Which Church is Christ’s?
The Lord said He would build His church (Matt. 16:18) and that it would begin in the lifetime of
those who witnessed His ministry (Mark 9:1). It began in Acts 2 when the gospel was first preached and
“the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” (v. 47). Our task is to obey that same
gospel (Rom. 1:16) and to imitate that same pattern for the church (1 Cor. 4:17).
The challenge we have is sifting through the hundreds upon hundreds of different types of
churches to find the Lord’s. Everyone believes theirs is the right one (“because that’s what my family
believes”), but in reality we all can be misled and not even know it. That is the lesson to learn from Paul,
who felt saved as he persecuted Christians (Acts 26:9; 1 Tim. 1:13). He had to learn the truth and obey it to
be right with God. Likewise, we too can “have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge” by being
ignorant of God’s will (Rom. 10:2). We need the Bible to know how to live for God and to find the Lord’s
church (2 Tim. 3:16-17).
Some will say, “Every church is the Lord’s.” Is that so? If I started a church today that required
people to pay $50 for salvation, would it be the same church the Lord established? How could it be the
Lord’s when its organization and teachings are not found in the New Testament? And, more importantly,
would its members be pleasing to the Lord as long as they remained in it? No, because anyone who adds to
or takes away from the teachings of Christ is not abiding in the will of God (1 Cor. 4:6). Paul was not
justified in his ignorance and neither are we. We each must examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith
of Christ (2 Cor. 13:5). If our denomination’s name, organization, and practice are not in the New
Testament, how can it be the Lord’s church? –Mike Thomas
Radio Program on Sundays at 10:15 a.m. on 99.9 F.M.
Beaver Dam Church of Christ
www.beaverdamchurch.com