If you go up to any religious person that belongs to a denomination, and ask them who started the church they belong to, chances are they will say, “The Lord, of course!” The problem is, other than the church that Jesus purchased with His own blood (Matt. 16:18; Acts 20:28), all other religious sects were started by somebody or body of people. You can google the follow information to verify it, but her is a short list of religious groups when they started and who started them.

The Baptist church – started in 1607 by John Smyth.

The church of England – started in 1534 by Henry VIII.

The Jehovah Witnesses – started in 1874 by Charles Russell.

The Lutheran church – started in 1530 by Martin Luther.

The Mennonite church – started in 1525 by a group of folks.

The Methodist church – started in 1729 by John Wesley.

The Christian Science – started in 1879 by Mary Baker Eddy.

The Christian church – started in 1859 by a group of folks.

The Free-will Baptist – started 1780 by Benjamin Randall.

The Assembly of God – started in 1914 by Roger Williams.

The Presbyterian church – started in 1535 by John Calvin.

The Holiness church – started in 1907 by Howard Hoople.

The Mormon church – started in 1830 by Joseph Smith Jr.

The Nazarene church – started in 1895 by P.F. Bresee.

The Church of God – started in 1880 by D.S. Warner.

The Pentecostal Holiness – started in 1898 by a group.

The Plymouth brethren – started in 1829 by a group.

The Salvation Army – started in 1865 by William Booth.

The Seventh-Day Adventist – started in 1846 by Ellen G. White.

The Unitarians – started in 16^th Century, by Faustus, Scoinus.

The Quakers – started in 16:50 by George Fox.

(Chart information copied).

The church you read about in the Bible was not a denomination, if wasn’t in part – it was complete. It was prophesied about by Isaiah (Isa. 2:2-3). This was fulfilled when Jesus Christ came and died on the cross. Prior to His death, the kingdom to come, was proclaimed  (Matt. 3:2; 4:17; 6:10; etc.).

After Christ died and resurrected, the church/kingdom was now present (Acts 2:47; Col. 1:13). This church belongs to Christ of which He is the only head (Eph. 1:22-23). This makes sense since not only is He the builder, but He has all the authority (Matt. 28:18). It is wrong on so many levels to have religious groups claiming to be Christ’s church, when they have been started by some man built upon doctrines from man. Whereas the Lord’s church abides solely in His doctrine (II Jn. 9). Logic tells you, if all those religious sects belong to Christ then they were all started by Christ and teach the same things. But we know that’s not the case.

Chuck

When I study with my religious friends they are quick to respond to the first article by saying, “Well, the church of Christ was started by Alexander Campbell.” Just who is this man? Alexander Campbell was from Ireland. He was born in 1788 and died in 1866. His father, Thomas, was a Presbyterian minister. Alexander rebelled against much of the Presbyterian doctrine.

Alexander wasn’t the only one to object to many denominational doctrines and encourage people to get back to the scriptures. But there is no question that Alexander Campbell was a prominent figure of what is often referred to as the restoration movement.  Encouraging people to cast off the shackles of denominationalism wasn’t a bad thing. However, he is not to be credited with starting the church of Christ.

I personal left a denomination back in the 1970’s. When I started preaching and telling people to get back to the scriptures, I wasn’t starting the church of Christ either. Jesus did that back in 33 AD when He died (read first article). It would be like finding a recipe for homemade bread. If I make it, would that mean I invented bread? Of course not.

Any person today that belongs to a religious sect that was founded upon some man, can teach himself or herself out of it. When they do, they are not establishing anything new. The truth was given by Christ so that all can know (Jn. 8:32). This is why there were faithful Christians belonging to Christ’s church before Alexander Campbell came along. As a matter of fact, even though this man taught many things that were correct, he still clung to some doctrines that were not Biblically correct. This only teaches us again the important lesson that we are to follow no man but Christ Jesus.

Remember, you can claim that Christ is the builder and founder of your religious sect, but that is not true if it was founded upon a man or any man-made teachings. There were churches in Biblical times who were amiss but didn’t think they were (Read- Rev. 2-30). Let’s study the show ourselves approved.

Chuck

It is not uncommon to hear someone blame someone else for their sinful behavior. A child blames the parents for way they were raised. An employee blames the company for the way they were treated. The same thing can be heard by a child of God wanting to blame the church for the way they were treated. What does God’s word say about this? Can others be made to sin?

Consider Jesus’ sermon on the mount. “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea,” (Matt. 18:6). At first glance, one might get the impression that the parent, company or even a church should be blamed when they cause others to do wrong. However, a close examination will indicate that this is not what the Lord meant at all.

When you read the first five verses of Matthew 18, you will see that our Lord was talking about His children that are faithful. He then proceeded to talk about causing His children to sin. This means that the child is right to fault the parents if they taught the wrong things. Or a company that encouraged corruption. Or a church that taught its members to transgress the commands of God.

This is a narrow teaching though. In these scenarios, sinful behavior was being actively encouraged. If the behavior is not being taught or enforced, the individual is clearly still accountable. Let’s focus more specifically with a local church for the rest of this article.

If a member of the church felt like one member was running the show or that they were not getting enough attention, are they right to leave the church and start attending a religious group in error? Of course not. If the church they were attending encouraged them to leave and follow a church that was erring, then the words of Jesus would apply. These are different scenarios though, and it is vital to see this.

Here is an illustration: A man comes home from work and tells his wife their marriage is over. She begins to cry and asks why? He says that he found out that a guy at work does not love her and much as he does. The wife is confused. Why are you leaving me just because someone else does not love me as much?

The behavior in the illustration is irrational, but people use similar logic to justify leaving the Lord and faithful churches all the time. They say that people “here’ do not love the Lord like they do, so they are leaving. If they leave and start attending a place that practices error, they have left the Lord. Casting blame to justify sinful behavior does not excuse it in the eyes of the Lord.

There are things we can say with certainty. We are to be members of the church that belongs to Christ and is the pillar and ground of truth (I Tim. 3:15). Thus, you will not find faithful churches encouraging the members to sin by drinking alcohol (I Pet. 4:3), promoting the social gospel (I Cor. 11:22) or teaching that church funds can be used for anything they want (I Tim. 5:16). The list goes on and on.

The next time you hear anyone blaming the church for their sinful behavior, be quick to inform them that the church NEVER causes someone to sin unless that church promotes sin! In all my years of preaching and talking with Christians who have fallen away, I have never witnessed anyone doing sinful things that the church actually encouraged them to do! I have heard various accusations and been told that the person in sin was okay spiritually, but these claims do not fit with the word of God. Let’s make sure we never put words in the mouth of our Lord.

Chuck  

Every possible answer to the question in this title is secondary to the fact that we have FAITH. You need it to become a Christian, and you cannot remain faithful without it (Heb. 11:6). The confidence we have in our hope of heaven is based upon faith, and this faith is developed by feeding on the word of God (Rom. 10:17).

Here is an interesting question – what things should not be used to justify your love of being a Christian? For example, who would say they love being a Christian because of the hardships they face? Saints know that they became children of God to be able to face and endure problems that arise, not so all problems would immediately go away (Phil. 4:13). This is why we pray, worship, love, forgive, weep and rejoice. Our faith is to be living (I Pet. 1:3). This means our faith should be active because a faith without demonstration is a dead faith (James 2:26).

Those who walk by faith have a firm foundation. Because their foundation is sure and steadfast, they find a peace that passes all understanding (Phil. 4:4-7). This enables one to resist the fiery darts of the wicked one (Eph. 6:16). Victory is the only way we will get to spend eternity with all the faithful at the end of time. This brings up an important point – Christians are not alone! Christians find joy in striving with others to walk by faith and not by sight (II Cor. 5:7).

Now we understand completely why God’s people are eager to assemble for Bible study whenever the opportunity arises. Because faith is the key to true joy for the Christian, having their faith increased magnifies all the things that they love about being part of God’s family. Those who lack faith find it very difficult to come up with good reasons why they love being a Christian. Weakening a Christian’s faith results in a weaker Christian. Removing their faith destroys the Christian.

Like disciples asked of Jesus, let’s all make sure we see the importance of doing everything we can to increase our faith (Luke 17:5). Our salvation depends upon it.

Chuck

Before we answer the question given in the title, let’s first qualify some things. Reason being, everyone has been given free-will. Thus, we can choose to do whatever we want. The question at hand is more of, do I have to be a member of the church of Christ to be pleasing to the Father? Let’s see what the Bible has to say.

What pleases the Lord?

It is vital that we understand that pleasing the Lord is not based upon what pleases us. So often you find religious people doing things for the God that He did not approve of. Consider what Cain did. In Hebrews 11:4, we are told that Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. Did you notice it said that Cain offered a sacrifice? And, he offered it to God. This pleased Cain but it didn’t please the Lord. Reason being, the Hebrew writer clearly stated that it is impossible to please God without faith (Heb. 11:6). The faith we are to have comes from the word of God (Rom. 10:17). All of this simply means, the Father tells us what is pleasing to Him, so we don’t have to guess.

What is the church of Christ?

It would be silly to answer the original question if someone doesn’t even know what the church of Christ is. Just like the previous point where people are guilty of assuming what God wants, people are guilty of thinking they know what the church of Christ is, when they don’t .We are not talking about a denominational church. Are there denominational churches of Christ? Yes. But that’s not what we are dealing with. From a Biblical standpoint, what is the church of Christ? To begin with, it isn’t to be a man-made religious organization. Jesus promised to build His spiritual body, the church, which He did (Matt. 16:18; Acts 20:28; Eph. 1:22-23). Those who obey the gospel are the Lord’s special people that have been called out of darkness (I Pet. 2:9; Col. 1:13). So what we are talking about is a people that belong to Christ which He rules over since He is the head of the church having all authority (Col. 1:18; Matt. 28:18).

Who is a member of the church of Christ? 

Just like the previous point, again, man thinks he can control who becomes a member or not. The truth is, man has no say in the matter. No one, not a group of people can vote in, or add anyone to the church of Christ. Why? The church does not belong to the church, it belongs to Christ, it is His. I realize this is foreign to many people. Since the thousands of man-made religious organizations establish their own doctrines, it therefore puts them in control of who they will accept into the church. What everyone needs to know, is that Jesus adds all those who obey the gospel to His church (Acts 2:41-47). Obviously, since Christ promised and built it, it only makes sense that He decides who He will add to it. And those are the saved!

If not a member of the church of Christ, what other choices are there?

I can’t imagine anyone who wants to be saved, and be added to the church that is Christ’s, asking the question: Do I have to be a member of the church of Christ? Every saint in the first century was a member of Christ’s church (Rom. 16:16). Now we see the answer is crystal clear. If someone wants to please the Lord, be part of the spiritual family, Christ’s church, then YES, one must be a member of the church of Christ. No, not some religious sect that uses the Biblical name, but those who became Christians, having the Savior add then automatically to His spiritual family – the church of Christ.

Chuck