Is The Church Of Christ A Denomination? (Part Seven)

Introduction We have been looking at this subject for several weeks now. The world we live in contains thousands upon thousands of denominations. All of these groups claim to be followers of Christ and God. Yet we have seen that many do not carry all the characteristics of the Church we read about in the Bible. As we promote our church here as NOT being a denomination, we must continue on with describing New Testament characteristics.

So far we have looked at the nature of the Church. We have learned the proper names for the church and the members of the church. We have looked at the study of biblical authority. We have looked at the work of the church. We have seen the doctrine of the church. All of this comes from the Bible. Today we want to address the Organization and Government of the New Testament Church.

It Is A Monarchy Well, that is what it is supposed to be. But only those churches that treat Jesus as Christ, King and Lord can claim to be of the true church Jesus built. Jesus built this one church and has the right to rule the one true church (Matthew 16:18). Jesus has been given all authority on heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). He is head over all things to the church (Ephesians 1:22-23)

Jesus is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead. So that He (Jesus) might come to have first place The preeminence in everything (Colossians 1:18). Being a monarchy, ONLY the King and anyone He designates as having authority has the power to rule or change laws. Remember that Jesus promised His delegates that the Spirit of God would guide them into all truth (John 15:26-27; 16:7-9).

Many groups have conferences, conventions, counsels, synods to vote on what they are going to believe and practice. Sometimes, the “pastor” makes the rules at his will. There was no voting in the Bible as far as doctrine goes. There was ONE rule of law, and that rule is from Christ. (Hebrews 1:1-2).

It Is NOT A Democracy In a democracy, the majority rules. The majority decides on what rules to follow and what rules to change. Many people treat our country as a democracy and not as a republic. A republic is set up as a protection for the country from the people who would destroy it. That is the purpose of our constitution.

God’s kingdom is a republic because the republic is greater than its citizens. The republic is Christ. The citizens make up the kingdom. Our citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20). Being part of the body of Christ, the church, we also have the privilege to be called the children of God (Ephesians 1: 4-6).

The only examples we have of changing rules in the church are the apostles rendering their judgment. Paul had to correct some behavior which was not good for the members of a church. The letter to the Corinthians is an example. In Acts 15 we have a counsel of the apostles and other church leaders coming together to make a decision regarding Gentiles entrance into this kingdom. There never was a vote to change doctrine or belief like what happens in most denominations.

Church Government Now that we established that the church is under a Monarchy, we must understand that His rules cannot be cancelled, changed, or added to. There are no amendments added as the leaders see fit. Paul wrote in Galatians 1:7 “But even though we or an angel from heaven preach should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed”.

Paul spoke of the gospel he preached in this way: “For I would have you know, brethren that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ”. (Galatians 1:11-12) John wrote in 1 John 1:3 “what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, that you also may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ”.

Local Church Government Up to this point, we have been discussing the church at large (sometimes called the Church Universal). This universal church is made up of the King who honors the Father, and all those who have gained entrance through the blood of Jesus (through baptism). This universal church covers all the saved of all time. The local church is limited to local members only.

Even though the local church is not the universal church, we still must follow the rules laid forth and established by the King. These rules are recorded for us in writing in the pages of the Bible. Once again, we see the importance of Bible authority. Jesus appointed His apostles to establish a government in the local churches.

This government is laid out as elders, deacons, and saints. Paul even mentioned all of them in Philippians 1:1 Elders are also called overseers, bishops, pastors, presbyters, rulers, and leaders. They have a duty and responsibility to the local church among them. [Note, their oversight is limited to their local congregation only (Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:2).] They should not and cannot have oversight of other congregations as we see so often in the denominational world.

Elders have the responsibility of all things spiritual to the local church. They watch out for the souls of the saints, and they will give an account of how they did their job (Hebrews 13:17). They lead by example (1 Peter 5:1-4). Deacons are servants of the church. In a way, each and every one of us is a deacon when we are helping the local church continue.

We see to the physical needs of the local church. This could be mowing the grass, assigning classes for teaching, cleaning the inside, planting flower beds and shrubbery, doing the books, controlling the treasury, paying the bills, and the list goes on. Deacons do not make spiritual decisions. Such decisions are made by the elders of the local church.

There are qualifications of both elders, deacons, and their wives (That is another lesson). The members are subject to the elders. They may abide by the request of the deacons, but that is where the authority stops. Not only are there qualifications of elders and deacons, but the local church must also qualify. There must be a plurality of qualified men to lead. There must be the honor and respect of such men. The congregation must pray for them and support their decisions.

In the absence of qualified leadership in the local church the men of the congregation lead the way. They make decisions and the congregation is bound to such decisions. Remembering that Christ is in charge, and no group can change what He has commanded. The local membership also has the same guidelines and rules to respect and follow. They have a duty to the local church simply because they are a member.

Conclusion Denominations do not respect Bible authority. They do not respect Jesus as King. It is obvious because of what they do (Titus 1:16). Christ is King and Lord. He is in charge. We cannot change anything without consequence. That consequence is the loss of our souls in hell. So recognize the Biblical Government of the church and compare it with the denominations.