The Distinctiveness Of The Lord's Church.
In order to understand the necessity of baptism for salvation, you must understand the Lord's church. Do you realize that the church of Christ has distinctiveness? By this, I mean that there are things unique about the church of Christ that is not found in any other religious institution. And further, because of these distinctive characteristics, God is well pleased with it. Let us look at the differences of the church of Christ that makes it so distinctive.
First of all we can see that the church of Christ was from eternity within the mind and purpose of God. Paul told the Ephesian church about the church saying, "Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of His power. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be know by the church the manifold wisdom of God: (Eph 3: 7-10). We can see that God planned for the church to reveal the gospel to the world, and did so from the beginning. All other religious institutions began with a man or a group of men upholding a purpose or idea, and are not as old as the first century church of Christ. Well you might be thinking, "Wasn't the church of Christ just some work of Alexander Campbell and Barton Stone, or James O'Kelley or some other man in the 19th century?" It is true, the church of Christ was not known openly in the colonies or the United States before the 19th century, but this is not saying that there were not men and women worshipping God in Spirit and truth ( Jn 4:24) in the United States before the 19th century. Alexander Campbell and Barton Stone and other faithful men began to uphold the Bible as the exclusive doctrine of faith in the early 19th century. They were men who left the creeds of men and institutions of men to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ without the connection to man made institutions. They had a single battle cry, "We will speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where the Bible is silent; to say Bible things in Bible ways and call Bible things by Bible names. They shunned the titles given to men such as Reverend and Right Reverend. They travelled extensive through the United States and the frontier preaching the saving gospel of Christ and baptizing believers for the remission of sins, just as Peter and the apostles did on that faithful Pentecost day when the church of Christ began in Jerusalem about 33 AD. In this manner, they were a duplication of the church of the first century and well pleasing in God's sight. If not, then why not? (2 Jn 9).
The worship of the church of Christ is very distinctive as it has always been. The assembly has always met on the first day of the week (Sunday) since the first century. It never met on Saturday to worship God as an exclusive day of worship. It has always preached the Bible as was delivered by the prophets and apostles by the Holy Spirit and never the dictates of man handed down by conventions and synods. It partakes of the Lord's supper of unleaven bread and grape juice as has always been done, and never substituted water for the grape juice and one major religious institution has done. It sings songs without the use of man made instruments of music just like the first century church. It took a collection for the work of the church on the first day (Sunday) exclusively, and not every time the church came together, just like the first century church. It prays with men in leadership of the prayer, in every place where men and women meet together (1 Tim 2:8), just like the first century church, and women are to keep silent ( that is they are not to openly preach or pray in the church assembly) in the church (1 Cor.14:34). All this makes the church of Christ different from man made institutions, and its a difference you should consider in your religious life
So when you meet a member of the church of Christ, don't think of him or her as a freak or wierdo. Think of them as people seeking to do God's will through Jesus Christ; speaking where the Bible speaks and being silent on non-biblical subject but religious subjects. Jesus told his disciples to go into all the world and preach the eternal gospel and to those who would listen and believe it, who would be obedient to its commands, be baptized for the remission of sins, God would allow them to become his children. (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 2:38; Gal. 3:26-27).
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