Not a Denomination
Alan Highers
The church which is
revealed in the New Testament is not a denomination.
It is
composed of those who heard, believed, and obeyed the truth (Acts.
2:37-47). When men and women did what God said, they became
members of the church. They did not have to "join the church"
(a human act) because they were "added" by the Lord (a divine
act). They were added when they were baptized into Christ (Galatians
3:27). Jesus Christ is the author of eternal salvation unto
all those who obey Him (Hebrews 5:8-9).
No one believes that New Testament Christians were a
part of any denomination. In fact, denominationalism, such as we
have today, did not exist in the first century. Disciples then
were just Christians, members of Christ's church, with no denominational
affiliation. Why can we not be the same today?
The plea of the church of Christ is to return to
simple New Testament Christianity, to be undenominational, to be just
what early disciples were, nothing more, nothing less. This is
what is meant by "restoration" or the "restoration
plea."
It is a plea to restore New Testament Christianity, to
go back to God's original plan. It is not a plea for one
denomination over another; rather, it is a plea to abandon all denominational
divisions, differences, and distinctions, and to return to the church
revealed in the New Testament, which was not a denomination.
When the 3,000 souls on the day of Pentecost heard the
gospel, believed, and were baptized for the remission of their sins, did
they join any denomination? NO, none at all. Yet they became
Christians, they were added to the church, they were everything God
wanted them to be. Suppose today that we preach the same gospel
message and that people obey the same gospel message in the same
way. Some say that puts them into a denomination. Why?
If individuals could hear, believe, and obey the gospel in the first
century, and become Christians and be added to the church, all without
ever joining a denomination, why can we not do the same today? The
answer is that we can. This is our plea.
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