Are you a member of the church of the New Testa...

My posts will not contain my opinion, but the Bible only. That's the only way we can have the unity that God demands in the matters of religion (I Corinthians 1:10-13)! I want this thread to be Bible based, and honest hearts thinking about what God has truly said in His word. I will begin with a few verses:

Matthew 16:18 - "And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock, I will build My church, and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it."

Ephesians 4:4 - "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling:"

Ephesians 1:22-23 - "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 fullness of him that filleth all in all."

Ephesians 5:23 - "For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church and he is the Savior of the body."

COMMENTS:

We have seen in Matthew 16:18, that Jesus is the owner and builder of His one church! No one can deny that Christ is the head of His church. Ephesians 4:4 plainly says that there is "one body." Now let's let the Bible define it's own terms. Ephesians 1:22-23 shows that Christ is the head over "the body, which is the church." So the body is the church, and the church is the body. The terms are interchangeable. Back to Ephesians 4:4, if the body is the church, and "there is one body," then it logically follows that there is one church. And we can see this in Matthew 16:18, "I will be My (singular) church (singular)." But also, in Ephesians 5:23 Christ explains the husband/wife relationship, but He also says that Christ is "the savior of the (singular) body (singular)."

Therefore, we can clearly see in the New Testament that there is one church, and Jesus is the savior of that one church.

Any comments?

Originally posted by Treytrumpet1
My posts will not contain my opinion, but the Bible only. That's the only way we can have the unity that God demands in the matters of religion (I Corinthians 1:10-13)! I want this thread to be Bible based, and honest hearts thinking about what God has truly said in His word. I will begin with a few verses:

Matthew 16:18 - "And I say also unto th ...[text shortened]... is one church, and Jesus is the savior of that one church.

Any comments?

"Clearly" is a bit abusive.
Each of the individual sentences is not clear. You are making interpretation over interpretation.
I'm not even putting is question the veracity of the sentences.
But it's a but abusive to reach certainties from arguable interpretations, don't you think?

Originally posted by Treytrumpet1
My posts will not contain my opinion, ............

Any comments?

My post will contain my opinion.

This is the kind of crooked thinking that has caused people to think very little of Christians.

Originally posted by Treytrumpet1
My posts will not contain my opinion, but the Bible only. That's the only way we can have the unity that God demands in the matters of religion (I Corinthians 1:10-13)! I want this thread to be Bible based, and honest hearts thinking about what God has truly said in His word. I will begin with a few verses:

Matthew 16:18 - "And I say also unto th ...[text shortened]... is one church, and Jesus is the savior of that one church.

Any comments?

Okay, so which of the many Christian denominations is the "one church"?

Originally posted by Treytrumpet1
My posts will not contain my opinion, but the Bible only. That's the only way we can have the unity that God demands in the matters of religion (I Corinthians 1:10-13)! I want this thread to be Bible based, and honest hearts thinking about what God has truly said in His word. I will begin with a few verses:

Matthew 16:18 - "And I say also unto th is one church, and Jesus is the savior of that one church.

Any comments?

If I wanted someone else's opinion I'd have done a search for all of ivanhoe's public forum posts and trawled through them as far ass possible before dying of suffocation on papal rhetoric. These are discussion boards, opinion is what matters here, your opinion, my opinion, hell; even ivanhoe's opinion, if he had one.

Originally posted by TheSkipper
Okay, so which of the many Christian denominations is the "one church"?

First, to all the comments so far about my saying that my posts will not contain my opinion, all I meant by that statement was that I would be using the Bible as an objective standard.

Now, for the question about which denomination is the one church, the answer is simple. Denominationalism came into existence after Christ had set up His one church. So the answer, in short, would be that the one church that is referred to in the New Testament is not a denomination. In fact the word "denominate" really carries along with it the idea of division. The Bible calls everyone today to leave denominationalism, and come back to the Bible and the Bible only. The church that is referred to in the New Testament is the church which belongs to Christ. The one he purchased with His own blood (Acts 20:28).

How can we recognize that church today? By the distinctive identifying marks of those early Christians in the first century A.D. Christ established His church in approximately A.D. 30, on the first Day of Pentecost after His resurrection (Acts 2). It was established in the city of Jerusalem as prophesied by Isaiah (Isa. 2:2-3). It was also characterized by it's unique form of worship. We can see many of the acts of worship in one verse, "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers" (Acts 2:42). Four of the five acts of worship are seen in this single verse: Preaching (Apostle's teaching), Giving of means (fellowship), the Lord's Supper (breaking of bread), and prayer. Also, the early Christians sang without the accompaniment of mechanical instruments of music (Col. 3:16; Eph. 5:18-19). The early Christians met on the first day of the week to worship the Father (Acts 20:7).

Therefore, these are just a few of the unique identifying marks of the church that was established by Jesus as recorded in the New Testament. You read last post that Jesus only has one church (Eph. 4:4; 1:22-23). And that He is the Savior of the body/church (Eph. 5:23). So don't we need to get back to what the Bible prescribes for us to do and become that church that Jesus built?

Originally posted by Treytrumpet1
First, to all the comments so far about my saying that my posts will not contain my opinion, all I meant by that statement was that I would be using the Bible as an objective standard.

Now, for the question about which denomination is the one church, the answer is simple. Denominationalism came into existence after Christ had set up His one church. ...[text shortened]... back to what the Bible prescribes for us to do and become that church that Jesus built?

Now, for the question about which denomination is the one church, the answer is simple. Denominationalism came into existence after Christ had set up His one church. So the answer, in short, would be that the one church that is referred to in the New Testament is not a denomination.---------------------------------trumpet----

Why can't all the denominations be part of the one church , at least all the denominations that are Biblically sound? I have been to places where baptists, methodists , catholics and evangelicals (and more) all worship together. What's the big deal?

Originally posted by knightmeister
Now, for the question about which denomination is the one church, the answer is simple. Denominationalism came into existence after Christ had set up His one church. So the answer, in short, would be that the one church that is referred to in the New Testament is not a denomination.---------------------------------trumpet----

Why can't all the denom ...[text shortened]... methodists , catholics and evangelicals (and more) all worship together. What's the big deal?

Lol, define 'biblically sound', please.

Originally posted by knightmeister
Now, for the question about which denomination is the one church, the answer is simple. Denominationalism came into existence after Christ had set up His one church. So the answer, in short, would be that the one church that is referred to in the New Testament is not a denomination.---------------------------------trumpet----

Why can't all the denom ...[text shortened]... methodists , catholics and evangelicals (and more) all worship together. What's the big deal?

I couldn't agree more with you.... Christians love God so why be divided about it....much better to come together!

Originally posted by knightmeister
Why can't all the denominations be part of the one church , at least all the denominations that are Biblically sound? I have been to places where baptists, methodists , catholics and evangelicals (and more) all worship together. What's the big deal?

Why can't all religious traditions be part of one spiritual family, at least all of the denominations
which uphold sound morals, compassion and justice for humankind and the earth, all worship together?

What's the big deal?

Nemesio

Originally posted by Treytrumpet1
First, to all the comments so far about my saying that my posts will not contain my opinion, all I meant by that statement was that I would be using the Bible as an objective standard.

Now, for the question about which denomination is the one church, the answer is simple. Denominationalism came into existence after Christ had set up His one church. ...[text shortened]... back to what the Bible prescribes for us to do and become that church that Jesus built?

Do you realise that you have not answered the question that you said you were going to answer?

Why can't all the denominations be part of the one church , at least all the denominations that are Biblically sound? I have been to places where baptists, methodists , catholics and evangelicals (and more) all worship together. What's the big deal?[/b]

That's the problem. How can two differing denominations both be "Biblically sound"? For instance, if the Bible teaches that we should worship on the first day of the week, and one denomination worships on Sunday, and one worships on Saturday. Then they are not both "Biblically sound."

Furthermore, the Bible calls us to come out of denominationalism altogether. For if we are what the early Christians were in the first century, worshiping, organizing, and teaching the things that are in the Bible, then we are no longer in a denomination. Truly we are Christians and Christians only! Isn't that what God wants for us anyway?

Paul, the apostle taught, by the inspiration of God, that we must have unity. "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 inm 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 Cloe, that there are contentions among you" (I Corinthians 1:10-11).

The prophet of old said this by the inspiration of God, "Can two walk together except they be agreed? (Amos)" The answer is obviously, "no." We must come to an agreement upon the Scriptures and the Scriptures alone if we are going to be pleasing to God.

However, yet another argument against the notion that maybe the one church could consist of all denominations, is the fact that Ephesians 4:4-6 shows seven separate one's. There is one Lord, and one God, and one Spirit, amongst other one's that are named. Is there many Lords that make up the one Lord Jesus? Are there many Gods that make up the one Father? Are there many Spirits that make up the one Holy Spirit? No, not at all; when Paul was mentioning the one's in Ephesians 4, he meant one solitary, singular one. So when he said that there is "one body" he really meant that there is one body. And we know that the one body is the church (Eph. 1:22-23).

Originally posted by Starrman
Lol, define 'biblically sound', please.

"Biblically sound" just means teaching that is in accordance with what the Bible teaches. Nothing from man mixed in; no creeds; no disciplines; just the Bible and the Bible alone. We must be "biblically sound" in order to go to heaven. That is, we must be obeying what God has set forth for us to do, and not to do as recorded in the Bible.

Originally posted by Nemesio
Why can't all religious traditions be part of one spiritual family, at least all of the denominations
which uphold sound morals, compassion and justice for humankind and the earth, all worship together?

What's the big deal?

Nemesio

Because the honest person, seeking to please God will only worship according to the Bible. For instance, most denominations today use instruments of music in their worship, where the Bible no where authorizes it to be so. I cannot worship with instruments of music because of this fact. Therefore, with all of the denominations that do so, I cannot be in fellowship.

The Bible teaches that we cannot fellowship error: "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them" (Ephesians 5:11).

The only way we can get together and worship is if we all come together on the Bible, and worship according to the Bible and the Bible only.

Originally posted by Rajk999
Do you realise that you have not answered the question that you said you were going to answer?

Read above. The church of the New Testament is not a denomination at all. It is the church which belongs to Christ. Read above about the distinctive marks of the church.