What We Believe And Why
Jack Critchfield

I received this inquiry several days ago and thought it might be good to print my response to this persons questions. As I told the person, there is much more to be covered and I will try to cover it in the next few editions of the Proclaimer. (Editor)

Dear Sir;
What is the difference between your beliefs and the beliefs of the other Christian Sects? Does one need to belong to one or the other of them or can one simply believe in Christ?

"God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, {2} has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;" (Heb 1:1-2 NKJV). God once spoke through Moses and other prophets, "for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit" (2 Pet 1:21 NKJV). But that has changed. Now, in these last days, God speaks through His Son, Jesus Christ. He told the apostles, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!" (Matt 17:5 NKJV). Jesus, during His ministry on earth, made it clear that He was God's spokesman: "He whom God has sent speaks the words of God … For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me" (Jn 3:34; 6:38 NKJV). After His death, and resurrection, Jesus said, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth" (Mat 28:18 NKJV). Therefore, we believe that Jesus Christ is the sole spokesman for God.

Jesus knew He would not continue on earth, so He chose certain men to continue revealing God's will to man. These men were called apostles, and He told them: "He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me"" (Luke 10:16 NKJV). That statement makes it clear the apostles spoke the words of Jesus, which are the words of God. To insure the apostles preached it right, Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to guide them: "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you … He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak" (Jn 14:26; 16:13 NKJV).

The fulfillment of the Lord's promises began on the Pentecost of Acts 2. "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:4 NKJV). The apostle Paul later wrote of that guidance, "For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual" (1 Cor 2:11-13 NKJV). Please take note that the very words the apostles spoke were given to them by the Holy Spirit. They preached those words, and they wrote them for us, so that, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God," (2 Tim 3:16 NKJV). What "inspired" means is defined by Paul in 1 Thess 2:13, "when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God." Thus, when the apostles spoke or wrote, they delivered the word of God. This is precisely what the Bible is the word of God.

For those who would accept some other authority, God gave clear warnings. The apostle Paul wrote, "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed" (Gal 1:8 NKJV). The apostle John wrote, "Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God" (2 John 9 NKJV). The apostle Peter declared of God that "His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue," (2 Pet 1:3 NKJV). We are not to "add to" nor "take away from" that which God has caused to be written to guide us (Rev. 22:18). In other word, if it is not in the Bible, it is not from God. That is why we believe the Bible must be our sole authority in all matters pertaining to religion.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God," (Eph 2:8 NKJV). The apostle wrote, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, {24} being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, {25} whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith," (Rom 3:23-25 NKJV). Thus, we are "justified by faith" (Rom. 5:1), but not by "faith only." Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven," (Mat 7:21 NKJV). It isn't faith alone that saves, but is "faith working through love" (gal. 5:6). James made it clear also when he wrote, "What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? … Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead …You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only" (Jas 2:14, 17, 24 NKJV). If you will carefully read Hebrews 11, the great faith chapter of the Bible, you will see that every one of those heroes of faith was rewarded only when their faith led them to obey God.

Jesus told the apostles, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned" (Mk 16:15-16 NKJV). That faith should lead one to turn from his sins, as Jesus said, "unless you repent you will all likewise perish" (Lk 13:3 NKJV). The Lord told the apostles about His impending death, and said, "that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations," (Lk 24:47 NKJV). This was the theme the first time the gospel was preached after His resurrection. When people asked, "what shall we do," God by Peter's mouth told them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins" (Acts 2:37-38 NKJV). That was the pattern throughout the New Testament Scriptures. People heard the gospel; they believed, repented and were baptized. That is obedient faith.

Most denominations question the necessity of obedience, and specifically the need for baptism. But look at the scriptures: "Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Rom 6:3-4 NKJV). Jesus had told Nicodemus, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (Jn 3:5 NKJV). The apostle, in Rom. 6:3-4 details the process of the new birth. That explains, also, why the Lord had Ananias tell Saul, "now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord" (Acts 22:16 NKJV). Because when we are "baptized into Christ" (Gal. 3:27), we are baptized into His death" (Rom. 6:3) and the blood of Christ washes our sins away. That is the result of obedient faith.

Jesus promised, "I will build My church" 9Matt. 16:18). He never promised to build other churches, just one - which is His. The apostle Paul declares that church to be, "the church of God which He purchased with His own blood," (Acts 20:28 NKJV). When people are saved, they are cleansed from sin by the blood of Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 1:18-19). Then how does that same blood "purchase" the church? It is clearly revealed in Acts 2. People heard the gospel (v. 36) and were "cut to the heart" (v. 37). God told them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized" (v. 38). We then read, "Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them … And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved," (Acts 2:41, 47 NKJV). What is the church? It is a people, those who have been saved by the Lord (Acts 2:47). That, and nothing else. All the saved have been added to that church, because the Lord put them there.

The whole system of denominationalism deceives people into thinking that dividing believers into different groups is acceptable to God. It is not. Look at the prayer of Jesus in John 17, "I do not pray for these [the apostles] alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me," (John 17:20-21 NKJV). Denominationalism says it is fine for one group to teach one thing while another group teaches something different. Is that the unity for which Jesus prayed? All believers are to be one in the same way Christ and the Father are one. Denominationalism opposes that. The apostle Paul wrote, "endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all," (Eph 4:3-6 NKJV).

The Lord has always intended His people to be united. When the church at Corinth became divided, He very quickly addressed it by the writing of the apostle Paul. "Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment ... each of you says, "I am of Paul," or "I am of Apollos," or "I am of Cephas," or "I am of Christ." Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?" (1 Cor 1:10-13 NKJV). By any definition, these groups in the city of Corinth were "denominations." Such division was wrong then, and it is wrong today.

Look at the first question in verse 13: "Is Christ divided?" The picture of Christ being in warring groups fighting against Himself is so ludicrous that most people won't even think about it. But God's word demands that we do think of it. "Is Christ divided?" Denominations answer, "Yes." I don't believe it! Christ cannot be divided. And the scriptures still exhort, "endeavoring [giving diligence] to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Eph 4:3 NKJV). Churches of Christ believe that, and work for it. We are not interested in ruling others out, but we encourage all to leave every denomination and just be part of the church that Jesus built.

We believe the Bible to be the sole authority, we believe salvation is by obedient faith, and we believe those saved are in the church which Jesus built. There is much more that could be said, and I will try to address the rest in a few days. The apostle Paul wrote, "And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body," (Eph 1:22-23 NKJV). "Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body" (Eph 5:23 NKJV). Outside the body there can be no salvation.