The Church Of Christ
The church of Christ claims to be over nineteen hundred years old, having been established upon the first Pentecost after the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. Their claim to this antiquity is not historical but doctrinal. The Bible teaches that the seed which produces Christians is the Word of God (Luke 8:4-15; Rom. 1:16), and in any age when the pure word of God is preached and men become obedient to it the result is a New Testament Christian and when New Testament Christians meet to worship and serve God as directed in His word the result is a New Testament church. It is for this reason that members of the church of ,Christ resent being called a denomination, and desire rather to be called simply Christians and members of the church of Christ.
Due to the movement that brought men back to the position of doing Bible things in Bible ways and calling Bible things by Bible names many people are confused about the origin of the church of Christ. The origin of the church must not be confused with the time, place, or persons who cause it to be established in any section of the country or in any generation.
As all who are familiar with religious history know the fortunes of the religion of Christ have not always maintained an even keel. From the death of the apostles to the beginning of the nineteenth century many and contrary things were done in the name of Christ until we find what is commonly known as denominationalism firmly entrenched at the beginning of the nineteenth century.
Early in the nineteenth century there sprang up, at various places all over the world, all independent one from another, a series of movements which must rightly be called "RESTORATION" movements. These movements were motivated by men desirous of restoring New Testament Christianity as it was in the days of the apostles. The world had grown weary of "reformation" attempts. One by one it had seen the attempts to reform existing religious bodies meet with failure. So these men were not trying to reform any existing body, they wanted to restore primitive Christianity to the world.
Leaders in this field of thought were the Haldane brothers and Rowland Hill of Scotland, James O'Kelly of North Carolina, Elias Smith, and Abner Jonas of New England, Barton W. Stone of Kentucky, Thomas and Alexander Campbell from Scotland, and numerous others of greater and lesser renown. It must be kept in mind that this was not a coalition, but that in widely separated areas and entirely independently one of another these men were coming to the firm and unalterable conviction that true Christianity was utterly impossible under the creedalism of their day, and that the only way for the church to be what God wanted it to be was through a complete "RESTORATION" of the church as it was in the days of the apostles. The "RESTORATION" plea had certain cardinal principles so simply stated that their truthfulness was apparent to all. And it is for these same principles that we are still pleading today.
Briefly put, some of the things for which the churches of Christ are pleading are as follows:
1. Christ the only Creed: The chief person in Christianity is Christ. The fact that he is the Christ, the Son of the living God, was the central truth in all of the preaching of the apostles. The only article of faith imposed upon those who became Christians in New Testament times was the personal belief that Jesus is the Christ. (Acts 8:36-39; Romans 10:9, 10.)
2. The New Testament the only rule of faith and practice: Human creed books, manuals and disciplines have always been the occasion, and often even the cause of discord, division and strife. Since all professing to be Christians accept the Bible, the churches of Christ plead for the abandonment of all man-made rules of faith and practice and a return to complete reliance on the word of God alone. The word of God is able to furnish us unto all good works. (2 Timothy 3:16, 17.)
3. Bible names the only names. The early disciples were called "Christians." (Acts 11:26.) That is an honorable and glorious name. Their congregations were called "churches of Christ." (Romans 16:16.) Other names not found in the Bible cause division and strife, and hence, are displeasing to God.
4. The church the only organization: Modern ecclesiasticism has organized itself into innumerable societies, guilds, clubs and denominational machinery. But in the day of the church's greatest power and highest glory the local congregation was the only organization known. The church, as such, can do all the work God wants done. Hence, there are no earthly headquarters for the churches of Christ and each congregation is completely independent and carries on its own work as directed in the Bible.
5. New Testament worship the only rites: The essence of Christian worship in the early ages was simplicity — a worship that was spiritual and not material. The great emphasis given to religious pageantry, ritualism and elaborate forms in many churches today cannot but destroy the true purpose of worship. The appeal is to the senses rather than to the spirit. The churches of Christ are seeking to duplicate in the twentieth century the reverence, devotion and earnest spirituality which enabled the early Christians to live glorious lives of purity and holiness in the midst of a pagan and antagonistic world.
6. Salvation upon the terms of the New Testament: Salvation is promised in the New Testament to those who have faith in Christ (John 8:24; Romans 10:10), repent of past sins (Luke 13:3; Acts 17:30), confess faith in Christ before men (Matthew 10:32, 33; Romans 10:10), are baptized for the remission of sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38), and then live a godly life here upon the earth. (Philippians 2:12; 2 Peter 1:5-11.) Thus the Bible teaches and thus we plead.
There is one confusing thing about the name church of Christ. It is everywhere recognized as a Bible name and consequently many different churches have begun to use this name in recent years. Hence, a study of the Bible is necessary in order to determine whether any religious organization is truly a church of Christ or whether it is simply "church of Christ" in name only.