Articles
The Church Is Not A Denomination
The church which is revealed in the New Testament is not a denomination. It was composed of those who heard, believed, and obeyed the truth (Acts 2:36-47). When men and women did what God said, they became members of His church. They did not have to “join the church” (a human act) because they were “added” by the Lord (a divine act). They were added when they were baptized into Christ (Galatians 3:27). Jesus Christ is the author of eternal salvation unto all those who obey Him (Hebrews 5:8-9). And “The Lord knows those who are His” (2 Timothy 2:19), so pretenders He also knows!
No one believes that New Testament Christians were a part of any denomination. In fact, denominationalism, such as we have today, did not exist in the first century. Disciples then were just Christians, members of the church, with no denominational affiliation. Why can we not be the same today?
The plea of the churches of Christ is to return to simple New Testament Christianity, to be undenominational, to be just what early disciples were, nothing more, nothing less. This is what is meant by “restoration” or the “restoration plea”. It is a plea to restore New Testament Christianity, to go back to God’s original plan. It is not a plea for one denomination over another, rather, it is a plea to abandon all denominational divisions, differences, and distinctions, and to return to the church revealed in the New Testament, which was not a denomination.
When the 3,000 souls on the day of Pentecost heard the Gospel, believed it, and were baptized for remission of sins, did they join any denomination? No, none at all. Yet they became Christians, they were added to Christ’s church (Matthew 16:18-19), they were everything God wanted them to be. Suppose today that we preach the same Gospel and that people obey the same Gospel in the same way. Some say that puts them into a denomination. Why? If individuals could hear, believe, and obey the Gospel in the 1st century, and become Christians and be added by the Lord to His church, all without ever joining a denomination, why can we not do the same today? We believe that we can.
