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Christ, Creeds, Christians, The Church
John R. Gentry
This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men (Matt. 15.8-9).
Simply Christians
When the church of Christ was established in Acts 2, Luke tells us that Peter commanded the people to "repent and be baptized into the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins will be forgiven...So those who received his word were baptized...And the Lord added to the church day by day those who were being saved" (Acts 2.38, 41, 47). To which church did God add them? Lutheran? Mormon? Catholic? Was Peter a member of one denomination and John another? Do these questions seem a little silly? They should. Surely no one would claim that those baptized in Acts 2, Peter, John, or Paul were any thing other than simply Christians. In the New Testament, the apostles’ teaching did not make men and women Catholic or Protestant; their teaching produced Christians only.
No Creed But The Bible
A New Testament Christian will follow the teachings and practices found in the Bible and the Bible only. Peter said, "If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God" (1 Pet. 4.11). Paul said we are "not to go beyond what is written" (1 Cor. 4.6; cf. 2 Jn. 9). Therefore, a New Testament Christian will have a Bible passage (book, chapter, and verse) for everything that he teaches and practices.
You cannot take the Bible and make a Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, or anything other than simply a Christian. In order to be a Baptist one must adhere to the teachings of men found in the Baptist Manual (or similar Baptist creed). To become a Methodist one must believe and practice what is found in the Methodist Discipline. One is a Catholic who follows the Catholic Catechisms. It is the different creeds written by men that differentiates one denomination from another. New Testament Christians have no such creed.
Our Plea To You
Our prayer and plea to you is that you will desire to be a part of a church that preaches and practices what was preached and practiced in the New Testament and that you will be simply a Christian. If you are a member of a denomination, we encourage you to examine the scriptures to determine whether or not the church you are a part of (along with its creed) is mentioned in the Bible. You too can be simply a Christian and a member of the church built by Jesus (Matt. 16.18)
originally published in the Banner-Gazette
2007.08.22