The Church of the Bible
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin ArticlesThe Bible speaks of only one church. Jesus said in Matthew 16:18, “Upon this rock, I will build my church.” The first congregation of that church was established in Jerusalem in 30 A.D. Persecution came upon that congregation (Acts 8:1) and new congregations sprang up all over Palestine. After the gospel was given to the Gentiles (Acts 10), congregations started appearing in cities all over the world including Ephesus, Philippi, Rome, Corinth, and Athens to name a few. There were many local congregations, yet there was still one body, one church (Ephesians 1:22, 23; 4:4). How could this be? We read the secret in Acts 2:42, “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ teaching.”
Today there are MANY churches. Can all be the ONE church of the Bible? Of course not; if all the churches that exist today were the ONE church of the Bible, then God would be the author of confusion, which He is not (1 Corinthians 14:33)! So how can a person KNOW the ONE church of the Bible? Easy, simply compare that “church” to the apostles’ teaching, which is found only in the Bible.
Perhaps an example is in order. You will never find in the church of the Bible a pyramid organization reporting to an earthly head. If you see a church today that is organized in a pyramid with local churches reporting to a regional headquarters; and regional headquarters reporting to a national headquarters; and a national headquarters reporting to world headquarters with an earthly head; that is NOT the church of the Bible. You will never find a pyramid organization in the Bible. Each and every local congregation in the New Testament was self-governed (they reported to no other earthly organization); all of them together had one and only one SPIRITUAL head–Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:23)!
Why would a church do something different from what is in the Bible? Simply put, THAT church wants to continue in MAN’S teachings and NOT God’s teachings. Those “churches” may as well put a sign in front of their building that says, “The Church of Man.” The sign in front of our building says, “The Church of Christ” (Romans 16:16). We want to belong to Christ. We want to continue in the apostles’ teaching–the Bible teaching. What church do you want to belong to, God’s or man’s?