Author Unknown

  Many people feel that we should not talk about things if we don’t agree on them. They feel that the important thing is to “love one another,” and if some people don’t go along with what the Bible teaches, we shouldn’t be too concerned about it. It may not make us popular to stand for things that other churches do not appreciate, but if we stand for what the Bible really teaches, this WILL make us “popular” with the Lord. We believe this is what really matters.

If men, like Martin Luther, had felt that we should keep quiet about what we  believe, just to “keep peace,” we would still be living in the dark ages.

Most “fundamental churches” agree with almost all the doctrines we hold to in our church, but most of them do not understand that our message today is the one that was given by the Lord Jesus Christ to the Apostle Paul. They do not see that Paul’s message was different from the message that the other Apostles had preached to the nation of Israel. They feel that perhaps we should take part of our message from God’s Kingdom Program or from some other program in the Bible.

There are three main areas of disagreement that make us different. They are:

(1) The Beginning of the Church, the Body of Christ,

(2) The Great Commission, and

(3) Water Baptism.

Pay close attention as we explain what we do NOT believe and what we DO believe about these things.

 

THE CHURCH, THE BODY OF CHRIST

 We DO NOT believe …

1. That every time the word “church” is found in the New Testament, it is talking about the same church. The word “church” means a “called out assembly” or group of people. Some “churches” in the Bible are:

    A. The Pentecostal assembly at Jerusalem: Acts 2:47.
    B.  Israel in the Wilderness: Acts 7:38.
    C. The mob of idol worshippers at Ephesus: Acts 19:32.
    D. A political assembly: Acts 19:39.
    E. The Body of Christ: Ephesians 1:22-23.

2. That Christ was talking about the Church of this Age in Matthew 16:13-20.

     A. This is what Roman Catholics believe and many Protestants agree to also.

3. That the Day of Pentecost was the “birthday of the Church.”

     A. This is what most other churches  believe.

     B. Acts 2:16 tells us that what happened at Pentecost was foretold by Joel in the Old Testament whereas other Scriptures, such as Ephesians 3:1-10 and Colossians 1:24-26, tell us that the Church of today was a secret until the Lord Jesus Christ revealed it to the Apostle Paul.

We DO Believe …

1. That the Church of this Age is never talked about in the Old Testament (Col. 1:24-26).

2. That the Church of today was a secret that only God knew and He revealed it to the Apostle Paul.

     A. Romans 16:25

    B. Ephesians 3:1-9

    C. Colossians 1:24-26

3. That the Church today is formed by the joining of Jew and Gentile into One Body. We are joined together in this Body by the baptism of the Holy Spiri

     A. 1 Timothy 1:16

     B. 1 Corinthians 3:10-11

THE GREAT COMMISSION

 The second thing we believe differently from most Christians concerns our job as believers.

We DO NOT believe …

1. That the “marching orders” or instructions for the Church today are what most believers call the “Great Commission.”

2. That the Church must work under this Commission in order to have missionaries and do missionary work.

We DO believe …

1. That Christ gave three different Commissions—all of them great.

     A. To Israel only: Matthew 10:5-13, 19, 22

     B. To Israel first and then to the world: Matthew 28:16-20; Acts 3:25-26

     C. To all alike: 2 Corinthians 5:14-21. This Commission was given by the Lord Jesus Christ after His death, burial, resurrection and ascension. This is for members of the Body of Christ in this Age.

2. That our Commission tells a two-part message:

     A. The Good News that God, through Christ, has reconciled (made savable) the world (Rom. 5:10-11). This reconciliation, if accepted, means an individual will be saved.

     B. The Good News of God’s (secret) purpose (Rom. 16:25-26), which establishes the believer. Believers are responsible to make this purpose known (Eph. 3:9).

 

BAPTISM

The third area of disagreement is water baptism. Christians disagree about this more than almost anything else.

We DO NOT believe …

1. That baptism is an unimportant teaching in the Bible. Accord- ing to Acts 2:38, the Holy Spirit was received by water baptism.

2. That the Word “baptism” always means being put into water or having water sprinkled on you (Mt. 3:11; Lk. 12:50; 1 Cor. 10:1- 2).

3. That water baptism was first used by Christ (read Ex. 29:1-4; 19:6; Lev. 17:15-16; Jn. 1:31).

4. That water baptism is included as part of our gospel today (read 1 Cor. 1:17).

We DO believe …

1. That water baptism was something God had Israel do while they were still in His favor (Heb. 9:8-10).

2. That water baptism and sign gifts go together. In the Book of Acts, every time there was a water baptism, a miracle hap- pened, either before or after the baptism. Water baptism and the sign gifts went off the scene at the same time. This was when Israel was set aside by God (Acts 28:28).

3. That for this Age there is ONE baptism and by this baptism, the Body of Christ is made (read Eph. 4:4-6; 1 Cor. 12:13).

     A. This baptism identifies the believer with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection (Rom. 6:3-4; Col. 2:9-12).

     B. This baptism puts the believer into Christ and makes him a member of His Body (Gal. 3:27; 1 Cor. 12:13).

4. That saying passages like Romans 6 are about water baptism eliminates one of the greatest truths in the Bible.