So far in this blog series we have noted that God has not left us in the dark, not knowing who He is or how to please Him. He has left His will as an open book, ready for us to read and understand. Today let us look at His word to notice that He has left wide open for us, the means to have unity in a world of  division.

Wikipedia, which I would not consider to be significantly reliable would tell us there are over 41,000 "Christian Denominations." You might be saying the same thing I said when I read that; that is, there is no way! And although I wish it weren't the case, I don't have any proof that Wikipedia is incorrect in this matter. Despite what ever the exact number of churches may be, the fact of the matter is: If there is more than one that is too many! If there were two churches in the world that claimed to be Christian, that would be one too many. The reality of this matter is that God and Jesus intended for there to be one church, His church.

Jesus said on one occasion that, I will build My church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it (Mat. 16:18). That denies all speculation that might be made. In John 15, Jesus spoke concerning His disciples (what would be the church) that, I am the vine and ye are the branches. Did this mean that Jesus was the vine and the many branches were the different "Christian Denominations" in the world? No, certainly not because that would mean there was a contradiction with what Jesus said previously in Matthew 16. Additionally it would mean a contradiction between Jesus the Lord and Paul the apostle. Paul said in Eph. 4:4, There is one body. Consider also Paul's words in Eph. 1:22-23, And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. Combining what Jesus said and what Paul said, knowing that the Bible is from God and contains no contradiction, but rather passages that complement, we have a complete thought. Jesus built His church, of which He is the head, which is His body. 

What a blessing it is to have God lay bare the things concerning His church. We don't have to worry about not understanding what the role of the church is in our lives, we don't have to worry about not understanding how to enter the church; He has left it open for us to view. Acts 2 teaches that the saved are added to the church (v. 47). In order to be added to that church we must be obedient to His word. We must hear the word (Romans 10:17), we must believe that Jesus is the Son of God (John 8:24), we must confess that belief with our mouths (Romans 10:9-10), we must repent of sins (Acts 17:30), and we must be baptized into Christ (Gal. 3:26-27; Col 2:12; 1 Pet. 3:21).

We can have religious unity in a world of division because the conditions for salvation and addition to the church have remained the same since the time they were first preached. Our responsibility is to take what God has laid bare and open for us to know and to do it and teach it. May God bless us with unity in this world so that His work is done to the effect that He desires. To God be the glory!

Photo Credit: Google Images

     I'm a huge fan of the United States of America. I don't always agree with what the powers that be do, say or believe in but for the most part I'm cognizant of the fact that my country is one of the best in which a person can live and thrive. I hope that always continues to be the case, while I know that it probably won't given the history of our world and its governments. 

     My family was once very powerful in Ireland and England (I also love genealogies by the way). Nicholas Snow was one of the few people able to say that they were on the voyage across the pond with the Mayflower in establishing these United States as a territory of England. 

     It's amazing to think of the history that is the foundation of this place! Some have families who have recently come to America while others have been here for centuries. Some came of their own free will and some came as a product of slavery and mistreatment on the part of their fellow man. Some came from Europe where the culture is somewhat like ours, others from distant lands which are very different from the culture that is extant here in the United States. 

     I absolutely love it! However, being an American, I fail to see the point in hyphenated patriotism. 

     I know, some of us are proud of our roots and family history, I am too. But living in a world of political correctness, we’ve become jaded. No longer are we Americans but Irish-Americans, African-Americans, Iranian-Americans and so on! 

     Why? I’m not going to get into the political repercussions of a ideology such as this, but I believe it is because we have failed to give ourselves fully to our country. 

     Woodrow Wilson once said,

     I agree! 

     Now, what does that say about hyphenated-Christianity? The exact same thing. 

     The reason why some hold to Baptist-Christianity, Catholic-Christianity, Methodist-Christianity or any other hyphenated form of Christianity is because they have failed to give themselves completely to the Lord. 

     Instead of living for Christ and being a sacrifice for Him (Romans 12:1-2), they have created a hybrid form of Jesus and man-made thoughts, opinions and doctrines. Instead of giving their lives for faithfulness to the Lord (Revelation 2:10), they have given their lives over to following some sort of modern day usurper of the deity of Christ. 

     It’s all about self and none about salvation. They’ve failed to see God and have substituted His will of unity in Christ (John 17:21, Ephesians 4:4-6, 1 Corinthians 1:10ff) for a man-made concept of unity in which all of these different hyphenated-Christianities are pleasing to God, then they in fact are not. 

     So, how do we stop this? It’s rather easy. All it would take to destroy the epidemic hyphenated-Christianity is to give ourselves completely to Christ and simply follow His word. - No more catechisms, no more manuals or declarations of faith. Just the Bible and Jesus’ authority (cf. Matthew 28:18). 

     While that is harder than it looks, it’s possible. After all, the first century Christians were able to do so and if they can do it, so can we. 

     I've struggled with this in the past and I know many brethren do as well. At what point does a child of God have the ability to say that another human being has either failed to reach or has fallen from the salvation in Christ because of his religious beliefs or actions?

     Many believe that any person having some inkling of a belief in Jesus and some rendition of the faith in Him is to be called a Christian and is to be inside the scope of fellowship of fellow Christians, but is this correct?

     We've all heard the normal tests of fellowship - worship, church organization, authority in the Scriptures alone, etc. but are these the only things one must believe and obey in order to be unified in the Spirit? 

     However, being a person who is always yearning to test all things (cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:21) we must ask the question, WHY? - I believe the reason is very simple, because the other things are not visible! 

     Take conviction, for instance. There is an aspect in which conviction in Christ (personal belief/faith) is able to be seen outwardly like when Paul wrote that the faith of the Colossian brethren was able to be seen in that he knew that they were "faithful" (Colossians 1:2) and that they had learned of their faith (Colossians 1:4). But, in a very real sense of the word, my faith and conviction is deep within my heart which no man can know save me (1 Corinthians 2:11). 

     My love for the lost and for my brethren is the same. While my teaching the lost shows my love for them and my fellowship with the brethren shows the entire world that I am a follower of Jesus (John 13:35), no one can definitively know whether or not these things are done out of true love or a pretentious love which is bent on getting society's accolades except me. 

     So, why do we use things like whether or not a person worships in spirit and in truth (cf. John 4:24) forsaking man-made traditions and worship practices like mechanical-instrumental music or flawed roles in worship as a test of fellowship? I can assure you, it isn't because we just want to feel superior to him (although a minority might have this in mind and it is really impossible to tell definitively). No, the reason is because we can openly see that. 

     That doesn't mean, however, that a person seeking to be a part of the restored church of Jesus Christ can simply stop at the outward signs of faith and be done in his restoration process! Just as it is important to restore the authority of Jesus and the knowledge that the Bible and it alone give the words for eternal life (John 12:48, John 6:68), it is likewise important to have the inner man restored in order to be in fellowship with Christ and walk in His light (1 John 1:7-9) whereby the fellowship between mankind can be defined as "Christian" as well. 

     Here are some of my favorite posts from other brotherhood works that I have read in the recent past. It's amazing how many great resources are available for Christians via the world wide web. Take a moment and check out these articles and videos and don't forget to browse around the sites while you are there!

2 Fundamentally Different Understandings of Right and Wrong - Radically Christian     It seems to me, the number one reason many of us cannot seem to agree on what is right and wrong behavior for Christians is that we have a fundamentally different way of viewing right and wrong. Read More

The Yoke of Christ - Christian Courier
     Though the citizens of Galilee had observed Christ performing many mighty works, most of them were not moved to repentance (Matt. 11: 20ff). In spite of that spirit of rebellion... Read More

What Must I Know to Be Saved? - Christian Courier
     Three times in the book of Acts the question is posed concerning what one must “do” to be saved. The Jews, on the day of Pentecost, framed the question (Acts 2:37), as... Read More

Is This A Friendly Church? - Preacher Pollard
     While we would be tempted to ask this of ourselves, that’s really not a very honest reflection or indication of a true answer.  But, thankfully, there are several whom we can ask.  Don’t miss the importance of their candor. Read More

The New You (Episode 2) - Robert Hatfield/The Light Network
     In the second episode of TLN's brand new, daily, podcast, Robert discusses "marching forth". Read More

Making Sense of Religious Matters - Veritas Venator
     This past Wednesday evening in our study in Job, I asked a question of the class based on our readings in Job (chs. 31-35), Why do we try to make sense of things that happen to us? Read More

Real Life Super Heroes: Single Parents - Strong Church
     Today we look at a real life super hero: single parents. Single moms and dads are some of hardest working people out there. As a non-single parent I simply don’t know how they do it. Read More

     I have in my library a number of religious books not written by brethren of the body of Christ. In a large majority of these books, the back page has some exhortation that after being convicted of the reader's sins he should obey some sort of teaching of how one is saved (the vast majority being errant in the eyes of God and wholly foreign to the commands of the Bible) followed by another exhortation to attend "the church of your choice" after doing so. 

     While I understand that some of the writers and proponents of this idea are most likely very honest people simply stating what they have been told by other men in whom they have trusted or have not had the ability to learn the error of such a statement, it is upsetting to know that so many people today are lead astray with such a simple statement. 

     It sounds good, doesn't it? The idea that we can go "church shopping" in order to find that perfect church where the youth group is active and the same age as our children, the preacher is lively and uplifting, the members are welcoming and the congregation rarely has a day in which something is not happening so that we can stay active in our faith. The concept is great! The problem is, it's flawed. 

     Don't get me wrong, the concept isn't flawed because these things aren't important to the life of a congregation, they are. A vibrant group of young people being taught the way of Christ, a preacher who not only preaches the truth but does so in such a way that those listening can understand and apply what the Scriptures teach and even regular fellowship opportunities are all essential to a congregation's ability to stay faithful to the Lord. The flaw arises when the statement points its followers to go out into the broad world of denominationalism and cherry pick a group which meets their needs and opinions rather than looking for truth. 

     That is where the Church of Your Choice falls flat on its face. See, the Church of Your Choice might or might not be that true body of Jesus Christ for which He died and over which He reigns (Acts 20:28, Ephesians 1:22-23). It might not be the group striving to stay faithful to the Lord through the Biblically prescribed unity which leads one to be able to stand against the waves of society and the temptations of the Devil (Ephesians 4:1-16, 6:10-20). 

     But, there is a church which does. The name might even sound a lot like this theoretical Church of Your Choice but the practice, worship, belief, faith, authority and every other category is drastically different. When the Church of Your Choice tells you that Christianity is about your wants and desires and what makes you feel special, the church that I'm talking about will tell you that Christianity is all about your need for salvation and how to access that saving grace through true faithfulness to God which might even trample your wants and desires in the mud at times. 

     Sure, this church gets a bad rap sometimes because of the misunderstandings and all out falsehoods spread around about it on a daily basis, but it's that one that Jesus established (Matthew 16:18) and if He was misunderstood and misrepresented and continues to be today we shouldn't think His church would be any different (John 15:18). The church I'm talking about is the church of Christ. 

     The church of Christ is amazing! Not only because it was established by Jesus Christ (Matthew 16:18, Acts 2) but because in it, and only in it for that matter, is found salvation (Ephesians 1:7). It's amazing because at the very moment that someone obeys the Gospel (cf. 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9, Romans 6:2-3, 1 Corinthians 15:1-11) and is saved (Mark 16:16, 1 Peter 3:21) the God of the universe places him inside that church (Acts 2:47) where he is part of the family of God (Ephesians 2:9).

     While the Church of Your Choice seems very appetizing, in it is nothing more than games and death. But in the church of Christ, is everything from an abundant life (John 10:10) to abiding love (John 10:29). 

     I hope that you will seek out that church, the church of Christ, instead of the Church of Your Choice. And next time someone tells you to attend the Church of Your Choice, tell them you'd rather attend the church of His choice (Ephesians 1:4). 

     There is one thing that boggles my mind when it comes to the Christians that make up true, God given, God inspired, trustworthy Christianity as found within the pages of your New Testament, the idea that it is impossible to know if I am saved. While sitting in a recent evangelism class being held in my area I heard the instructor say something that made tremendous sense to me, he said, "I believe that the plague of Christianity in the last few generations is the idea that we cannot know and have confidence in our salvation." 

     That's absolutely right! Want to know why the church hasn't seen major, visible, growth in the last 50 years? It's not because we haven't been preaching the Gospel, it's not because the society has taken on the mindset of postmodernism or Calvinism or any other false doctrine, it's not even because "my generation" is a bunch of good-for-nuthin' kids with their faces in their iPhones and their Social Security checks in their back pockets (as some have suggested). The reason the church hasn't been able to get a foot forward in this sinful world is because for some strange reason we have taken it upon ourselves to step out of the teachings of the Gospel and start promoting this pipe-dream-Christianity that says the only confidence in one's salvation is how he feels or if he just happens to die right after praying for forgiveness for every sin that he has committed, and he knows every one because of his little red book he keeps in his back pocket to write down when he strays. 

     The Bible clearly teaches that knowledge of one's own salvation is not only available, it is absolutely necessary for a Christian to walk in Christ (1 John 5:13). Sure, we know that we sin and we should know when we sin (hindsight is 20/20, you know) but that doesn't mean that I am in a constant cycle of saved and unsaved based upon whether or not I have been able to stop and prayer fervently to my Father for forgiveness. Take, for instance, 1 John 1:5-10, if one can read that passage and not have confidence that God is not some spiritual troll waiting for a sinful status update to scroll across His Savedbook so He can relegate us to eternal damnation but is rather looking at our lives knowing the difficulty of living for Him on this earth (cf. Hebres 4:15) and always forgiving us at the moment of our sin if we are His children striving to live faithful lives in Christ (cf. 1 John 1:7).

     Don't get me wrong, I believe that there absolutely is a way in which we might be bragging about our salvation to the point that we commit sin. But, let me say this very clearly.

Being saved and knowing it isn't about how I feel or what I think, it's what God's word says and whether or not my life lines up with that word. - That's it!

     When we take the wonderful word of our Lord and read, study, understand and apply it to our lives here on this wretched rock we can know assuredly that we have the saving blood of Jesus Christ washing our sins when we fall short. Then and only then will we be able to make headway in our evangelism (especially in America, mind you)!

     People today, while a post-modernistic mindset prevails, aren't looking for wishy washy Christians. People want to know that when they listen to us and study with us about Jesus Christ that we are sure of what we are saying and that we actually have accessed that salvation for ourselves. They don't want someone to come to them and say, "I'm not sure if I'm saved and I'm not sure that you will be saved but won't you come and be unsure with me?"

     That's why the Lord's body hasn't been able to grow as some other groups have. It's not because we haven't been working! We have! It's because we haven't allowed ourselves to get out of Christianity everything that God has put in it, namely the confidence in our salvation, and people have seen that. So, let's get that confidence through honest evaluation of our lives in light of the Scriptures and then go tell everyone else how they can have that confidence as well!

     The Preacher's Favorite Passage, in an effort to branch out and provide more helpful tools for Christians and non-Christians in their studies of the Word of God, is beginning to release personal Bible studies to be used with the Keynote app on any iPhone, iPad or Macbook. To purchase this app, if you don't already have it, click here. 

     These Bible studies are intended to help Christians fortify their faith and give them a portable and accessible way to sit down and study God's word with those who they contact. With these studies being available on the iPhone and iPad smartphones and tablets, they will always be available at a moment's notice. 

     Thank you so much and we sincerely hope these tools will benefit yourself and the Kingdom of God!

      To download the file, please click the button below. 

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