Christians Only, But

“CHRISTIANS ONLY, BUT NOT THE ONLY CHRISTIANS”

To be broadminded and inclusive is a commendable trait where many areas of life are concerned. No one wants to be viewed as narrow-minded, bigoted, and uncharitable. But being broadminded can be taken to extremes and applied in areas where it does not properly and biblically apply. Jesus warned of the broad way of destruction (Matthew 7:13-14).

In the past, some members of the church of Christ, in a spirit of not wanting to seem harsh, judgmental, or narrow-minded, have said, “We are Christians only, but not the only Christians.” This assertion, I am convinced, comes from a view of the church that is not biblical. If one holds to the view that the church of Christ is a denomination, then it would be both uncharitable and unreasonable to contend that all Christians are in that one denomination. But if the Bible shows that the church of Christ is not a denomination, but the one spiritual body of Christ composed of all who have been saved from their sins, then it is neither narrow-minded nor judgmental to affirm that all Christians are in that one spiritual body.

In the beginning of Christianity there was only one church and no differing denominations. Jesus said He would build His church, not churches (Matthew 16:18). This church came into existence on the first Pentecost after the resurrection of Christ when “about three thousand” responded to the gospel by repenting of their sins and being baptized for the remission of their sins (Acts 2:36-42). On subsequent occasions when the gospel was preached and people responded to it in the prescribed way, they were saved from their sins and “added to the church”--not to different kinds of denominations (Acts 2:47). In New Testament times all Christians were members of the same church, the one spiritual body of Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23; Ephesians 4:4-6). The early Christians no more thought of there being more than one church than they thought of there being more than one God, one Holy Spirit, one Lord, one faith, and one baptism!

Faithful churches of Christ today are seeking to be the same as those churches of Christ of which we read in the New Testament (Romans 16:16). We are not a denomination and do not aspire to denominational status. As in New Testament times, all who have become Christians in the biblically prescribed way are members of the body (church) of Christ. To be saved from sin and added to Christ's body, the church, one must hear the gospel in its purity, unmixed with the doctrines and religious traditions of men that have accumulated down through the centuries. The word of God is the seed of the kingdom, and that word will produce in every age what it produced in the first century—Christians only, members only of the body of Christ (Luke 8:11).

Involved in obeying the gospel, being saved from sin, and added to the church is the matter of being baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38). In New Testament times no one was ever considered to be saved and a Christian without baptism (Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16; Galatians 3:27; I Peter 3:21). Further, in the New Testament baptism was never administered by sprinkling or pouring water on a person. Bible baptism always involved “going down into the water” and “coming up out of the water” (Matthew 3:16; Acts 8:35-39; Romans 6:3-4, 16-18; Colossians 2:12). Many denominations are composed of people who have not been scripturally baptized, and though they think of themselves as Christians, according to the New Testament they are not Christians. Therefore, they are not members of the body (church) of Christ.

People in various denominations also have been baptized for reasons other than those set forth in scripture, believing they were saved before baptism and were only baptized in order to “join the church of their choice”--this, that, or the other denomination. Not having been baptized “for the remission of sins” (or some biblically synonymous reason), they therefore are not members of the body of Christ. According to the instructions of the Holy Spirit found in the New Testament, one is “baptized into one body,” and it is not entered any other way (I Corinthians 12:13). That one body is the church, and all who have become Christians in the New Testament way are members of this church, not various denominations.

But the question arises, “Have not Christians, people scripturally baptized, joined various denominations?” The sad reality is that they have. In fact, Christians have gotten themselves into many things of which the Lord does not approve. Some have engaged in various sins of the flesh, become drunkards, adulterers, gamblers. Some Christians have become skeptics and infidels. Some have gone to jail and some to the penitentiary. Therefore, it would be nothing short of amazing to think that no Christian has ever joined a denomination. Out of a failure to understand God's word on the matter, through the influence of a spouse, or for some other reason a Christian may very well have joined a denomination. But God never approved of one doing so, and it is for sure that no Christian in New Testament times ever did so. The sooner a Christian who has joined a denomination extricates himself/herself from it to be a Christian only, the better. Division among the people of God is severely condemned in the Scriptures. (Read and reflect on these scriptures: John 17:20-21; Romans 16:17; I Corinthians 1:10-13; Ephesians 4:1-6). There is absolutely no scriptural defense for the system of denominationalism!

Only when one thinks of the church of Christ in a denominational sense can it be said that those who are members of it are “Christians only, but not the only Christians.” But when the church of Christ is seen in its true biblical sense it is easy to see that it is made up of Christians only and the only Christians! This is not narrow-mindedness; it is the biblical concept of the church of Christ!

It is a privilege to be a member of the Lord's church. It is both pre-denominational and undenominational. I invite all to read and study their New Testaments with an open mind to learn for themselves how to be saved from their sins and added to the church of which we read in the New Testament, the church of Christ. Read through the book of Acts and see what people did in New Testament times to be saved and added to the church. You will learn that no Christian was ever outside the membership of the church, the spiritual body of Christ.

Hugh Fulford