Is One Church As Good As Another?
by David Baker
The popular consensus is that one church is as good as another. The result of such thinking is hundreds of denominations believing, practicing, and teaching each their own doctrine, yet claiming the same source for that doctrine. There is little wonder that so many who are searching for the truth come away confused. Rest assured, God is not the source of this confusion (I Corinthians 14:33). Jesus warned that the kind of division we have today would be the source of infidelity. “Neither for these only do I pray, but for them also that believe on me through their word; that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us: that the world may believe that thou didst send me” (John 17:20-21). One reason so many find believing in Jesus difficult is that we cannot agree on what to teach them about Jesus or God’s will. Is one church as good as another? Does it make a difference what you believe? The best place to look for the answer is the word of God, the Bible.
It is tempting for “reasonable people” to answer questions about God based on human reasoning. But human reasoning does not lead to spiritual life. “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12). Human reasoning stands in opposition to Christ. “Take heed lest there be anyone that maketh spoil of you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” (Colossians 2:8). “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith Jehovah. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9). Let us discard our own ideas, and approach God’s word seeking his wisdom.
Man has always had an excuse for the division that he spawns. We have somewhere gotten the idea that “Freedom of Religion” means that we not only have a right to believe and practice what we want, but whatever we choose to believe is right by virtue of our choosing it. Freedom of religion does not make all religions right any more than “freedom of the press” makes all divergent views correct. God grants us the privilege of believing whatever we want to believe, but he warns through Jesus that only the truth will save. “Jesus therefore said to those Jews that had believed him, If ye abide in my word, then are ye truly my disciples; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32). So then, if a man chooses to believe error he may, but he will be lost in that error. “… they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God sendeth them a working of error, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (II Thessalonians 2:10-12). What is our priority in Bible study? Is it to confirm what we have already made up our minds is true, or to discover the truth?
We have heard it said by many, “But we can’t all understand the Bible alike.” Yet the doctrines of the most controversy involve the simplest of Scriptures. Is baptism involved in salvation? Let’s see. “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16). “Repent and be baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, unto the remission of your sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us …” (I Peter 3:21 KJV). These passages teach plainly on a subject that seems to be so confusing. Can a man fall from grace? “Ye are severed from Christ, ye who would be justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace” (Galatians 5:4). Pretty simple, isn’t it? The confusion on these topics is not caused by difficulty in understanding the passages. It rises from a heart that will not accept the authority of the Scriptures.
“How that by revelation was made know unto me the mystery, as I wrote before in few words, whereby, when ye read, ye can perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ” (Ephesians 3:3-4). We can understand God’s will, all of us, in the same way by reading what was written by inspiration - the Bible. “Now I beseech you, brethren, through 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 perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (I Corinthians 1:10). God, through Paul, demands doctrinal unity in this verse. Does God demand of us the impossible? If not, then we can understand the Bible alike.
What does the Bible say? “And I also say 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” (Matthew 16:18). How many churches did Jesus say he was going to build? Many? “My church” – that’s singular, that’s one, as opposed to the many we find today. “For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy: for I espoused you to one husband, that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ” (II Corinthians 11:2). The church is the “Bride of Christ.” How many brides does Jesus have at once? “And he put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all” (Ephesians 1:22-23). The church of Christ is the body of Christ. “And might reconcile them both in one body unto God through the cross …” (Ephesians 2:16). “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, …” (Ephesians 4:4-5). How many bodies does Jesus have? What do these passages say? He has one body, one church.
Why then, if this teaching is so plain, are there so many churches? It is not because all are following the Bible. That would make God responsible for the division and all the confusion (I Corinthians 14:33). Paul tells us in I Corinthians 4:6-7, “Now these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes; that in us ye might learn not to go beyond the things which are written; that no one of you be puffed up for the one against the other. For who maketh thee to differ?” Who made them differ? What was the cause for them being puffed up for the one against the other? They went beyond the things which were written. They did not recognize the authority of the Scriptures or the limits the Bible set. The implications are plain.
How may we know which church is right? The right church accepts Jesus as its founder and head. “Upon this rock I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18). The right church follows Christ’s teaching. “If ye abide in my word, then are ye truly my disciples” (John 8:31). The right church will not accept that which is false and sinful, and will not harbor those who do. “Whosoever goeth onward and abideth not in the teaching of Christ hath not God: he that abideth in the teaching, the same hath both the Father and the Son. If anyone cometh unto you, and bringeth not this teaching, receive him not into your house, and give him no greeting: for he that giveth him greeting partaketh in his evil works” (II John 9).
Friend, we can be one body, we can be unified like Jesus prayed (John 17:20-21) and Paul demanded (I Corinthians 1:10). We can be if we will all make up our minds to just follow the Bible and do what it says. Let’s leave out opinion and human reasonings and get back to the book. In doing that, we will all be a part of the one true church. Yes, it does make a difference.
(Editor’s note: My good friend David Baker passed from this life, May 13, 2017. He is like righteous Abel of old, though “he being dead yet speaketh” – Hebrews 11:4.)