If there is only one God, one faith, and one baptism. why are there so many different religious belief.?

Question

For example you have baptist and other denominations who believe in father son and holy ghost baptism. matthew 28:19. Then you have the apostolic faith who believe in being baptize in Jesus name. Acts 2:38. There is some denominations who believe in the trinity and some that don't. why so perplexed? When God is not a God of confusion.

Answer 1

The obvious answer is that once you separate yourself from the authority of God's Church, you have no real authority at all. Unity cannot exist in the absence of true authority, and truth cannot exist in the absence of unity. The Bible tells us the Church founded by Christ is "the pillar and foundation of truth". It's a powerful analogy. Once you remove the pillars and foundation from a structure, it warps and eventually collapses. Jesus told the leaders of the Church He founded, and no other, "whatsoever you bind upon earth is bound in heaven"; he who hears you hears Me"; the Holy Spirit will guide you to all truth". The Church Christ founded, the Holy Catholic Church, has endured in unity and in truth for 2,000 years. It has no denominations. But manmade tradition which rejects true authority and attempts to find truth through personal interpretation of the Bible (a book compiled under the authority of the very Church whose authoirity they have rejected) has a history of continuous fragmentation and doctrinal chaos, just as you described. That's why Jesus's stated will was "that they all may be ONE". God's plan is the only way to find real truth. Denominationalism is a clear violation of God's stated plan.

Answer 2

You are right that God is not the source of confusion! (1 Cor 14:33) There is only "one faith" and "one baptism" according to the Bible. (Eph. 4:4-6)

Those who teach a different "faith" or a different "baptism", therefore, are not following the Word of God. If God is not responsable for the confusion in the world, and He is not, then it must be the fault of the devil. We should "all speak the same thing" and have "no divisions" (1 Cor 1:10). We can only do this by returning to the scriptures for our guide to truth! (Acts 17:11, 2 Tim. 3:16-17)

As for baptizing "in the name of Christ", or "in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit", these are the same.

"In the name of" means by the authority of or according to the instructions of. All three members of the Godhead authorize the same baptism. To follow the authority of one is to follow the authority of all three.

The "one baptism" (Eph. 4:4-6) is the one Jesus commanded. The same one commanded by the apostles. (Mark 16:16, Matt 28:18-20, Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16, Col. 2:12, Gal. 3:27, 1 Peter 3:20-21, etc.)

Jesus said, He that believes and is baptized shall be saved." (Mark 16:16)

Some teach that one believes, is saved, then he shall be baptized. This is not the same thing Jesus said. It is not in the same order. If you follow this doctrine, then you are following the doctrine of men, and it is not being baptized according to the instruction of Christ.

What would Jesus have said if he had meant, "He that believes and is baptized shall be saved"? I believe he said what he meant and meant what he said! I believe Jesus! "He that believes not shall be condemned." (Mark 16:16)

The reasons there are so many conflicts is because men are not content to just preach the Word, but they seek preachers who teach what they desire to hear. Notice 2 Timothy 4:1-4:
"I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."

We should be content to believe what the Word says and content to do what God says to do in the way He says to do it! We should have a "thus saith the Lord" for all we teach and practice. There is not one man-made doctrine we can add that will improve the Word of God. We should simply follow the Scriptures!

Answer 3

Righteous you described one religion Christianity. Now there are different denominations. Baptist, Catholic, Lutheran, COGIC, African Methodist Episcopal, United Methodist and the list goes on.

The reason for so many different denominations is one man's decision that the other was doing it wrong.

The bottom line is each has a belief that they are right and everyone else is wrong. When they need to acknowledge that the body has many parts and each functions for a purpose.

I remember a Pastor told me I couldn't receive the gift of the Holy Ghost because I was not dunked in water but merely sprinkled. Yet I have spoken in tongues for at least 10 years.

If you look at the people who came out of Egypt they were fine until Moses went into the mountains they left Egypt but the image was still inside of them. They built a calf based on the image inside of them. See they left Egypt but they did not renew their mind.

Answer 4

you speak of forms - God was speaking of spirit. There is only One God and faith only works when it is placed in Him, so One Faith. And there is only One baptism - (not the form of baptism but the reality of what took place in the heart). The different forms are reflective of the different understandings or lack thereof in the growing human. Understanding grows, knowledge grows, at different rates in different people. God and His Word does not change but people do. We all learn and understand differently. God is not confused. He knows what is in the heart and He knows who is following in all the light of His Word as they are able to understand it at the level they are in at the time. A two year old does not understand the same level of things as an 18 year old. Nor does the 18 year old understand the same level of things as the 40 year old and so on ---- so it is with Christians and their varied beliefs. Beliefs are a matter of study of the Word, some study more than others, some don't study at all they just accept what they have been "told" by others. And then the seeking heart that studies for God's revelation of Himself in all sincerity and diligence will find that God opens His treasures to that heart that is often hid from those who are more "shallow" in their pursuit of Him. God is not a God of confusion but He is certainly a God of DEPTH.

Answer 5

Apologetics is an interesting subject. When most people are asked what they believe and why, they realize how little they know about what they stand for. For the most part there are different denominations because people take specific verses from the Bible and use them out of context.
A perfect example is the difference between Paul's writings and James' writings. Both writers seem to contradict one another. Paul who says you are saved by your faith, and there is nothing you can do to save yourself, is teaching to non-believers. He says that Christ dies for you and You are saved by grace. He's right.
Now James comes along and says that you are sanctified through your actions or works. He's right as well. He is teaching to believers, and his point is now that you believe in Christ, what will you do with that belief.
When reading the Bible there seems to be many confusing aspects, but it was written by different people at different times. God is unchanging, He wants to have a relationship with you through Christ. Christ died and paid the price for our sin, so there is nothing anyone can say or do to earn their salvation with out Christ.
With that said, baptism isn't what saves you, you belief is what saves you. Baptism is a commandment for Christians, and is a outward sign of you faith.

Answer 6

God is not a God of confusion is right, people are people of confusion. The Church, just like the original people of God, the Jews, all started from the same point, but then came differences in interpretation, in the jewish community there were saduccess, pharisees, zealots and essenes, they all had the same base of belief, monotheism, laws of Moses, etc... but they found differences in the interpretation of these laws. So too the Christians, we have had 2,000 + years of religious evolution, in which the Great Church as it was called in the early days was hit with schisms and heretical thoughts, which lead to more rules and more schisms, etc... etc... Then came along a reformer of the church, Martin Luther, he made some statements that were true, such as that to be saved one does not have to pay, but he also made some that weren't, only implementing 2 sacraments of the original 7. So this split the Church and from then on the splits continued, some out of convenience of their creator, King Henry for one example, and some out of changes in their creators beliefs, Baptists.
God bless and continue to search for truth.

Answer 7

I assume you are talking about the different denominations of christianity by the way you worded your question. Here is how I explain it. I am an atheist by the way, but that shouldn't matter.

In this example, I use changing the oil in your car. When I change my oil, I do it a certain way. I have an order in how I do it. I drain the oil first, then change the filter, then replace the plug, etc, etc. This is my process for changing the oil in my car.

Now, the man/ woman two doors down may have a different specific way he/ she changes the oil in their vehicle. It might be quite different than how I do it, but they are still changing their oil.

What does this have to do with religion? Simple. When changing the oil, we all have a common goal, replacing the oil and filter to allow for our engine to run better and longer. The specific practices we use may vary a little, but the common goal remains the same.

So, for all the Christian deonominations, you seemingly have the same basic belief. But, the specific ways you go about practicing this belief are a little different.

Answer 8

People prefer to do things their way and not God's. True Christians would not split up into different denominations. 1 Cor. 1:10 says that true Christians "should all speak in agreement, and that there should not be any divisions among you, but that you may be fitly united in the same mind and in the same line of thought."

Answer 9

The scriptures tell us that God is not the author of confusion. Therefore, there can only be one other author of confusion. And his goal has always been to raise himself up to the level of God.
The confusion is spiritual warfare.

Lucifer is here to undermine true faith, and to establish a false belief. Satan may win some battles along the way, but God wins the war, according to the Bible.

Answer 10

'God' didn't create the confusion, we did. The Catholic Church was the first Christian church founded and because human beings disagree (like we do on this board) then they take a different path aka The Great Schism started by Martin Luther with the 99 Treatises. At any rate, there was a concept of 'god' centuries before Christianity.