CAN ONE BE IN A DENOMINATION AND BE A CHRISTIAN?
By Murray Wade
We live in a world that has thousands of churches that follow thousands of teachings that contradict one another. These divisions over the Bible are not what Jesus wants. He wants all to be united
(John 17:20-21, ¶ "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 "that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You;that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
Ephesians 4:1-16). ¶ I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 ¶ with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling;
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. 7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. 8 Therefore He says: "When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men. "9 (Now this, "He ascended" --what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.) 11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some
evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head--Christ-- 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
But people being divided about God is nothing new. They had the same problem in the church at Corinth.
1. 1 Corinthians 1:10-31 -
Paul says there were divisions in the church. This should not have been so. Some were following Paul, some Apollos, some Cephas (or Simon Peter), and some Christ. Notice that the divisions happened when people started following men rather than Christ (notice Acts 5:29, But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: "We ought to obey God rather than men. Acts 10:25-26, As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. 26 But Peter lifted him up, saying, "Stand up; I myself am also a man."1 Corinthians 11:1). ¶ Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.
Notice the questions that Paul asks in verse 13 of 1 cor 1. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? Good questions that we can ask today. Then Paul compares the foolishness of man to the wisdom of God. In verse 23 Paul points them back to where they should have been; preaching Christ crucified! but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,
2.
Acts 8:26-39 - ¶ Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, "Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." This is desert. 27 So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go near and overtake this chariot." 30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?" 31 And he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 The place in the Scripture which he read was this: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He opened not His mouth. 33 In His humiliation His justice was taken away, And who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth." 34 So the eunuch answered Philip and said, "I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?" 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. 36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, "See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?"37 Then Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." 38 So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. 39 Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.
The Holy Spirit guided Philip to the Ethiopian eunuch. Philip then preached Jesus to the eunuch. The eunuch obeyed by confessing that he believed that
Jesus was the Son of God and was baptized
(Romans 6:3-7. Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin.
Notice in these scriptures from the Holy Spirit that there is no mention of:
a. Sprinkling or pouring as a substitute for baptism.
There is no verse in the Bible that says we are to be sprinkled or have water poured over us to wash away our sins.
b. There is no mention of the Eunuch saying the "sinner's prayer".
He simply obeyed the gospel of Jesus that Philip preached to him.
C. The Eunuch did not speak in tongues as a sign that he had been converted.
There is no mention of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in this account.We also know that Philip did not have the power or authority to pass on these gifts, as did the apostles (Acts 8:14-20) .
D. Nowhere in the passage is it mentioned that you simply have to accept Jesus as your personal Savior in order to become a Christian.
Rather the eunuch obeyed the gospel and was then added to the body of Christ (Acts 2:47). praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
The fact of the matter is that the Holy Spirit sent Philip to the Ethiopian Eunuch, so he could hear the gospel preached to him. The Eunuch obeyed the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2), the law of liberty (James 1:25, 2:12), and the law of the Spirit (Romans 8:2).
I have a dear friend who is a Methodist and may even be watching now.
He told me last week that he was "a Christian who happens to be a Methodist."
Did the Eunuch become a Methodist or a Christian? The fact is the gospel of Christ produces Christians, followers of Jesus! If you are following the teaching of anyone else (e.g., those who started and continue in denominations) you are not living for Jesus (Luke 9:23, Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. (Acts 4:12). "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
It is impossible to be a Christian and be a follower of a man made religion
(Matthew 7:21-23)! ¶ "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 23 "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'
Conclusion
- ..We encourage you to obey the Lord. Do what the Ethiopian eunuch did.Obey Jesus. Then you can go on your way rejoicing like he did . He rejoiced because he knew his sins had been washed away in the waters of baptism.
He had become a Christian! Also notice that there were no miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit bestowed on him. What saved him was obedience to the gospel of Jesus. Check all the scriptures we have mentioned for yourself, and if they prove to be true, obey them! You to can become a Christian [ a Christian only ] if
BELIEVE...Jn 8:24 "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins;
for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."
REPENT... Acts 17:30 "Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,
CONFESS.. Rom 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and
believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
BE BAPTIZED...Acts 2:38
Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins;and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
If you are an erring child of God you can be reconciled by
REPENTING & CONFESSING Acts 8:22 "Repent therefore of this your
wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.