A Denominationalist’s View of the N. T. Church
(Wayne Price)
 
He is aware that the New Testament teaches that Jesus Christ promised that He would build His church. He looks around at all the good people around him, friends, relatives and those with whom he works, and they are members of different denominations, so he figures that is the way it is supposed to be, i.e. be somewhat religious, a good person, and it doesn’t matter to which church one belongs, just as long as one is sincere. After all, there are so many good people in the world, and they surely could not all be wrong, he reasons.
 
BUT Jesus Christ promised that He would build His church, and it was established in 33 A.D. on the day of Pentecost. No denomination can make the claim that their church was established then; they are all of recent vintage, and built by men. In fact, every denomination in the world came into existence as a result of a doctrinal disagreement with the group of which they were once affiliated.
 
Today, thousands of churches exist, all claiming to somehow be a part of the one church of the New Testament, yet they wear different names, teach a different plan of salvation, came into existence thousands of years after the Lord built His church (Matthew 16:16-18; Acts 2:47), are organized differently, teach different doctrines, have their own creed books or church manuals, et. al. The Lord teaches that there is ONE body of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23, Eph. 4:4, Colossians 1:18, 24) and that He is the Savior of His body, the church (Eph. 5:23). The important question today for one to ask himself is not am I a member of A church, but rather am I a member of HIS church, the one described for us in the New Testament!                                                                                                                                                        -