In order to be in
the one church the Lord established, those added to it by the Lord must be
saved according to His requirements. In Acts 2:47 we read, "And the Lord added to the church daily those who were
being saved." The Lord only adds the saved to His
church. The Lord makes no mistakes. We are not saved just
because we think or say we are. We are saved only when we have done
what God has said we must do. Jesus says in Matthew 7:21, "Not everyone who says to Me Lord, Lord shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father which is in
heaven." We must do God’s will, not man’s will, to go to
heaven.
According to the
Bible, who are the saved? Jesus is quite clear as to who the saved
are. Jesus says in Mark l6:16, "He that believes
and is baptized shall be saved." A person has to have help to
misunderstand what the Lord says here. Here we see the Bible says we
must believe and be baptized in order to be saved. This is what
Jesus says. But men have tried to change what the Lord has
said. Men today say that all you have to do is "to accept Christ as
your personal Saviour" and you will be saved. This may sound good
and impressive, but this is false. Where in the Bible are you told
that all you have to do to be saved is "to accept Christ as your personal
Saviour"? It is not there. Men say that one does not have to
be baptized to be saved, because they say you are saved before you are
baptized. Who are you going to follow men or Christ? Do not
allow the different doctrines of men to blind or confuse you concerning
your salvation. You too much to lose.
And also Peter
tells us in 1 Peter 3:21, "The like figure baptism
does now save us." Only when we have obeyed the Lord’s
command to be baptized will we be saved. These scriptures will be
the only standard of judgment on Judgment Day, and not what we think or
what men say. Jesus says in John 12:48, "The
word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day." Are
you putting your trust and confidence in what men say or what God has said
in the Bible? You will have to make the choice whether you are going
to follow God’s word or man’s word.
Also in order to be
the church which Jesus built, the church must worship God and Christ
according to the way They have specified. We are told in Ephesians
5:17, "Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what
the will of the Lord is." It is very unwise not to find out
and understand what the will of the Lord is. The vast majority of
people do not know what the will of the Lord is. All you have to do
is look around and see all of the differing doctrines that are being
taught in all the differing churches. Are they understanding and
following the will of God? Absolutely not. If they were there
would only be the one church which Christ established, the church of
Christ. This is a pitiful condition of which people should be
ashamed, but they are not.
If you are not
worshipping God and Christ the way They have specified in the Bible then
your worship is vain. Our Lord says in Mark 7:7, "And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the
commandments of men." Have you been following the
commandments of men and only some of what God says in the Bible? If
you have this is vain. Jesus says in Matthew 28:20, "Teaching them to observe all things that I have
commanded you." We must observe all the Lord has commanded us
and only what the Lord has commanded us. Is your worship vain?
If it is then it will do you no good and you will be lost
eternally.
Each congregation
of the Lord’s church is autonomous. The church that Jesus built does
not have a central earthly headquarters. There is no Biblical
authority for an earthly headquarters. Christ is the only head over
His church. As we read in Ephesians 1:22, "And
He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things
to the church." The church is not to be overseen by a pope,
patriarch, president, cardinals, association, convention, synod or any
other organization that man has come up with.
Each autonomous
congregation of the Lord’s church is to be overseen by a group of
elders. In Acts 14:23 we read, "So when they had
appointed elders in every church." Notice there is to be a
plurality of elders in every church or congregation. This is the way
the Lord set up His church.
But what does the
Lord intend for the elders to do in His church? In Acts 20:28 the
apostle Paul was talking to the elders from the church at Ephesus and told
them, "Therefore take heed to yourselves, and to all
the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you
overseers." The church the Lord built is to be
overseen by a group of elders. The qualifications of elders who are
to oversee each congregation of the Lord's church are given in 1 Timothy
3:1-7 and in Titus 1:3-9. Is the church you belong to overseen by a
plurality of elders? If not, why not? Or is your church
overseen by the preacher? If it is to be the Lord’s church and has
men who qualify, each congregation is to be overseen by a plurality of
elders.
If we really accept
the Bible as our only authority, we will want to worship God only as He
has specified. We must reject human traditions and doctrines such as
creed books, catechisms, manuals, articles of faith, confessions of faith,
the book of Mormon, the Koran, constitutions, disciplines and other
guidelines which men have written, all of which produce new and differing
religious doctrines.
We are warned in
Colossians 2:8, "Beware lest anyone cheat you
through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of
men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not
according to Christ." It would be a tragedy to find out
on Judgment Day we have been cheated of our eternal reward in heaven; but
it will be too late then. These differing doctrines have caused the
many departures from the New Testament teaching concerning Christ and His
church.
Questions Lesson 23
Only The Saved Are In The Lord’s
Church (click on the button of the answer of
your choice)
1) (Acts 2:47) How does one get into the Lord’s
church?
We join it.
The Lord adds the saved to it.
We are voted in.
2)
There are no unsaved people in the Lord’s church.
3) (Matthew 7:21) How do we become saved so the Lord
will add us to
His church?
By doing what our preacher says.
By doing what we think is right.
By doing the will of the Father in heaven.
4)
We are saved only when we have done what God says we
must
do.
5) (Mark 16:16) What must we do in order to be
saved?
Accept Jesus as our personal Saviour.
Believe and be baptized.
Only believe.
6)
One does not have to be baptized (immersed) to be saved.
7) (John 12:48) What will be the standard of
judgment on Judgment
Day?
The words of Jesus.
What our preacher says.
What the majority thinks.
8)
What we personally think is right will be the standard for us
on Judgment
Day.
9) (Ephesians 5:17) How can we be wise?
By following the majority of people.
By understanding what the will of the Lord is.
By doing what we think is best.
10)
It is very unwise not to find out and understand what the will
of the Lord
is.
11) (Mark 7:7) If we follow what men say when we
worship God
Our worship is vain.
We are pleasing to God if we are sincere.
God will overlook it.
12)
If we are not worshipping God and Christ the way They
have specified in
the Bible then our worship is vain.
13) (Acts 14:23, 20:28) Each congregation of the
Lord’s church is to be
overseen by
The pastor.
A board of deacons.
A plurality of elders.
14)
There is to be a plurality of elders to oversee each
congregation of the
Lord’s church.
15) (Colossians 2:8) We will not be cheated out of
our eternal reward
If our worship is according to the traditions of men.
If our worship is entertaining to us.
If our worship is according to the basic principles of
Christ.
16)
It would be a tragedy to find out on the Day of Judgment
that we had been
cheated of our eternal reward in heaven
by trying to worship God after the
commandments of men.