Jesus declared, “I will build my church”.[1] Today, there are estimated to be 43,000 different churches in the world, according to the “Status of Global Mission 2012” compiled by the Centre for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
All Churches the Same?
Many who have just believed in Jesus are told that all churches are the same as they use the same Bible, and so they can join any church they feel comfortable with. Are all churches really the same?
The Roman Catholic Church claims she is the only true church and that others are not true churches but merely ecclesial communities and therefore did not have the means of salvation. The Mormon Church claims she is the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth. The Lutheran Church preaches that baptism saves because grace is applied to an individual by it while the Presbyterian Church preaches that baptism doesn’t save. The Anglican Church teaches that sprinkling is baptism but the Baptist Church teaches that sprinkling is not baptism; only immersion is. The Seventh-Day Adventist Church maintains that the Sabbath must be kept to have eternal life yet the Brethren Church (or Bethesda Church) maintains that Sunday has superseded it. The Methodist Church cautions saying salvation can be lost but the New Creation Church comforts saying salvation can never be lost. The Church of Christ believes that speaking in tongues ceased in the 1st century when the apostles had finished writing the New Testament but as you are reading this tract in the 21st century the Pentecostal Church (or the Assemblies of God) is still speaking in tongues.
The differences are not just about surface practices but go deep down to the very reason for Christianity – salvation.
So, which is the church Jesus built?
It is not a Church that is Invisible
Realising the confusion of Christendom, some want to believe that the church Jesus built is invisible comprising of good adherents of every denomination.
Wherever this belief may have originated from, it certainly was not from Jesus. Firstly, Jesus planned his church to be the opposite – a visible organization where members can approach to resolve disputes and where members gather: “If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax-collector. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”[2]
Secondly, the church is not only visible, it is unitary. Ephesians 1:22-23 states that the church is the body of Christ:And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church,which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. And Ephesians 4:4-6 states that there is one body, which means one church, and this one church has one hope, one faith and one baptism:There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the 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 all. The belief in the invisible church is possible if and only if adherents of different denominations share the same idea of hope, the same faith, the same baptism, and the same concept of the Father, Lord and Spirit. The reality is they don’t.
Thirdly, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, 24-26 says that God has so arranged the church that the members care for one another, suffer together and rejoice together: For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit… But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honour to the inferior member,that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together with it. For this arrangement of God to work, one member must know who another member is so that he knows who to care for, suffer with and rejoice with. Therefore the church cannot be invisible because, if it were so, one member will not be able to tell who else is a member.
It is not necessarily a Church with Large Membership
It is a popular notion, and indeed some preach, that if the church is built by Jesus, he will prosper it with many members. What did Jesus teach? He said: “Someone asked him, ‘Lord, will only a few be saved?’ He said to them, ‘Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able.[3] In fact, Jesus referred to his church as a “little flock”.[4]
It is the Church that Upholds and Defends the Gospel of Salvation
1 Timothy 3:14-15 says that the church is the pillar and bulwark of the truth: I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these instructions to you so that,if I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth. As a pillar is used for holding up and a bulwark for defending, the church upholds and defends the truth. What is the truth? Ephesians 1:13 says that the word of truth is the gospel of your salvation: In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit… Therefore the church upholds and defends the gospel of salvation.
What is the gospel of salvation? When Jesus went about proclaiming the gospel, these were what he said concerning salvation:
- “But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”[5]
- “The one who believes and is baptized will be saved…”[6]
- “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.”[7] This was said when Jesus was about to wash the feet of Peter, after having washed the feet of the other disciples, and Peter refused him saying, “You will never wash my feet.”
- “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day…”[8] Jesus was referring to the Lord’s supper because when he subsequently instituted it he “took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body.’Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you;for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.[9]
- “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.”[10]
- A certain ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother.’”[11] The commandments Jesus quoted are from the Ten Commandments and the fourth reads: “Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work…For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.”[12]
- “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”[13]
- “Do not be astonished at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voiceand will come out—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.”[14]
- “But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”[15]
Hence, the church Jesus built upholds and defends the necessity of repentance, believing in Jesus, baptism, footwashing, the Lord’s supper, receiving the Holy Spirit, observing the Ten Commandments including keeping the Sabbath, having righteousness, doing good, and enduring to the end.
It is the Church that has Speaking in Tongues and Miracles
Jesus said that signs will accompany believers who will be saved, and these signs are speaking in tongues and miracles: And he said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues;they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.[16]
Speaking in tongues is the sign that the believers have received the Holy Spirit. Acts 10:44-45 records: “While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles…” How did they determine that the hearers had received the Holy Spirit? Verse 46 explains: “for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God.”
Miracles are God’s testimony that the message brings salvation and so should not be neglected. Hebrews 2:1-4 states: Therefore we must pay greater attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. For if the message declared through angels was valid, and every transgression or disobedience received a just penalty, how can we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? It was declared at first through the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard him,while God added his testimony by signs and wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, distributed according to his will.
Hence, the church Jesus built has signs – speaking in tongues to signify that its believers have received the Holy Spirit and miracles to signify that its message brings salvation.
It is the Church that has Love
Jesus said, “Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”[17]
[1] Mt 16:18.
[2] Mt 18:15-20.
[3] Lk 13:23-24.
[4] Lk 12:32.
[5] Lk 13:3.
[6] Mk 16:16.
[7] Jn 13:8.
[8] Jn 6:53-54.
[9] Mt 26:26-28.
[10] Jn 3:5.
[11] Lk 18:18-20.
[12] Ex 20:8-11.
[13] Mt 5:20.
[14] Jn 5:28-29.
[15] Mt 24:13.
[16] Mk 16:15-18.
[17] Jn 13:34-35.