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The Pharisees, Sadducees, and others are rightly spoken of as being sects: Acts 5:17 -- "Then the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with indignation," Acts 15:5 -- "some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses." Notice how these sectarians referred to the Lord's church: Acts 24:5 "For we have found this man a plague, a creator of dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes." Acts 28:22 "But we desire to hear from you what you think; for concerning this sect, we know that it is spoken against everywhere." Also note how Paul referred to their label: Acts 24:14 "But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets." You see, people were accustomed to there being different sects and factions because they did not all see the Law of Moses alike. This was due to their ignorance and lack of understanding (Hos. 4:6; Mt. 22:29; Jn. 5: 39). Because of this, many Jews in the first century thought that Christianity was just another sect of Judaism. But, Christianity wasn't a sect of Judaism at all. It was the true religion of God's people under the Law of Christ, the New Covenant (Heb. 8:7-13; Col. 2:11-14). Likewise, it is evident that many uninformed people in our day believe all denominations to be part of Christianity; for here is how most people perceive the religious groups of today. However, the Bible never once refers to Christ's church as being made up of denominations. (NOTE: the term 'denomination' is not found in the Bible). Besides, how could Christ's church be made up of parts, sects, and factions which are so different, and in many cases opposed to each other? In fact, the very idea is condemned in the scriptures (1 Cor. 1:10; 3:3; Rom. 16:17). The reason that we have so many different denominational churches today is because of discontentment with the simple gospel of Christ, and the subsequent formation of various distinguishing doctrines -- they have to be distinguishing, because folks want to be different. And, many of their differences are so strong that they are diametrically opposed to each other. No one can deny that they plainly contradict one another. For example, most Methodist churches teach that sprinkling is baptism; most Baptist churches fervently deny it. Jehovah's Witnesses teach there is no Hell; Presbyterian churches rigidly affirm there is one. Catholics pray to (and venerate) Mary the mother of Jesus; but Pentecostals (A. o. G.) would never do that. You see, a house divided against itself cannot stand! (Mk. 3:25). Therefore, these cannot all be parts of one and the same church of Jesus Christ the Lord. Denominationalism's Bible: How would the Bible have to read in order for it to teach that all denominations are a part of the one church that Jesus built? It would have to read like this: 1. "I will build my churches" (Mt. 16:18), rather than 'church'. 2. "I am the vine, denominations are the branches" (Jn. 15:5), rather than 'you' (individuals). 3. "And gave Him to be head over all things to the various denominations which are His body" (Eph. 1:22- 23), rather than 'church' and 'is'. 4. "For by one spirit we were all baptized into different denominations -- whether Catholics or Protestants, whether Baptists or Methodists…" (1 Cor. 12:13), rather than 'one body' and 'Jews or Greeks, slaves or free'. 5. "For the husband is head of several different wives, as also Christ is head of many different denominations" (Eph. 5:23), rather than 'the wife' and 'the church'. You see, for denominationalism to be scriptural -- for it to be found in the Bible -- we would have to re-write these and other passages in God's Book. But clearly we can see that the Bible reads in such a way as to EXCLUDE, not include, denominationalism. It is definitely NOT taught in the Bible! Denominations VS. Christ's Church: My friend, what we do read about in the Bible, though, is the One True Church of Jesus Christ. It is the one and only church for which Jesus died to establish, about which the apostles preached, and to which the N.T. Christians belonged. Denominations of today differ greatly from that N.T. church in many ways: In origin, name, membership, organization, doctrine, practice, and goal. Therefore, none of them can be the N.T. church. Origin: How many denominations can you name that originated in the 1st century? How many of them can you read about in the Holy Bible? Is the Methodist church referred to in scripture? How about the Presbyterians or Lutherans? The truth is -- none of them even existed then. So to what church did those early Christians belong? Here's what secular history (check any encyclopedia) tells us about the origins of many of the main-line churches of today: Some of the dates may be off by a year or so, but this is basically what we find. Now, how could a church which was established 600 years after the one we read about in the N.T. be the right church? What about one that began 1500 years later? 1800 years? Paul certainly wasn't a part of the Presbyterian church. Neither was Peter a part of the Catholic church. Those were both much too late. It ought to be clear which of the churches on this chart is the real one. NOTE: Some Baptists claim that the church really began with John the Baptist (hence the name). But let's examine the plain words of Jesus -- He said "I will build my church" (Mt. 16:18). So, Jesus would do it, not John; it was to be in the future, not be built already; and it would be Christ's church, not John the Baptist's church. So, Jesus did not start the Baptist church, and their claim is false. prev | next |
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