What About Those Other Churches? - Lesson 6

In the last lesson we learned that Jesus built His very own church. The church He built began in Jerusalem. Members of His church had to leave Jerusalem because the Jews didn’t want any other religion than their own. So Christians had to leave their homes or go back to their own homes. As they did, they started the very same church where they went. They formed into groups. We call these "local churches." They were all just alike. They had the same name, the same worship, they did the same work, and did it the same way. They all had men called elders to lead them.

Today there are many different churches. They do not have the same name and they do not teach the same things. They do not see the Bible alike. Not all of them even claim to believe just the Bible. Most of the churches today have their own private books that teach their doctrine. These books are called creeds, or confessions of faith. Sometimes they are called church manuals or church disciplines. They all have things in them not taught in the Bible. These churches make up what is called denominationalism. That’s a big word. Why don’t you get your dictionary and look up the word denomination. What does it mean?

Denominations are Churches with Different Names

The Baptist Church takes its name from their belief that baptism can only be done by immersion. Immersion means a person goes all the way under water. They do not believe people have to be baptized to go to heaven, but they say no one can be a Baptist who is not baptized by them.

The Methodist Church takes its name from the original members of their church. Way back when they started they were known to do things very proper. They got the name Methodist because they always did things the same way. They do not believe people have to be baptized to go to heaven. They don’t believe what the Baptists teach because they think putting a few drops of water on a person is baptism. They also believe babies should have water sprinkled on them. This is called sprinkling.

The Catholic Church may be the biggest church in the world that uses the Bible at all. The word Catholic means something that is everywhere. They took this name because they believe the Catholic Church is the only church that is right. They are the ones who changed baptism from putting a person under water and sprinkling a few drops on the head of a person. They also started the idea of sprinkling water on babies and calling it baptism.

The same thing is true of every church that is a denomination. We don’t have enough space to give all their names and tell how they got them. The churches that are denominations are all divided in what they teach and what they do and what name they have. Jesus did not start a denomination. His church is no part of the denominations.

The reason why the church Jesus built is not a denomination is because Jesus never wanted His church to divide. He wanted His church to teach only what He taught and to do only what He says. Denomination is a word that is used in math. Remember when your teacher told you to find a "common denominator?" The denominator is the thing that divides another number. They call it the divisor. Jesus never wanted His church to be divided.

Please read very carefully:

"Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?" (1 Cor 1:10-13).

The denominations do not "speak the same things." They are divided. They are not perfectly joined together. They join together imperfectly by agreeing to differ over what the Bible teaches. They do not have the same mind and same judgment. Contention means disagreement. In the verse above Paul said division comes from some saying they are "of" one preacher and some "of" another. The Lutheran Church is a good example of this. A man named Martin Luther started the Lutheran Church when he got out of the Catholic Church. Even though he asked them not to name themselves after him, they did anyway. As long as people go by names Jesus did not give His church there will be division.

Denominations are Wrong

Denominations go against Jesus. Read the prayer of Jesus.

"Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me" (John 17:20-23).

Denominations destroy the unity of God’s plan. Read the following verses.

"There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all" (Eph 4:4-6).

Again, the Bible says there is only one body.

"For the body is not one member, but many" ... But now are they many members but one body" (1 Cor. 12:14,20).

The Bible teaches that the body is the church Jesus built.

"And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all" (Eph 1:22-23).

This is easy to understand. Jesus build one church. That church is His body. He has only one body. Denominations are not that one body. So denominations are not the church Jesus built.

Jesus built a church in which people work and worship as He says. He promises to save them if they are in His church.

"For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body" (Eph 5:23).

Remember now, what the body is. It is the church. Jesus promised to save the body and that is His church. To be saved you have to be in His church.

Questions for Study:

1. Tell what the word denomination means.

2. How many denominations can you name?

3. Where did the Catholic Church get its name?

4. What does the word Baptist mean and why do people call themselves by that name?

5. Is the church Jesus built a denomination?

6. What is one difference (other than the name) between Baptists and Methodists?

7. How did the Lutheran Church get its name?

8. Complete the following:

"Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all ________ ___ ______ ________, and that there be no ___________ among you; but that ye be __________ joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment."This verse is:_______________.

 

"Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of _______; and I of ___________; and I of ___________; and I of Christ. Is Christ __________?" This verse is: ____________________.

9. The body is the ________________. There is _______ body. The verses that teach this are: ________________ and _______________.

10. True or false:

	It doesn’t really matter whether you are a member of the church or not
	True _________ False ________
	The church Jesus build is not a denomination.
	True _________ False ________
	There is only one body and that one body is the church jesus build.
	True _________ False ________
	Jesus prayed that all would be one church.
	True _________ False ________
	It is right for the church Jesus build to wear the name of a man.
	True _________ False ________
	A person can be a member of several churches and go to heaven.
	True _________ False ________

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