Jesus, the Carpenter, built a church (Matthew 16:18). Jesus, the Founder, established only one church (Acts 2). Jesus, the Purchaser, paid for only one church (Acts 20:28). Jesus, the Savior, puts every saved person in it (Acts 2:47). Jesus, the Proprietor, manages only one church (Ephesians 5:25–27; 1 Peter 2:5) Is His same church on earth today?
This is one of the most important questions a sinner can ask. If the answer is no, then one need not be concerned about church affiliation. If it is yes, then one must find the true church to enjoy spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3), including salvation (2 Timothy 2:10). How may one determine the answer? If he asks for opinions, no justified conclusion will be reached. If he consults creeds, he will not find a trustworthy answer. If he looks to his forefathers’ traditions, he may well find mistaken practices.
Since the kingdom is the church, terms used interchangeably in Matthew 16:18–19, and the kingdom was guaranteed to be indestructible (Daniel 2:44), endless (Luke 1:32–33), immoveable (Hebrews 12:28), and to outlast the world (2 Timothy 4:18; 2 Peter 1:11; 1 Corinthians 15:24), it follows that the church must still be around. Many churches have been established through the centuries since Jesus returned to heaven, and they teach practically everything under the sun. How could one find Jesus’ church in such a hodgepodge of institutions, buildings, websites, books, dogmas, and promotions? It is not as impossible as it seems at first blush. The Bible promises to equip us with everything needed for every situation (2 Timothy 3:17; 2 Peter 1:3). It claims to be the authority in spiritual matters (Isaiah 8:20; 1 Peter 4:11). It gives reliable answers. It is inspired (2 Timothy 3:16), true (John 17:17), understandable (Ephesians 3:4), and worthy of being followed (2 Peter 1:3). Let us start with Scripture, use the common sense God gave us, and see what can be determined.
We might ask, “What do we know about the church Jesus built?” The Bible replies . . .
ONLY ONE CHURCH WAS PROPHESIED
The Old Testament contains many promises of the coming kingdom or church. Isaiah revealed at least five characteristics in one passage around 750 b.c.:
Now it shall come to pass in the latter days [Christian Dispensation] that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it [universality]. Many people shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways [knowledge as the gateway to entrance], and we will walk in His paths [faithfulness required of members]. For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares [peaceable nature], and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” (Isaiah 2:2–4).
Daniel prophesied of it:
In the days of these kings [Roman Empire] the God of heaven will set up a kingdom [type of government] which shall never be destroyed [duration]; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people [divine protection]; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever (Daniel 2:44).
Another beautiful picture of it is a shepherd and his flock (Ezekiel 37:24). God predicted that He would set one Shepherd and King over all His followers (both Jews and Gentiles). This was fulfilled in the church, where Jesus is both the Shepherd of the flock and King of the kingdom (John 10:11, 16; 1 Corinthians 15:24–26).
ONLY ONE CHURCH WAS PROMISED
Jesus said, “On this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). This promise contains three facts:
- His church would be singular in number. He never promised to build many churches; He promised only one.
- It would be separated from the world. The word church (ekklesia in Greek) means “called out.”
- It would be secure. The gates of hell—Satan’s plots, policies, and power—would not be able to overwhelm it. Jesus would die on a cross, but Satan would not be able to keep Him dead. Jesus would be resurrected and accomplish its founding in spite of all the devil could do.
It follows that the one institution that Jesus left behind, the church of Christ, is the true church. It was established on the first Pentecost after His resurrection (recorded in Acts 2). One can read of its history, doctrines, and practices in the New Testament epistles (Romans–Jude).
Wherever the New Testament has been preached and practiced, the church of Christ has sprung up throughout history and throughout nations.
Someone might object, saying, “I thought all different churches made up the one church He promised to build, and the different churches are just the branches of the vine” (John 15:1–7). No, Jesus said that He is the vine and Christians (disciples)— not churches—are the branches. Jesus’ church was never to be divided. He prayed for all His followers to be “one” (John 17:20–21). He rebuked those who were divided (1 Corinthians 1:10–13), commanding them to “speak the same thing,” and be of “the same judgment.” Churches wearing different names, teaching different doctrines, obeying different plans of salvation, and worshiping in different ways, cannot make up the one church that Jesus promised. They oppose each other and confuse the world (cf. John 17:23). Mixing some Bible truth with some doctrines of men corrupts the whole thing (Mark 7:7–9). To have a McDonald’s restaurant, one could not combine McDonald’s menu with the menus of Burger King, Sonic, Five Guys, and Wendy’s.
To have a FedEx franchise, one cannot combine it with UPS and the Post Office. Combining car parts from a Ford, Toyota, Chevrolet, or Kia with a Tesla would not make any one of those brands.
ONLY ONE CHURCH WAS PRODUCED
Following that eventful Pentecost day, one reads of only one church in Judea and the Roman Empire. It met in different localities, but all Christians (Acts 11:26) taught and practiced Christianity in the same way (Acts 2:42–47; Galatians 1:6–9). Luke recorded that, following Pentecost, “They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42).
Paul confirmed that there was one church in the decades following. He taught the same thing in every church (1 Corinthians 4:17). He first identified the church as the body of Christ (Ephesians 1:22–23), and then affirmed “there is one body” (Ephesians 4:4). He said there is “yet one body” (1 Corinthians 12:20). He explained that Christ “is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body” (Ephesians 5:23). A head with multiple bodies, or a body with multiple heads, would be a physical monstrosity. The same is true of a spiritual body.
A simple reading of Ephesians 5:23–30 shows the singularity of the church no fewer than eleven times:
For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.
These verses prove that there was one church in the first century.
Now we must contemplate if there is one true church today. To determine if the true church exists today, one must simply compare what the pattern (New Testament) says with what is taught and practiced in any church today. When he finds the one church that measures up to the pattern in all the essential matters— how to be saved, how to worship, what to teach, and how to live the Christian life— he knows he has found the right one.
Since the denominational (divided) concept is unscriptural, any church that claims to be a denomination cannot be the one true church. Any church whose name (description) is unscriptural (not found in the Bible) cannot be the true church (cf. Romans 16:16). Any church that demands more or less than hearing, faith, repentance, confession, and immersion for salvation cannot be the true church (John 6:44; Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 8:37). Any church teaching that one is born a sinner, or one must wait for a miracle to be saved, and that one cannot fall from grace once a person is saved, is not the true church (Matthew 18:1-3; 11:28-30; Galatians 5:4; 2 Peter 2:20-22). Any church that does not worship by singing, praying, studying, giving, and partaking of the Lord’s supper each Sunday cannot be the Lord’s
church (Acts 2:42; 20:7; Colossians 3:16). Any church that adds mechanical music to worship or women in leadership positions is in violation of the New Testament pattern (Ephesians 5:19; 1 Timothy 2:11- 15; Revelation 22:18-19).
Please consider these matters carefully; do not let anyone cause you to dismiss them as unimportant. They will be important on judgment day; therefore they should be important today.
“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). May the Lord bless all of us in our search for truth and salvation. Never settle for less than Christ’s church.
