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CAN WE IDENTIFY THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH?
Just down the street from where this article is being written, there are buildings where
Baptist and Pentecostal churches meet. Over a few more blocks, there are buildings for Lutheran
and Methodist churches. How does one know who these churches are? How does one
distinguish among them? Are there any differences? Does one of them have some truth that they
originated that the others do not have? Are they all described within the New Testament?
To say there are no differences is foolishness. To say all of them have different truths
assumes the others do not have or practice some truths. To say each separate denomination
cannot be identified easily is ridiculous. All of them can be identified by several cardinal points:
(1) name, (2) doctrines taught and practiced, (3) worship activities, (4) works of benevolence,
evangelism, and social involvement, and (5) terms of membership. They all differ and are
distinctive. That is what denominates them! This is why they are called denominations!
Now in reading the New Testament, one is forced to understand that today’s religious
community is a far cry from that of the first century. It is easy to identify all the differing
denominations today; is it impossible to identify the Lord’s people in AD 60?
The Lord’s Church was present in the first century.i
Something was started by Jesus. He promised to build something (Matthew16:18), in
matters of settling disputes Jesus said stubborn recalcitrance was to be reported to something
(Mathew 18:17), Jesus died that something might be purchased with his blood (Acts 20:28), and
Jesus relates to something as a bridegroom to a bride (Ephesians 5: 25, 32). Jesus will claim this
“bride” in eternity (Ephesians 5:27), and he will save this body of people over which he has been
made head (Ephesians1:22-23; 5:23). Jesus can be glorified by this same something (Ephesians
3:21), and he expects it to continue throughout all time to be the ”pillar and ground of the truth”
(I Timothy 3:15). This “something” is his church, his called-out people, his body of saints, his
great congregation of believers. These facts are beyond question to Bible believers.
Something was known by the apostles and inspired writers. Paul could identify at least
twelve congregations located in different cities throughout the world: Rome, Corinth, Ephesus,
Philippi, Cenchrea, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe, Thessalonica, Caesarea, Antioch, and Jerusalem.
Further, Paul spoke of churches meeting in the houses of Aquila and Prisca and Philemon
(Romans 16:5, I Corinthians 16:19; Philemon 2). He identified multiple congregations in regions
of Galatia (Galatians 1:2; I Corinthians 16:1), as well as Syria and Cilicia (Acts 15:41).
The apostle John knew that churches could be identified, since he wrote an inspired letter
to the seven churches in Asia (Revelation 1:4). The writer James (not the apostle but the half
brother of Jesus) instructed saints to call for the “elders of the church” in matters of illness (James
5:14).ii Luke, the inspired author of Acts of the Apostles, mentions that great fear came upon the
church (5:11), that persecution arose against the church (8:1, 3, 12:1), and that churches existed
in numerous cities (11:22, 26; 13:1; 14:23, 27;18:22). These were but congregations of the
universal church that the Lord built and for which he died.
The Lord’s church in New Testament days was not hard to find. One had a choice
between rampant idolatry , adherence to the fulfilled and outdated Mosaic law, or following the
Lord Jesus Christ. Unfortunately today one can become confused because there are so many
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different churches all claiming to follow the Lord. Thus, one needs all the more to study what the
Bible has to say about the church that Jesus built.
The Lord’s church could be found in Corinth.
If one could walk the dusty streets of metro Corinth 1900 years ago, the Lord’s church
could be found by a little investigation into worship activities. They would be found meeting
regularly on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7), at which time they would be offering their
contributions back to the Lord (I Corinthians 16:1-2). In their assemblies they were known to be
offering prayers and song worship (I Corinthians 14:15).iii Also in these assemblies they partook
of the Lord’s Supper, a memorial of the Lord’s giving his body and blood for sinners (I
Corinthians 11:17-34). Just as Paul had given them messages from God in their studies (I
Corinthians 2:1-5), they understood that speeches in the assemblies were to edify the entire group
(I Corinthians 14:5).iv
Thus, the church in Corinth could be identified readily and easily by its worship activities.
Five in number, they were easily identified: contribution, prayers, music worship, eating of the
Lord’s Supper, and studies of God’s word.
Many activities seen in assemblies of denominations today are foreign to the New
Testament. Rituals of prayers, burning of incense, bowing before statues, lighting of candles,
instrumental music, drama, cantatas, special musical entertainment, pageants, festivals,
celebrations of special holidays, athletic contests and demonstrations of prowess, testifying, altar
calls, miracle healing lines, book reviews, political promotions, holy laughter, slaying in the Spirit,
and reenactments of the crucifixion of Jesus are some of the things invented by men to offer in
worship activities.
If one were visiting ancient Corinth, the Lord’s church could be identified easily by its
simple activities in worship. The same can be said today for those who still respect the authority
of God’s word and strive to imitate in the 21st century the church that began its function in the 1st
century.
The Lord’s church was identified by known principles.
Persons who believed in Jesus as the Son of God, the Christ, were given the power, or
right, to become the sons of God (John 1:11-12).
Persons who exercised that power obeyed the gospel, the truth of God (Romans 10:16; II
Thessalonians 1:8; Hebrews 5:9; I Peter 1:14, 22). In exercising that power, they repented of their
sins (Luke 13:3; Acts 2:38; 20:21), they were given the privilege of confessing their faith verbally
(Romans 10:9-10; I Timothy 6:12), and they were immersed into Christ for the remission of their
sins (Acts 2:38; Romans 6:1-7; Galatians 3:27). This completed the “new birth,” and they became
children of God in his kingdom (John 3:3-5; I Peter 1:23; I John 3:1). They were added to the
Lord’s people by the Lord (Acts 2:42, 47; 5:14; 11:24). They did not join anything. They did not
follow membership requirements, since the church of the Lord has no membership requirements.
They followed the Lord’s requirements, and he did not teach anyone to join a denomination.
Thus, first century Christians did not join any denomination; denominations did not exist.
Obedient believers were called “Christians” (Acts 11:26; 26:28; I Peter 4:16) and did not have any
denominational name. “Christian” was enough.
Persons thus convicted of truth accepted the authority of Jesus Christ. From this
beginning point onward, such persons looked to Jesus for all authority (Matthew 28:18;
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Ephesians 1:20-23; Colossians 1:16-18; I Peter 3:22). Any activities of worship would therefore
be described in his testament. Any activities of work would be mentioned in his testament. These
persons would “speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where it is silent.” They would strive
to “do all for which there is a ‘thus sayeth the Lord’ and refrain from doing anything when there is
no ‘thus sayeth the Lord.’”
Persons sustained a relationship with Jesus. Being born anew, these baptized believers
were children of God and spiritually separated from the world. (I John 5:19; 2:15-17). They were
in the Lord’s family (Ephesians 3:15; I Timothy 3:15 – “house” is a word meaning “household” or
family, thus they sustained a relationship as children of God – Romans 8:14, 16).
Persons lived separated, godly lives. Understanding their new relationship, Christians
sought the things above (Colossians 3:1-3) and followed in the footsteps of the Lord (I Peter
2:21). They presented their bodies a living sacrifice to God (Romans 12:1-2) and gave
themselves over to righteousness (Romans 6:12-14, 19). They abstained from fleshly lusts
(Galatians 5:17-21; I Peter 2:11) and strove to put on the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-26).
Persons performed on behalf of the Lord. There are three special identifying features of
Christian performance: worship, work, and proclamation. All of their activities of worship were
prescribed in the New Testament (as the description of Corinth’s worship above), all their work
endeavors were those Jesus asked his people to do in his name, and their proclamation was the
word of God only. There were no creed books, catechisms, articles of doctrine, prayer books,
third testaments of Jesus, standard manuals, or papal additions. There were no conventions or
enclaves to vote on doctrinal changes, additions, or deletions. Such things belong to man-made
religions, not the religion of Jesus Christ.
Denominations cannot qualify as the Lord’s church.
1. Denominations do not accept only the authority of the Lord. By the fact that they
denominate themselves, it is evident that they respect man’s authority in addition to
the Lord’s. The Lord denounced such substitutions and additions (Mark 7:6-9).
2. Members of denominations do not sustain a relationship to Jesus as children of God.
By obeying membership requirements of a denomination, they fail to obey fully the
Lord’s requirements. No denomination teaches or practices the new birth as described
by Jesus. Many practice some form of baptism, but it is not immersion for the
remission of sins. If persons within a denomination are truly added by God to his
family, it is because they have obeyed the truth of God’s word and not because they
have followed the teachings of their denomination. If they are members of the Lord’s
church, then they are additionally members of a denomination, for they have obeyed
the Lord’s requirements plus the membership requirements of a denomination. It takes
the word of God plus the word of man (denominational requirements) for a Christian
to be a member of a denomination. The Lord cannot add one to his church who has
not obeyed his will, and the Lord will not add one to a denomination.
3. Their personal lives may be very spiritual, but without sustaining the right relationship
as children of God, they cannot please God. One may have the right relationship and
not practice the right character traits. Inversely, one may have the right character
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traits and not have the right relationship. It takes both the right relationship and the
right spiritual character traits to please God.
4. Their worship practices involve human origins and ideas. They do not refrain from
adding to the word of the Lord since they add practices that are pleasing to humans
but not known to please God. If God were pleased by those practices, the Bible
would say so.
5. They preach human doctrines. Note the names they wear. All of them are of human
origin. Note their membership requirements, which always involve human rules. No
Divine doctrine involves a denomination. No Divine precept leads one to be a member
of a denomination. If so, where is it stated in the Bible?
6. Denominations are too young to be identified as the church Jesus built. All of them
began hundreds of years later, and all of their distinctive doctrines are also too young.
Paul declared all truth was preached by the apostles in the 1st century and had been
heard by Christians of that day (Galatians 1:6-9). Churches and doctrines that have
come into existence since the 1st century cannot be the church of the New Testament
nor the doctrines it taught.
Ecumenical claims are not valid.
Claims for unity and ecumenicity are heralded today, but most of them are not valid. True
it is that there is one body of Christ, the church (Ephesians 4:4), and also true it is that Jesus is the
vine and individual members are the branches (John 15:1-6 – note that “man” is specified
as a branch, v. 6, not a denominational church). It cannot be true that all denominations go
together to make up the Lord’s church.
Since the major part of the teachings and practices of denominations do conform to the
Bible, some argue that “all have some truth to contribute.” Truth does not originate with a
denomination; truth originated in the mind of God and is revealed in scripture (John 8:31-32;
17:17). No denomination contributes any truth different from that revealed in the Bible.
However, they all contribute doctrines of men.
“Surely grace will cover all honest persons” is but another empty claim of denominations
and even, regrettably, of some of my brethren who defend denominations. God’s grace is his free
gift (Ephesians 2:8-9), and the redemption by grace is in Jesus Christ (Romans 3:24). Only those
who have been baptized into Christ can receive this gracious offer (Galatians 3:27). God’s grace
has always been conditional and honesty is not the only condition. The Ephesian brethren who
were told they were saved by grace had heard and believed the truth (Ephesians 1:13), had
repented (Acts 20:21), and had been baptized into Christ (Acts 19:1-7; Ephesians 4:5). Then and
only then were they said to be saved by grace.
The answer is “Yes.”
The Lord’s people, his church, can be identified. By using the same simple principles one
uses to identify denominations, one can identify the church today that follows the New Testament
teachings of the Lord.
“The churches of Christ salute you” (Romans 16:16)
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Roy H. Lanier Jr.
i
Hugo McCord, in his translation (McCord’s Translation of the Everlasting Gospel, World English
School, Inc., Sweet Home, Texas, 1989, Third Edition, Appendix, p. 492) eliminates the word “church.”
Instead he uses “called-out people” (36 times), “congregation” (75 times), “assembly” (1 time), and
“gathering” (2 times). He cites William Tyndale and Alexander Campbell as having done the same. He
states “The word ‘church’ historically refers to a physical building, a meetinghouse, which the Lord’s
people in the first century did not build, and for which there is no New Testament word.”
ii
Controversy surrounds this instruction, but it most likely refers only to elders of the first century upon
whom apostles had laid their hands and given miraculous healing gifts. Regardless of this controversy,
James still recognized an identifiable group of persons, the Lord’s church, among whom there were
elders.
iii
This musical offering was known to be without any instrumental accompaniment, but was a cappella.
Though the Jews within the Mosaic worship were accustomed to using various instruments, it is accurate
historically to know that they ceased using instruments in the worship of Jesus Christ. For a thorough
treatise on this controversy see Everett Ferguson, A Cappella Music in the Public Worship of the Church,
(Biblical Research Press, Abilene, Texas, 1972), pp. 52-56.
iv
Chapters 12-14 of I Corinthians deal with the use of spiritual gifts (miraculous abilities) in the
assemblies which were bestowed upon the Christians by the laying on of the hands of the apostles (Acts
8:14-17). Since there are no apostles alive today, Christians do not have these miraculous gifts to use in
worship assemblies. However, the fact remains that speeches and lessons in the congregational assemblies
are to be for the benefit of all of the hearers.