The churches of Christ were established by Christ long before Alexander
Campbell, Walter Scott, and any of the other so-called "restorers" were born. This is
proven by the fact that in the letter Paul wrote to the brothers and sisters in Rome, he said,
"Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings."
(Rom. 16:16, NIV-11) This poses insurmountable problems for denominations and we
will explain why later in this article.
The word "churches" translates ekklesiai, the plural form of the collective noun
ekklesia. In the New Testament, ekklesia means "congregation or assembly." It is used
in Acts 19:39 with reference to a secular assembly. When used in religious contexts it refers
to the community of God's people; the saved, those who are consecrated to God's service.
(Mat. 16:18; Eph. 1:22; Col. 1:18, 24, etc.) The descriptive phrase "churches of Christ"
refers to local congregations in various places. The New Testament tells us there
were congregations in Jerusalem (Acts 15:4), Ephesus (Acts 20:17,28),
Corinth (1 Cor. 1:2) , Philippi (Phil. 1:1; 4:15), Galatia (Gal. 1:2), Smyrna (Rev. 2:8),
Thessalonica (2 Thess. 1:1), and many other places.
Many denominational people are convinced that when we speak of the "church of
Christ" that we have reference to either the sign on the building or the building itself.
Those who are knowledgeable of Bible teaching are aware that the "church of Christ"
refers to neither. The "sign on the building" should accurately reflect who meets in the
building, though it does not always do so. The "church of Christ" is the people of God,
and no group is a "church of Christ" unless it has the characteristics that meet God's
standard revealed in the New Testament.
The expression "of Christ" tells us that they belong to the Messiah and they are
subject to his authority. Those who are in Christ were purchased by his blood. They
are recipients of the benefits of Christ blood. (Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; Rev. 1:5)
The Lord, not the so-called "restorers" or any other human being including the pope of
Rome has supremacy over the congregation of Christ. The Lord Jesus is "head over all
things to the assembly, which is his body." (Eph. 1:22-23) "He is the head
of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so
that in everything he might have the supremacy." (Col. 1:18, NIV-11) No denomination
was purchased by the Lord's blood and they are not subject to the Lord's authority.
They are man-made from beginning to end and are not "of Christ." When Jesus said,
"Upon this rock I will build my congregation," he was not speaking of any denomination,
for none of them exists by divine authority in the word of the living God! They are not
named in, authorized by, or based upon the New Testament of Christ. The Lord's own
words emphatically declare all religious "groups" except his unacceptable to the holy
God of heaven. He said, "I will build my congregation." (Mat. 16:18) Ask yourself,
"Whose congregation did he promise to build?" Now answer the question. If he said
"my church or congregation" is it not his, therefore the "church or congregation of
Christ?"
It is sometimes said, "Okay, I will accept the fact that we read of 'churches
(congregations) of Christ' in the New Testament, but the phrase is not a name, it
indicates possession." Even if that were true it would disqualify denominations such as
Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Episcopal, Presbyterian, etc. because no passage in
the word of God speaks of Baptist Church or Baptist Churches; Methodist Church
or Methodist Churches, Lutheran Church or Lutheran Churches, etc. So, even if the
phrase "churches of Christ" is not a name, but merely a descriptive phrase, it does not
describe denominational churches. Why not? There is nothing about them
that honors Christ. Nothing about them meets God's standard of what constitutes
"churches of Christ."
The expression "churches (congregations) of Christ" is genitive of relationship,
and is used by Paul to describe the congregations as belonging to Christ.
R. Daly
Copyright 2011
Campbell, Walter Scott, and any of the other so-called "restorers" were born. This is
proven by the fact that in the letter Paul wrote to the brothers and sisters in Rome, he said,
"Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings."
(Rom. 16:16, NIV-11) This poses insurmountable problems for denominations and we
will explain why later in this article.
The word "churches" translates ekklesiai, the plural form of the collective noun
ekklesia. In the New Testament, ekklesia means "congregation or assembly." It is used
in Acts 19:39 with reference to a secular assembly. When used in religious contexts it refers
to the community of God's people; the saved, those who are consecrated to God's service.
(Mat. 16:18; Eph. 1:22; Col. 1:18, 24, etc.) The descriptive phrase "churches of Christ"
refers to local congregations in various places. The New Testament tells us there
were congregations in Jerusalem (Acts 15:4), Ephesus (Acts 20:17,28),
Corinth (1 Cor. 1:2) , Philippi (Phil. 1:1; 4:15), Galatia (Gal. 1:2), Smyrna (Rev. 2:8),
Thessalonica (2 Thess. 1:1), and many other places.
Many denominational people are convinced that when we speak of the "church of
Christ" that we have reference to either the sign on the building or the building itself.
Those who are knowledgeable of Bible teaching are aware that the "church of Christ"
refers to neither. The "sign on the building" should accurately reflect who meets in the
building, though it does not always do so. The "church of Christ" is the people of God,
and no group is a "church of Christ" unless it has the characteristics that meet God's
standard revealed in the New Testament.
The expression "of Christ" tells us that they belong to the Messiah and they are
subject to his authority. Those who are in Christ were purchased by his blood. They
are recipients of the benefits of Christ blood. (Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; Rev. 1:5)
The Lord, not the so-called "restorers" or any other human being including the pope of
Rome has supremacy over the congregation of Christ. The Lord Jesus is "head over all
things to the assembly, which is his body." (Eph. 1:22-23) "He is the head
of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so
that in everything he might have the supremacy." (Col. 1:18, NIV-11) No denomination
was purchased by the Lord's blood and they are not subject to the Lord's authority.
They are man-made from beginning to end and are not "of Christ." When Jesus said,
"Upon this rock I will build my congregation," he was not speaking of any denomination,
for none of them exists by divine authority in the word of the living God! They are not
named in, authorized by, or based upon the New Testament of Christ. The Lord's own
words emphatically declare all religious "groups" except his unacceptable to the holy
God of heaven. He said, "I will build my congregation." (Mat. 16:18) Ask yourself,
"Whose congregation did he promise to build?" Now answer the question. If he said
"my church or congregation" is it not his, therefore the "church or congregation of
Christ?"
It is sometimes said, "Okay, I will accept the fact that we read of 'churches
(congregations) of Christ' in the New Testament, but the phrase is not a name, it
indicates possession." Even if that were true it would disqualify denominations such as
Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Episcopal, Presbyterian, etc. because no passage in
the word of God speaks of Baptist Church or Baptist Churches; Methodist Church
or Methodist Churches, Lutheran Church or Lutheran Churches, etc. So, even if the
phrase "churches of Christ" is not a name, but merely a descriptive phrase, it does not
describe denominational churches. Why not? There is nothing about them
that honors Christ. Nothing about them meets God's standard of what constitutes
"churches of Christ."
The expression "churches (congregations) of Christ" is genitive of relationship,
and is used by Paul to describe the congregations as belonging to Christ.
R. Daly
Copyright 2011
Great article brother. Could you explain why some define church as "the called out?"
ReplyDeleteDaniel, thanks for your encouraging words.
ReplyDeleteSome people define church as "the called out" because they believe or have heard that (ekklesia), the word from which church is translated, is composed of two words, "ek" meaning out of and "klesis/kaleo" a calling, hence the called out. They are reasoning from etymology. It is called the etymological fallacy, because it is assumed that we may divide compound words into their various parts and determine meaning by putting the meaning of the parts together. This is overloading. We determine word meaning by word usage. Context is the single most important factor in trying to ascertain what biblical words mean.
That's what I assumed but i was unsure. Thank you dear brother, cousin, and friend!
ReplyDelete