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Fallacy of Denominationalism, The From time to time we have visitors to services. Most come by way of personal invitation. One remarked that he was not interested in “organized religion.” He had quit attending the denomination he used to be a member of. His reason was that he did not see the relevance of going to church. This got me to thinking about people’s views of religion and being a member of a “church.” Actually it is not surprising this person sees being a member of a church as being unimportant. Denominationalism means that a person is saved and then joins the church of his choice. If one is saved first, then being a member of any church is nonessential to salvation. This means that being a member of any denomination is not important. They want to bypass denominationalism and simply be saved. In many ways I say, AMEN, and Hallelujah. I also care nothing of being a member of a denomination, but I also want to be saved. The problem is the commonly held view of the church. Most think of churches and not church in the singular. They see the “church” as being comprised of denominations. Think of our currency. One can have a hundred dollars in various amounts. They can have five 20 dollar bills, or ten 10 dollar bills, or one hundred 1 dollar bills. They are all equal to $100. It is merely a matter of which you prefer. This goes for each denomination. One can be a member of a denomination that believes in infant sprinkling, another that believes in direct operation of the Holy Spirit, and another that believes in baptism as a sign of being saved, and so on. Really it does not matter, it is just a matter of which one you prefer. At the same time people seem to realize that the church Jesus purchased is not made up of denominations. After all, if the church was made up of denominations, then one must be a member of a denomination to be a member of Christ's body. But they themselves say a person is saved first and then joins a denomination. The reasoning is just flawed. If such is true, then this person was right in wanting to be saved and not a member of a church. The fallacy is the belief that the church is made up of denominations. The church established by Jesus is His church, Matthew 16.18. It was purchased with His blood, Acts 20.2 7. He is the head of His church, Ephesians 1.22a, "And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be heard over all things to the church." He is the foundation of His church, 1 Corinthians 3.11, "For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." He is the Savior of His church, Ephesians 5.23, "For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body." Entrance into His church is not by joining but by obeying the Gospel of Christ. One is baptized for the remission of sins, Acts 2.38. It is in baptism their sins are washed away by the blood of Christ, Acts 22.16. When this is done they are added to the church, Acts 2.47. Jesus did not establish one single denomination, as every denomination was established by someone else. He did not die for any denomination; He is not the head of any denomination. He did not tell the Apostles to baptize anyone into a denomination. In short, Jesus had nothing to do with denominationalism. Think about this. Can one be saved and not be a member of Jesus’ body? Can one be a member of Christ and not be a member of His church? Obviously one can only be saved in Jesus and that makes one a member of His church. It is true a denomination is nothing in our salvation. I will go one step further and say that denominationalism causes people to be lost. They teach false doctrines and offer false hope. Only by going back to the Bible and being a member of the church established on the Day of Pentecost in Jerusalem can we be saved. – Dennis Tucker |