There
are literally thousands of Churches in Christendom with varying modes of
worship, liturgy, faith practices, theological doctrine, rituals, hermeneutics and
homilies; so is there one particular Church that has the “right” name, and
teaching that makes it stand out as the One True Church? Let’s just investigate this claim and see what
the Bible has to say about it.
Matthew
16: 18
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall
not prevail against it.
Acts 8: 1a
And there arose on that day a great persecution
against the church in Jerusalem. . .
Acts 11: 25-26
So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he
had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the
church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were
first called Christians.
NOTE: What were the believers called before this time and what
was the Name of the Church?
Acts 12: 1
About that time Herod the king laid violent hands
on some who belonged to the church (Name??).
Acts 18: 22
When he had landed at
Caesarea, he went
up and greeted the church (Name??), and then went down to Antioch.
Acts 20: 28
Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has
made you overseers, to care for the Church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.
NOTE: This is this first
time this is mentioned, other than the generic “Church.”
Acts 24: 5, 14
For we have found this man a plague, one who stirs up riots among all the Jews throughout the
world and is a ringleader of the sect of the
Nazarenes. But this I confess to you, that according to the Way (Heb. ha Derekh),
which they call a sect, I worship the God of our
fathers, believing everything laid down by the
Law and written in the Prophets.
NOTE: Is the apostle Paul
saying that he is a member of or associated with the Church of the Way, or
Church of the Nazarene (Nazarene Church)?
Romans 16: 16
Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the
churches of (in??) Christ greet you.
NOTE: Church of Christ;
Disciples of Christ Church are possibilities.
1 Corinthians 15: 9
For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an
apostle, because I persecuted the
church of God.
1 Corinthians 16: 16
If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have
no such practice, nor do the churches of God.
2 Corinthians 1: 1b
To the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia:
Galatians 1: 13
For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to
destroy it.
1
Thessalonians 2: 14a
For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God
in Christ Jesus that are in Judea.
NOTE: Another possible Name can be Church of God in
Christ.
1
Timothy 3: 15
If I delay, you may
know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of
the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.
NOTE: The Church of the Living God is possible,
too.
Hebrews 12: 23
To the general assembly and church of the
firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to
the spirits of just men made perfect. . . KJV
NOTE: This General Assembly and Church of the
Firstborn is as viable as any Name mentioned, and as a matter-of-fact, this denomination
used to be around but I don’t know if they are anymore.
COMMENTARY:
By the sheer frequency of times that it is mentioned, Church of God would be
the most likely for any for saints and believing Christians to identify with;
as opposed to any of the other Names listed. However, this fact alone does not
validate this or any other Christian Church as the “One True Church” based
solely on this occurrence in the New Testament, but it would make a strong
debate point. Of course, one can counter that it isn’t the Name but whether you
are following the example of First Century Christians in the manner they practiced
the “pure” religion from the beginning. There were definitely significant
differences in the ministry of the Apostle Paul and the leadership of the
Mother Church in Jerusalem. I don’t want to get too far afield in this area but
I did want to make note of some earlier teaching in one Christian Church that
used Acts 20: 7 as Biblical sanction
to observe the Lord’s Supper (“Eucharist”) on Sunday. Is that really the case
or was it part of a social custom that was incorporated into the fellowship of believers?
Acts
20: 7a, 11
On the first day of the week, when we were
gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next
day. . . When he had gone back up and had broken the bread and eaten, he
talked with them a long while until daybreak, and then left.
Acts
2: 42, 46
They were continually devoting themselves to
the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread
and to prayer. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking
bread from house to house (not in the Church or assembly), they were taking
their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart.
As
a final thought, it is not what Church you belong to but rather, Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away;
behold, all things are become new (2
Corinthians 5: 17).
Robert
Randle
776
Commerce St Apt 701
Tacoma,
WA 98402
April
5, 2017
