[Biblemat] S) THE CHURCH: YOURS, MINE OR THE LORD'S?
J5827Sasser at wmconnect.com
J5827Sasser at wmconnect.com
Wed Apr 4 05:24:47 CDT 2007
Brethren and Friends, Jim Sasser here. Here is a study from my
files. Use to the glory of God.
THE CHURCH: YOURS, MINE OR THE LORD'S?
QUESTIONS: -- 1. Isn't it true that the present day church of
Christ was begun in the early 1800's by
Alexander and Thomas Campbell?
2. Was there any organization of your church from the first to
the 18th centuries?
3. On what basis can your ministers claim that salvation can
be obtained only through your denomination?
4. My religion and belief is based on the belief that God is
good and just, and that we will all be judged on how we
live, and not on belonging to a particular denomination.
5. After all, a person cannot help believing what he believes,
can he?
We deeply appreciate honest questions that we receive.
The honest soul, searching for the truth of God, is the prime
reason we publish this paper. And we are happy to "give ans-
wer to every man that asketh you a reason concerning the
hope that is in you" (1 Pet. 3:15). We rejoice that a friend has
sent you GOSPEL MINUTES, and we are glad you appreciate
it and read it with care and interest. We pledge the same hon-
esty and care in trying to answer your questions>
You mention that you are not a member of any church. We hope before you
finish reading this reply to your quest-
ions that you will see the value of the church we read about
in the Bible. We shall answer your questions by number, and
we encourage you to search in your own Bible, "whether these things be so"
(Acts 17:11).
Answers: -- 1) The "present day church of Christ" is the
same as the "olden day church of Christ." If
it is different, it is not the church of Christ. That church was
begun by the Lord Jesus Christ, as He promised in Matt. 16:
18, "Upon this rock, I will build My church." Notice that He
said, "My church." It belongs to Him; that is why it wears His
name. The apostle Paul wrote in Rom. 16:16, "The churches
of Christ salute you." And 1800 years before the Campbells,
Paul told the elders of the church in Ephesus, "Feed the church of the Lord,
which He purchased with His own blood"
(Acts 20:28). That church existed fro 1800 years before the
Campbells.
Thomas Campbell, and his son, Alexander, deplored the
religious division they found in the early 1800's. They began
to preach a return to the Bible. Thomas Campbell coined the
phrase, "We speak where the Bible speaks, we are silent where the Bible is
silent." Both men did great work in point-
ing people of many different denominations back to the Bible
as authority. But they founded no church, they began no new religion, they
set forth no new teaching. Their plea was
not for any church begun by man, but for the church we read
about in the Scriptures. And that only. I believe that is still a
reasonable plea.
2) First, the expression, "your church," is an error. I have no
church -- I did not build it, I did not die for it, I am not the Sav-
ior of it, and I am not the Head of it. The church belongs to
the Lord Jesus Christ. It is His, and that is why it is called
"church of Christ." If it were truly my church, it would be
proper to call it after my name: "church of Clem Thurman."
But it is NOT my church, it is the church of CHRIST.
Yes, there was organization from the first to the 18th cen-
tury. When Jesus told the parable of the sower, He likened
it to the kingdom, then He said, "The seed is the Word of God" (Lk. 8:11).
The organization of the church of Christ is
not found in men, the practices of men nor the teachings of
men. It is found in the Word of God. The apostle Peter wrote
"Having been begotten again, not of corruptible seed, but of
incorruptible, through the Word of God, which liveth and abid-
eth. For, All flesh is as grass, and all the glory thereof as the
flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower falleth:
but the Word of the Lord abideth for ever. And this is the
Word of the gospel which was preached unto you" (1 Pet. 1:
23-25). As long as the Word of God endures, the church (and
its organization) will endure. And that Word "Abideth forever"
3) Again, let me state that "your ministers" and "your denom-
ination" are mistakes. Such terminology suggests that I own
them, that I chose them or that I rule them; none of which is
true. the church of Christ belongs to Christ --not to me nor
any other man. Further, I deny that the church of Christ is a
denomination. Christ did not build a denomination, but He did build His
church! Every denomination has been built by
man and is based on division of those that believe that Jesus
is the Christ.
Christ deplored division. He stated, "Every kingdom divid-
ed against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or
house divided against itself shall not stand" (Matt. 12:25).
That is the reason for His prayer for the unity of believers
found in Jno. 17:20,21, "Neither for these only do I pray, but
for them also that believe on Me through their word; that they
may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee
that they also may be in us: that the world may beleive that
Thou didst send Me." For that unity -- such as He and the
Father have -- our Lord prayed. For that unity we must work.
Jesus never build even one denomination, let alone 300! He
is the Head of the "one body, which is the church" (Eph. 4:4;
1:22,23).
Why do we say that salvation is in the church? Why, beloved, because
God said it! When 3,000 were baptized on
the birthday of the church, the Bible says, "There were added
unto them in that day about 3,000 souls...And the Lord added
to the church daily, such as were being saved" (Acts2:41,47).
Again, in Eph. 5:23, Christ is called "The Savior of the body"
(and the church is that body, Eph. 1:22,23). It is not the church that
saves, the church IS the saved, and Christ is the
Savior. But how can a saved person be outside that which
Christ saves?! Friend, there is no salvation in any denominat-
ion, no church begun by man can offer salvation. But Christ
is the Savior of His church, to which He adds the saved.
4) I agree perfectly with your statement here. God is good and just, and we
will be judged by how we live. Belonging to
a denomination will not help us to please God. Therefore I
steadfastly refuse to be a part of any denomination, and I en-
courage all who are in them to leave them. It would be a great advance for
the cause of Christ if all denominations were done away. Christ prayed for
that, and so do I.
Jesus showed that acceptance of Him as Lord involves
DOING what He said: "Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord,
Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doe-
th the Will of My Father Who is in heaven" (Matt. 7:21). If we
would have salvation, it must be on His terms, accepting His
authority, obeying His Will. But when we do that, we will then
be in His church! Doing what the Lord Jesus said will not
make anyone a member of a denomination, but it will make that one a member of
His church. That is what the church
of Christ is! Nothing more, nothing less -- simply those who
put their trust in Jesus, obey His teaching, are saved by His
blood, and are added (by Him) to His church. Really, since
the church is the bride of Christ (Eph. 5:22-33), how could
anyone accept Christ without accepting the church of Christ?
And how could one be part of Christ without being part of the
church of Christ?
5) Yes, a person can help what he believes. In Jno. 3:16 we
read, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only be-
gotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not per-
ish, but have eternal life." The Lord also stated in Jno. 8:24,
"Except ye believe that I am He, ye shall die in your sins."
When God offered us salvation, it was to be accepted "by
faith" (Rom. 1:16; 5:1; 10:9,10). If one could not help what he
believed, how could a just God offer salvation on the condit-
ion of what we believe?
When we put our trust in Jesus Christ, we believe what He
says. That means we don't follow the "way of our choice,"
but His Will. We don't select the "church of our choice," but
the church of His choice. We don't worship after our desire,
but as He directs. That is what faith means. We must believe
that He is Lord, and that He has the right to command our obedience.
When Jesus sent out the apostles, after His resurrection
from the dead, He told them: "Go ye into all the world, and
preach the gospel to the whole creation. He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth shall
be condemned" (Mk. 16:15,16). The apostles, under that
commission, began preaching the gospel in the city of Jerus-
alem (Lk. 24:46,47; Acts 1:8; 2:1-47). Directed by the Holy
Spirit, those apostles preached Jesus to be "both Lord and
Christ" (Acts 2:36). Now, notice what the result was: "Now
when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and
said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles, Brethren, what
shall we do? And Peter (said) unto them, Repent ye, and be
baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto
the remission of your sins...They then that received his word
were baptized: and there were added unto them in that day
about three thousand souls...And the Lord added to the church daily such as
were being saved" (Acts 2:37-41,47).
Those 3,000 were members of the church of Christ, but
they were not members of any denomination. Friend, why isn't that same thing
possible today? We believe that it is. If
you put your trust in the same Lord as they did, if you repent
and are baptized as they were, will you no be a member of the
same church? That is precisely what the church of Christ is:
people who have done just what those folk did nearly 2,000
years ago. It was not a denomination then, it is not one now.
I have never joined a denomination, but I did just what we
read above. I am a member of the church of Christ. I put my
trust in Him, I was baptized into Him (Gal. 3:27), and He added
me to His church. If you will do that same thing, the same
Lord will add you to that same chruch, also.
That is the plea of churches of Christ today. Let's go back to the
Bible -- for all authority in what we believe and do.
And by doing just what they did 2,000 years ago, we will be
just what they were 2,000 years ago; members of the church
of Christ. That is our prayer for you, because it is God's plan
for you. ------ Clem Thurman, first printed in Gospel Minutes
of Feb. 6, 1976 and now reprinted in Gospel Minutes, Vol. 56,
No. 10, Mar. 9, 2007. </HTML>
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