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Which church is the one true church?
People mistakenly think that there is an earthly
organization that is the one true church. The true church is
not an organization, not a series of buildings, but the body of true
believers. The true church consists of those who are
regenerate; that is, it consists of those who are the true
Christians. There are, however, churches that are Christian
and churches that are not Christian.
But you might ask how we can tell if a church is
Christian or not? The answer is simple once we understand what
makes someone a Christian or not. I've reproduced part of the
information found at
www.carm.org/doctrine/grid.htm which lays out the essential and
non essential doctrines. Once we know what is essential, we
can then look at a church and see if it is Christian or not.
- Primary Essential Doctrines
Cannot be denied and still be Christian since the scriptures
openly declare that to deny them is to bring judgment.
-
Jesus is both God and man (John 1:1,14;
8:24;
Col. 2:9;
1 John 4:1-4).
-
Jesus rose from the dead physically (John 2:19-21;
1 Cor. 15:14).
-
Salvation is by grace through faith (Rom. 5:1;
Eph. 2:8-9;
Gal. 3:1-2; 5:1-4).
-
The gospel is the death, burial, and
resurrection of Jesus (1
Cor. 15:1-4; Gal. 1:8-9).
-
There is only one God (Exodus 20:3;
Isaiah 43:10;
44:6,8)
- Secondary Essential Doctrines
Not explicitly stated in Scripture as essential but they are
derivatively necessary.
-
God exists as a Trinity of
persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (See
Trinity)
- Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary
(nature of incarnation)
- Non-Essential Doctrines
-
Can be believed or not and it does not affect whether or not
one is Christian or not.
-
Predestination, election, limited
atonement, and free will
- Communion every week, monthly, or
quarterly, etc.
- Saturday or Sunday Worship
- Pre, mid, post trib rapture.
- Premill, Amill, post millenialism,
preterism.
- Continuation or cessation of the
charismatic gifts
- Baptism for adults or infants
Therefore,
we can see that if a church or denomination would deny that Jesus is
God in flesh, or physically risen from the dead, then it would not
be Christian. Furthermore, we could have two different
churches that disagree on the non-essentials, but are still
Christian since they affirm the essentials.
Cults
The reason
the cults are not Christian is because they deny the essential
doctrines of Christianity. Mormonism, for example, denies that
there is only one God in all existence and it denies that salvation
is by grace through faith. The Jehovah's Witness organization,
denies the Trinity, the deity of Christ, salvation by grace, and
Jesus' physical resurrection. Therefore, they are not
Christian, either.
So, if we know what the essentials are, we can then
look at a church or denomination (or even a person) and ascertain if
that church is Christian or not by whether or not it denies the
essential doctrines that make Christianity Christian.
Finally, to answer the question of which church is the true
church, the true church is the cross section of believers in all
churches that adhere to the essential doctrines of Christianity.
Return to
Questions about the
Church
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