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What God's Word Says About the Right Church

We also talked about the sad fact that after almost 20 centuries there are so many different and differing Bible-based churches that it has become difficult to know which ones are the right ones: which ones can be called His churches. Well, fortunately for us, the same God who instituted the first church also gave us a manual whereby we can determine which of today's churches are His. So, in this third lesson let us look into God's Word to learn the characteristics of Christ's first church and those it founded during the New Testament era. Armed with this knowledge we can compare today's churches to this New Testament pattern to determine which are the right ones.

NOTE: Due to the volume of data this lesson will be split into two parts. While reviewing this material it is vital to keep in mind that Christ established the first church, spent three years training its leaders (the apostles) and that this church then sent out missionaries to start the other New Testament era churches. Paul was also selected by Jesus Christ to become an apostle (Galatians 1:1) and, just like the other 12, received direct revelation from God. So to say that these men were familiar with the Word of God would be a gross understatement. And what they had learned from God they passed on to their converts, as the New Testament record proves. So, with this in mind here is what the New Testament churches believed and taught and what the right church today will believe in and teach:

1. That God's Word is its sole rule of faith and practice. God the Son firmly told His first church to execute 'whatsoever I have commanded you' (Matthew 28:20). He further stated that God's Word is truth (John 17:17). Christ was God incarnate and His words were God's words (John 1:1-14). What He taught His disciples was exactly what He expected and commanded them to teach to their converts.  Remember also, that after Christ's ascension, the Word of God was placed directly into the minds of the New Testament writers (2 Timothy 3:16, I Corinthians 2) by God the Holy Spirit. The doctrinal teachings of the New Testament churches, therefore, were based entirely on the Word of God: Christ's verbal teachings as well as those truths revealed by the Holy Spirit after Christ's return to Heaven. Today there are some Bible-based churches which do not consider the Bible to be the Word of God. They argue that some portions are truly inspired of God while others, which are not so politically correct today, were simply the teachings of men and must therefore be modified to fit today's more enlightened readers. And yet another major group proclaims that it has been the modern time recipient of Divine revelation and offers its own 'bible' in addition to God's Word. And yet a third group has added 12 additional books to the Bible claiming these too are divinely inspired. These churches are not following the New Testament pattern and cannot claim to be one of our Lord's churches. However, the right church today will believe and teach that the Bible is God's only Word. It will base all its beliefs and practices solely on the Bible. It will not add to nor take away from the Bible. It will not use another book or any man's teachings. The right church today will teach that every word in the Bible (original writings) was given directly by God the Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Peter 1:21). And it will take very seriously and abide by Christ's warning in Revelation 22:18 and 19 that dire consequences would be suffered by any who would add to or take away from His Word.

2. That God is Triune. The very first words of the Bible tell us that our God has more than one personality. Genesis 1:1 reads, 'In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.' The original word used for 'God' in this verse is 'elohiym' which is the plural form of the word 'elowahh' (Job 3:4) meaning 'The Deity'. Then in verse 26 of this first chapter of the Bible God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness'. Paul, Peter and John all referred to God as the Father ( I Corinthians 8:6, 1 Peter 1:2,John 6:27). Matthew, Mark and Luke record God the Father's audible statement identifying Christ as His Son (Matthew 3:17, Mark 1:11, Luke 3:22) thus indirectly identifying Himself as God the Father. The first words of our New Testament identify Jesus Christ as part of the Trinity. John chapter one begins, 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God' (verses 1 and 2) 'and the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth' (verse 14). And John records that Christ was the Son of God in John 3:16. Genesis chapter 1 and verse 2 mentions the Spirit of God. John said that 'God is a Spirit' (John 4:24). Christ, God the Son, commanded His first church to baptize converts in the 'name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost' (Matthew 28:19). And the apostle Paul identifies all three personalities of God (2 Corinthians 13:14). There exist today churches which teach that Jesus is not God, and one major group even has the audacity to teach that Satan, Moses and Christ were brothers! Another group teaches that some humans (Jesus' mother Mary and the apostle Peter for example) have achieved a higher standing in God's eyes than other mortals and should be worshipped and prayed to.  The right church today will believe and teach that God is triune: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. It will teach that Jesus Christ is God just as the Holy Spirit is God and just as God the Father is God. It will teach that only God is to be worshipped and prayed to. It will not elevate any historical or living human to a god like stature. 3. That Christ was born of a virgin. The prophet Isaiah, under the inspiration of God the Spirit (2 Peter 1:21), prophesied that Jesus Christ, God the Son, would be virgin born (Isaiah 7:14) and Matthew 1:18-25 details His miraculous conception and birth. The apostles and all those they taught knew this truth. Incredibly there are Bible-based churches today who doubt the virgin birth of Christ. And as mentioned previously there are those churches that teach that Christ was something other than God incarnate: a wise prophet, brother to Moses and Satan. By denying Christ's miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit they reduce Christ from being God to being human like you and me. The right church will teach that Christ is the incarnation of God and was born of a virgin, just as Isaiah prophesied and just as Matthew records.

4. That Christ founded the first church. In Matthew 16:18 Christ states that He will build His church. As we've seen in a previous lesson we learned that our English word 'church' was a less than accurate translation for the original Greek word 'ecclesia' which meant an 'a called out assembly'. We learned that Christ founded His church when He 'called out' His twelve disciples from the many disciples of John the Baptist (Mark 3:13-19, Luke 6:12-16). And we learned that He spent the three years of His earthly ministry training these first church members to be the leaders of His first church after His return to glory. Unfortunately, this great truth, that Christ started His first church, has been lost to most of Christianity today. This is due to the inaccuracies of translation and through the misinterpretation and misapplication of Scripture truth by Bible teachers down through the centuries. In fact, some very famous Bible scholars such as C.I.Scoffield have erred in this area. So today, the majority of Christians believe that the first church started on the famous day of Pentecost (Acts 2) and that Peter was its founder. However, the right church will accurately teach God's Word on this issue: that Christ started the first church and spent 3 years training its leaders and establishing a pattern to be followed by all future churches. It will not teach that the institution of the church was started by a man, no matter how popular that misunderstanding of God's Word is today.

5. That Christ is its Head. God the Son stated that He was the 'Rock' upon which the first church was founded (Matthew 16:18) and by implication every future scriptural church. The apostle Paul confirms this fact (Ephesians 5:23, Colossians 1:18). And, as we've seen many times in these lessons, Christ commanded His first church to reproduce itself until His return (Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8). Also remember from the previous lesson that Christ promised that there would always be one of His churches alive and functioning until the end of this age (Matthew 16:18). Sadly there are many churches today which do not have Christ as their Head. One world-wide group in particular claims that Peter founded the first church and that he is the first of a steady progression of church heads down through the centuries. Some churches were founded by men and do not teach God's Word accurately. The 1800's in particular saw the birth of several major denominations, each teachings its own version of truth from God's Word. The right church will recognize only Christ as the founder of the first church and the Head of every scriptural church. And by recognizing only Christ as its Head it will strive to accurately follow His commandments and teachings from God's Word.

6. The right church is autonomous. God the Son told His first church in no uncertain terms that what they voted on on earth God voted on in Heaven (Matthew 18:18-20). Simply put, this means that the right church is self-governing, answering to no other earthly organization. Christ founded His first church and commissioned it to reach the world and to perpetuate itself down through the age until His return. But He did not establish a controlling organization to rule or govern that church. And none of the New Testament churches were subservient to any such extra church organization. Today there many churches which are controlled by a parent organization or human leader. They must conform to the laws and standards set forth by that ruling body. Some denominations have mission boards which control the qualifying and controlling of missionaries. Other groups have a central governing organization that oversees and manages each church and to which each church must send dues. However, these extra church organizations are not scriptural and chances are that the churches within these organizations are not accurately teaching God's Word. If they have misunderstood and misapplied scripture to justify this dependency on an outside organization, chances are good that their teaching is flawed elsewhere. The right church today will not be a part of some religious hierarchy but will instead be as independent as the Lord's church was. It will not recognize or be a part of any extra church organization but will instead recognize God the Son as its Head, His Word as its sole rule of faith and practice, and the vote of its members as the only God ordained method of making decisions. It may fellowship with other churches of like faith and practice, but it will not be subservient to any man made organization.

SUMMARY: In order to find the right church today we must study the New Testament to learn what Christ's first church and the churches it spawned believed and taught. The first church's leaders were hand picked and taught by Christ Himself, and then after His ascension the Holy Spirit completed God's teachings to the church by direct revelation to the men who wrote the New Testament books. We learned that the New Testament churches used God's Word exclusively and held it as their sole rule of faith and practice. They taught that God was triune made up of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. They believed in the virgin birth of Christ: the miraculous incarnation of God. They knew Christ founded the first church and recognized only Him as their Head. They were not subservient to any man made organization having been taught by Christ that each church is a complete organism answerable only to itself and to God through Christ as its Head.

NEXT LESSON: In the second half of this lesson on 'What God's Word Says About the Right Church' we will conclude by learning what Christ commanded His church to do and how it and its progeny accurately and faithfully fulfilled those orders.

"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"