2:47 that those who were being saved were added by the Lord into His church. By definition, the Lord’s body only consists of the saved and no others. There is not any wickedness and any disobedient person who is in the Lord’s body. But we need to note that it is rare that the questioner has this concept in his or her mind when asking the question. The person is not asking if all the saved are saved. The person is not asking if everyone in the Lord’s body is saved. This is usually understood. Local sense The questioner may have the local sense in mind. Sometimes the questioner is asking us if we believe that the only ones who will be saved are those who belong to our local church. We know that the answer to this is no. No where do the scriptures teach that our local church will be saved. There are two reasons for this. First, we know that there are Christians in other states and other countries who do not belong to our local church. We know that there are Christians in Jerusalem who already died that were never part of our local church that are saved. Second, we know that there are those who belong to this local church that may not be saved. This was true in the first century as well as today. 1 Corinthians 5 we see that there was a fornicator who had fellowship with the church in Corinth, but was not in fellowship with God and was at that time not saved. In Revelation 3:1-6 we see that there were only a few that were faithful to Christ in Sardis. Though many were part of the local church in Sardis, only a few were saved. Therefore, if someone is asking if we believe that being joined to the local church where we attend will save them, we know the answer is no. Salvation is determined by being in fellowship with Christ, not by being in fellowship with a local church. Denominational sense Often the person who is asking this question is asking us if the only people who are saved are those who attend places where they call themselves the church of Christ. The questioner is asking if the collection of churches which call themselves the church of Christ are the only ones saved. As we noted in our last lesson, this is a denominational concept that we must fight against. The Lord’s church is not made up of local churches. The church of Christ is not made up of churches, it is made up of saved people. But the questioner is not thinking of the church as people, but as a collection of churches. Therefore, we must take care how we answer this question. If we answer yes, then we are perpetuating the concept that the Lord’s church is a denomination, made up of local churches of Christ. However, if we say no, then we are conveying to the questioner that other denominations are also saved. Neither of these concepts are true. So how should we answer this question? I believe we need to answer the question scripturally. Notice Mark 16:16, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” According to this passage, who will be saved? Those who believe and are baptized. We need to tell people that only those who have obeyed the commands of Christ will be saved. Only those who are in fellowship with Christ, and not in fellowship with the world will be saved. In Mark 7:6-9 and in Matthew 7:21-23 we see that simply being religious will not save someone. Religious appearance is not what Christ has called us to. We must have total obedience to His word. Only those who have obeyed the commands of Christ will be saved. If the Lord’s body is undenominational, as we have proven it is, then we need to speak of the Lord’s body in such a way as to communicate that it is undenominational. I Am a Baptist or Methodist or _______. What Are You? Church of Christ Sometimes when someone approaches us and says, “I am a Baptist, what are you?” our reaction can be to answer back “church of Christ.” But again, we need to consider what our answer is conveying to the person who is asking it. Do we believe that I myself, as an individual, is the church of Christ, a church of Christ, or church of Christ? No. By definition, the word “church” means that it has more than one person. The word church is a collective noun denoting that it has a plurality of members. One senator cannot say that he is Congress. One sheep cannot say that it is flock. Neither can one Christian say that he or she is church of Christ. It simply is not true. One individual is not the universal church because the universal church consists of all the saved from time past to present, including people in other countries. One individual is not a local church because it consists of all the Christians in a geographically area that have decided to work and worship together. What we need to recognize is that the person is asking us what denomination we are. When the questioner states the denomination they are and then asks what we are, they are implying in the question that they want to know what denomination we are. If we answer “church of Christ,” then we are again perpetuating a denominational concept of the Lord’s body. Just Christians What we need to tell people is that we are Christians. They will usually respond that they know that we are Christians, but what kind are you, or what denomination are you? But we are not any kind of Christian and do not belong to any denomination. We are simply Christians and this is what we see in the New Testament. In Acts 11:26 we see the disciples called themselves Christians in Antioch. In Acts 26:28 King Agrippa did not say that he had almost been persuaded to become church of Christ. He had almost been persuaded to become a Christian. In 1 Peter 4:16 we read that Peter identifying the followers of Christ as Christians. He says there, “Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.” We also need to identify ourselves to the world as Christians, and not communicate to others a denominational concept. We do not find in the scriptures one person identifying himself or herself as church of Christ. 11
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