Topic: Church
For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? (I Corinthians 3:3-5 KJV)
We might have some kinds of question, such as: Why do Christians have many denominational churches? Is the Church of Jesus Christ (not denominational church) enough to praise, honor, and worship God? First, we must understand that Peter was not proclaimed to be Pope over Christian churches as the Roman Catholicism believes in. There is no scriptural support on this. Jesus said in 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 hell shall not prevail against it.” “Although some Church Fathers explain ‘this rock’ to mean Peter or the apostles, many of them interpret the rock to mean Christ Himself or else Peter’s confession about Christ (Test All Things, p. 13, e-book edition).”
Does this mean that we need to be separated from those who are in Roman Catholic Churches? Even though we need to give them respect, we also need to share the gospel truth with them without mistreating them. It is sad that most today’s churches are trying to come together to have church services with other religious groups. This is why we have Mormonism, Catholicism, and Church Latter Day of the Saint as Christian denominational churches. It is a good thing for these churches would able to come together to seek the truth, but it is sad thing for true Christians would try to mingle together as one religion.
Jesus didn’t build the church for the men, but we can come together to give God the glory, praise, and worship.
The word “denomination” is simply means a religious grouping within a faith that has its own system of organization. The Baptist church has its own belief system, for example. Most traditional Baptist church members would not believe in speaking in other tongues or can’t shout of praise during the praise and worship. Or the Church of God would not believe the Holy Spirit as the Third Person of the Trinity. But, nowadays, many churches have created their own interpretation of the Bible.
Jesus decided to build the church for one purpose: people can come together to fellowship with God and believers before they would go out and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ to other people. It’s a training camp, but, also, our spiritual family home. Even though God is preparing homes for us in Heaven (see John 14:1-4), we can begin to have spiritual family while we are still living in this world. God didn’t begin to create many denominational churches, we did.
If you are a Catholic, would you like to free from the religious ritual practice? If you are a Baptist, would you like to shout of praising God during the church service? Jesus didn’t come to this world to create another religious system. He came to establish relationship with each of us.
God planned to send His Son, Jesus Christ, to us to pay our sins, so we can have free access to God and develop personal relationship with Him. Would you like to have personal relationship with God? If you’d like to know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, I’d like to encourage you to do two simple things. First, confess your sins and invite Jesus Christ to your life. Paul said in Romans 10:9-11, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” There is no sinner prayer formula. Instead, you just talk to God at where you are now. Secondly, I’d like to encourage you to find a good solid biblical teaching church and Christian friends. They can help you to build strong relationship with God. If you’d need further assistance, you can email me at mgjcwebminstries@mgjcweb.org or visit my ministries website at www.mgjcweb.org for further resources.
