There
is one other thing that concerns our salvation that I would like
for us to look at in the Bible. In response to Peter’s
confession to Jesus in Matthew 16:16 that, "You are the
Christ, the Son of the living God". Jesus then says in Matthew
16:18, "On this rock I will build My church." To whom
was this church to belong? "My" is possessive, which
shows the church belongs to Jesus. How many churches did Jesus
say He was going to build? He said He was going to build "My
church", which is singular not plural. The Lord only promised
to build His one church. In the Bible the word "church" never
refers to a material building, but to the people.
In Ephesians 4:4-6 there are seven ones listed: "There
is one body, and one Spirit, even as you were called in one
hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one
God and Father of all who is above all, and through all, and
in you all." Just as there is only one God and only one
Lord we also see there is only one body. The Bible says there
is only one body; so what is this one body? In Ephesians 1:21-22
we find out what this one body is, "And He put all things
under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things
to the church, which is His body." Here we see that the
Bible says the church is the body. So if there is only one
body and the one body is the church, then there can only be
one church that belongs to the Lord. There is only one church
in God's plan for man. The one body, the one church, is not
composed of any of the many differing denominations of our
day.
In Colossians 1:18 in speaking of Christ, we read, "And
He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He may have
the preeminence." Here again we see that the body (singular)
is the church (singular). Again the Bible tells us that the
Lord has only one church. We also see that in all things Christ
is to have the preeminence. For Christ to have the preeminence
in all things, we must follow Christ in all things and not
follow man. If we follow men in some things then Christ does
not have the preeminence in all things.
Since Christ only built His one church, we need to ask where
did all these other churches come from? The only answer is
they were built by men, so men could "attend the church
of their choice", and not God’s choice. We read
in Ephesians 5:23, "Christ is the head of the church,
and he is the savior of the body." Christ is only the
saviour of His one body, His one church. He is going to only
save His one church, the only one for which He died. One cannot
be saved outside of the Lord's one church.
We have seen in the Bible that the one body is the one church,
which the Lord built. We have also seen that Christ has only
promised to save His one body, His one church. What then is
going to happen to the hundreds of different kinds of other
churches we see in existence today? Again let us let God answer
this question. In Matthew 15:13 Jesus said, "Every plant,
which my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted." What
will happen to all those churches that God did not plant? They
will be rooted up. This is what God has said He will do. This
is frightening. I want to make sure I am in the Lord’s
church, the only one He is going to save.
In Psalms 127:1 we read, "Except the Lord build the house,
they labor in vain that build it." No one has the right
to start a church or religious organization that is different
from the one Jesus built. But we see hundreds of different
kinds of churches that men have built, each with a different
creed. Man did not build the Lord's church. We must recognize
the difference between the church the Lord built and the many
counterfeit churches men have built. Why not be a member of
the church that Jesus built, the church of Christ so you can
go to heaven. This is a sad but serious situation; one that
concerns me greatly and causes me much grief and sorrow to
see honest people, who are honestly mistaken, laboring in vain.
This is a supreme tragedy.