Sunday Sermons
The church of Christ
The church of Christ
Can This Church Exist Today?
When we speak of the church of Christ we are speaking of the church that Jesus established (Matthew 16:18), of which the early Christians were members (Romans 16:16). This is the church that Jesus purchased with His blood (Acts 20:28), that one was added to by the Lord upon being baptized for the remission of their sins (Acts 2:37-41,47), which existed long before any denominations. Can this church exist today? First, be it observed that the kingdom of God is the same relationship as the church (Matthew 16:18-19; Acts 20:28 compared with Revelation 1:5-6). Speaking through the prophets in the Old Testament God assured us that this kingdom to be established “will never be destroyed… but it will itself endure forever” (Daniel 2:44). The same truth is found in Daniel Chapter 7, “And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed” (7:14), this truth is also echoed inHebrews 12:28 “Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken”. Gabriel said to Mary concerning Jesus, “And of His kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke 1:33). Concerning the church, Jesus said to Peter, “and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it” (Matthew 16:19). Death and the powers of evil would not stop Jesus from establishing this relationship and such powers would not bring this relationship to an end after it was established. Paul said to the Ephesians, “To Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen” (Ephesians 3:21). If God is glorified in the church to all generations, then the church is a relationship that will exist in all generations.
We should observe that every element of the kingdom or church is eternal: 1. The Head of the church is eternal (Ephesians 1:22-23). 2. The law that governs, describes, and sets the standards for this relationship is eternal (John 12:48; 1 Peter 1:23-25). 3. Man’s need for this relationship of salvation is never ending (Romans 3:23; Ephesians 5:23 “He Himself being the Savior of the body”).
Church Succession
The existence of the church of Christ is not contingent on church succession, that is, tracing one congregation today all the way back to a congregation in the First Century. If a person could do this it still would not prove anything, for lineage has never been a guarantee of salvation (Matthew 3:8-9). What a congregation is presently doing or not doing determines whether or not it is the Lord’s church. In the Revelation letter we find congregations that were churches of Christ that were also in danger of being rejected by Christ (Revelation 2:4-5).
Let it be noted that the Word of God is the seed of the kingdom (Luke 8:11; Matthew 13:19). It is also affirmed that this Word of God is incorruptible and abides forever (1 Peter 1:23-25). In addition, seed always produces after its kind (Genesis 1:11-12). When the apostles planted the seed of the kingdom in the First Century, churches of Christ resulted (Acts 2:47; 1 Corinthians 1:2; Romans 16:16). Seeing that we have the same seed today, when we simply preach the same gospel, churches of Christ will be produced today as well. It should be observed that to get something else, some other seed must be planted. To get the Mormon church, one must plant the book of Mormon. To get the Catholic church, a catechism is needed. For Jehovah Witnesses, the writings of the Watchtower Society, for Muslims, the Koran must be preached, and so on.
Identifying Marks
A common illustration is, “Suppose a friend solicits your help to find his lost car, a car you have never seen. How will you know when you find the right car? He will give you a list of identifying features: A Ford, gray exterior, maroon interior, 1995 year, dent on the right fender, etc. You will know when you have found the right car when you find the car with all these essential identifying features. The application: You will know when you find the New Testament church, the church of Christ, when you find the one in our day which as all the essential identifying features” (The Spiritual Sword, 1-2002, p. 47). In recent times some have ridiculed the above illustration or premise contending that such is a dishonest practice, that is, people end up finding the identifying marks in the Bible that they want to find. Yes, people can have impure motives in studying, yet consider the following points:
First, one cannot find just any identifying mark. For example, there are many identifying marks of denominations that are absent from the pages of the Bible. There is no human head of the church, and neither is there any denominational hierarchy in the pages of the New Testament. There is no communion on Saturday night, neither is there any counting of beads, worship of Mary, or rock bands for the young people. There are no denominational names or titles, and neither are there the typical denominational doctrines of faith-only or once-saved-always-saved.
Secondly, the identifying marks of the church of Christ are very unique even to this day: Baptism for the remission of sins (Acts 2:37). The only organizational structure beyond the local congregation is Jesus, as head (Ephesians 1:22-23). Qualified elders and deacons (1 Timothy 3:2ff). The New Testament church was organized in local self-governing congregations (Acts 14:23), having elders, deacons, evangelists and members therein (Philippians 1:1). Acappella singing in worship (Ephesians 5:19). Lord’s Supper every first day of the week, and on no other day (Acts 20:7). Giving as one has been prospered (1 Corinthians 16:1). The work of the church, evangelism, edification, and generous but limited benevolence (Matthew 28:19-20; Ephesians 4:11-12; 1 Timothy 5:16). Members who are simply Christians (Acts 11:26). A Scriptural name. The New Testament church was designated the church (Ephesians 1:21-22), the church of God (1 Corinthians 1:2), the church of the Lord (Acts 20:28), and the church of Christ (Romans 16:16). The terms of entrance included hearing the gospel (Romans 10:17), faith (John 3:16), repentance (Acts 17:30), confession (Romans 10:9-10) and baptism (Mark 16:16). Finally, the New Testament church was guided solely by the apostle’s doctrine, that is the teaching that was being revealed through the apostles (Acts 2:42). This teaching was completely revealed in the first century (John 16:13; Jude 3).
Church of Christ only 300 years old?
Some have recently tried to argue that the churches of Christ have only existed for approximately three hundred years, and that they are simply an American denomination. Yet someone noted that if the game of baseball were wiped off the face of the earth, and someone discovered the rule book a thousand years from now and restored the game of baseball, would it be a new game? No, people would proclaim, “This game is over a thousand years old” (Spiritual Sword, p. 2). The fact of the matter is that churches of Christ are spoken of as being in existence in the first century (Romans 16:16). In addition, all the practices that are associated with the church of Christ (see the identifying marks above) are not practices or doctrines that are 300 years old, rather they are all found in the New Testament! Thus the challenge to someone who makes the above claim would be, “Which doctrine or practice in the churches of Christ is only three hundred years old?” Finally, the church of Christ may be 300 years old in America from the fact that the country itself is only that old! To argue that the church of Christ is only three hundred years old is about as silly as arguing that the marriage relationship based on the Scriptures is only three hundred years old. You see, there have been marriages throughout the ages, just marriages that have not followed God’s pattern in the Bible, yet there have been marriages and churches that have followed God’s pattern. One writer makes a good point when he notes, “Did the Churches of Christ originate in the Restoration Movement?” No! They originated then and originate now in the same way churches of Christ originated in the New Testament time. They were established and are established by the preaching of the pure gospel that was obeyed from the heart (Romans 6:17-18), whether that obedience occurred in A.D. 33, 1800, 1900, 1999, 2002, or any other date; or occurred in Jerusalem, Corinth, Virginia, Kentucky, Germany, Asia or elsewhere until now, or any day to come until the Lord returns” (Spiritual Sword, p. 22).
Restoration Preaching
In spiritual matters restoration is the return to the Scriptural state that Christ desires of His church. Of course, this assumes that there is a biblical state, that there has been a movement away from that ideal into error, and that there is a mandate to return to that ideal. The need for restoration becomes necessary because repentance from error is necessary (Revelation 2:14-16). The notion that one may acceptably remain in error indefinitely is never considered in the New Testament (2 John 9; Revelation 2:20-21).
The Old Testament, which was written for our learning (Romans 15:4), demonstrates that when God’s people went into error, adopted unscriptural innovations, and were neglecting God’s laws, that God expected the faithful to hold to and plead with others to return to God’s original standard (Jeremiah 6:16). The example of King Josiah teaches the same truth. Following the death of Hezekiah, the Jewish nation went back into apostasy (2 Kings chapter 21), but Josiah, unlike his father or grandfather, did right in the sight of God and did not deviate to the right or left (2 Kings 22:2). Under Josiah, restoration involved understanding precisely that deviations from the revealed will of God in Scripture will bring God’s wrath (2 Kings 22:10-13; 16-17). Restoration involved preaching the word of the people (2 Kings 23:2), and the determination to follow exactly what God had originally revealed (23:3). Chapter 23 makes it clear that Biblical restoration involves ceasing all unscriptural practices and instituting all Scriptural practices (23:21).
In the life of Jesus we see the same attitude. Jesus restored God’s standard of marriage and divorce (Matthew 19:3-9), God’s standard of personal ethics (Matthew 5), rebuked human additions to the Scriptures (Matthew 15:1-9; chapter 23); and corrected various false doctrines (Matthew 22).
We see the same preaching among the apostles. Paul corrects various problems in Corinth by going back to what God had revealed in the first place (1 Corinthians 15:1 ff, 11:23ff). Occasionally one hears such statements as this, “Which New Testament church do you want to go back to? Do you want to restore the doubting, immature, and immoral church at Corinth?” Such an argument misses the point miserably. The desire is not to produce the errors or sins of a First Century congregation (remember God told the Corinthians to repent). Rather, it is produce the will of God in a congregation today.
Mark Dunagan | mdunagan@frontier.net
Beaverton Church of Christ | 503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net