the church of christ?

Question

I have been a southern baptist all my life. there are many denominations out there, and i do believe one is right from another, but i dont believe it matters to the extent that many people make it out to be, as long as the church praises god and preaches the word. But i have heard that the church of christ believes you cant go to heaven unless you are a member of that church and you can use musical instruments in there services, and a few other odd beliefs. Can someone explain to me there maybe different beliefs and why they do believe so?? Thank you

i apologize! odd was a bad choice of words, but DIFFERENT FOR ME would be a wiser choice than odd. thanks

Answer 1

Actually a 'die-hard' Church of CHRIST believes that you DONT use musical instruments in any service! They beleive that you have to use only your voice and praise and sing to the LORD.

When David brought music and sang on the road with the Mercy Seat, it was pleasing to the LORD.

But, later, the music was a pain to the LORD as the instruments were a bunch of noise! And after that, they only sang and used thier voices.

Its "independent" Church of CHRISTS that use instruments with thier services. I belong to one that does.

Also, Church of CHRIST believes that baptism takes your sins away!
(Something I dont believe, because when I first "believed", then JESUS took my sins away, or HE died on the Cross for nothing then!). Thats why I am a Baptist at heart, but, go to the Church of CHRIST because its the only Church that I can go to because of my Asthma...(they have a special room for people like me who cant stand the smell of women who marinate themselves in perfume!)..

I wish you well...

Jesse

Answer 2

Obama is a member of the "United Church of Christ". This group is NOT the same as the Church of Christ!!!! They are drastically different in doctrine, worship, and organization.

Answer 3

This is true about some of the churches of christ, some of them do believe that they are the only ones going to heaven and they don't use musical instruments in their churches, but there is change coming to some of these churches, realizing that they aren't the only ones going to heaven>

Answer 4

i attend a church of christ. no, you dont have to be a member of a church to be saved. you DO need to be baptised. and we dont believe musical instruments are a sin. we believe it has no place in a church. we like to be uplifted by the voices. we dont like it drowned out by the instruments. we believe it is bad taste.
we are a new testament church. we dont follow the old testament. when christ arose, we came under a new law. so that is why we follow the new. the old was a tool to help us understand how serious sin is and why we needed a savior.
we really dont have odd beliefs. we just try to strictly go by the new testament.
i love it there. the people are warm and sweet. i look forward to going to church. my particular church doesnt have dress codes. you come as you are. we believe dressing up is not needed. its the heart God wants. not the clothes. and it is easier to talk to people when they are being them selves.

Answer 5

To say you are saved because you are a member of a church is backwards.

In Acts 2:47; we see the Lord adds those who are being saved to His church. Church membership is a result of salvation. We are a member of the church because we are saved, not the other way around.

But, you cannot be saved without being a member of His church because when you are saved, He adds you to it. The Bible does not authorize one being saved and then joining the church of his choice. God adds you to the church Christ purchased and built (Matt. 16:18, Acts 20:28). The "choice" is God's.

So, yes if you are not a member of the church of Christ, the church that belongs to Christ, then you are not saved. If you are saved outside of the church of Christ, then in whose church did you find salvation? Satan's church? Buddah's church? The church of some man? Who owns the church where the saved are members?

"Christ is the head of the church and the savior of the body". (Eph. 5:23) The "body" is the church! (Eph 1:22-23, Col 1:18, Col. 1:24) Since the Bible says there is only "one body", and the body is the church, then the Bible teaches there is only one church. (Eph 4:4) Christ is the savior of the body (church), so to be saved one must be a member of this one church.

Christ is a member of this body. He is the head! Isn't your head part of your body?

Each body has one head, and each head is attached to only one body. "Is Christ divided?" (1 Cor. 1:10-13)

There are many different churches because they teach things that contradict each other's doctrines. The Bible, however, says we should "all speak the same thing" and have "no divisions". (1 Cor. 1:10)

The Bible does not contradict itself, so if two churches contradict each other, then at least one of them is teaching error, contradicting the Bible. We should recieve what is taught eagerly and search the scriptures to see if it is true. (Acts 17:11)

Jesus said he has "all authority" and the apostles were to teach the things he had commanded. (Matt. 28:18-20) Paul had declared "the whole council of God" (Acts 20:27) If we are a member of Christ's body (church), then we should follow his authority or instructions! Whatever we do as a church, we should do it in the name of the Lord. (Col. 3:17) "In the name of" means according to His authority or instructions!

We should teach what the Bible teaches! We should speak where the Bible speaks, be silent where the Bible is silent, do Bible things in Bible ways, and call Bible things by Bible names. Only when we do this can we "all speak the same thing"!

As for music in the worship of the church, we are commanded (authorized, instructed) to sing. One of the verses that teaches us to sing is Col. 3:16, the verse directly before the verse that tells us to do all in the name of the Lord!

The New Testament does not authorize the addition of another type of music in place of or in along with singing. If instruments are added, it must be done by man's authority (instructions) because neither Christ nor his apostles authorized their use. If we are "teaching as doctrine the commandments of men" then our worship is "vain" or useless in God's eyes. (Matt. 15:9) Also if we are following man's authority, then Christ does not have "all authority" in our religion.

Why not be satisfied to just be a member of the church Christ built and be content to worship as He has instructed! This is the plea of the church of Christ!

Answer 6

I think there are denominations that teach 'you must be a member of 'our' church or you will not go to heaven'.... i do not know the church of christ doctrine, but I am sure you could google what it says to find it out.

there is a church in our city that says you must be able to speak in tongues or it means there is hidden sin in your life and you are not born again

you need to read the bible and figure out what the Word of God says is needed to go to heaven... and then compare church doctrines to the Word.... that is what it all comes down to. do they teach the truth? the whole truth and not a bunch of man made rules?

Answer 7

My Dear Christian brother, I would like to offer you my thoughts about your question. It was not the Lords intent to start a religion. It was his intent to show a way of conducting your life as his Father God would have you do. Did Jesus not say, be perfect as My Father in heaven is perfect. When you open your heart to the words of Jesus and except that you are a son of God living in a human body and have been given the free will choice to follow our savior into heaven by the grace of God, do you think that Jesus intended you to make your sect of Christian faith the only one that will be saved. I hardly think so when Jesus said his Father was not a respecter of persons. He said that the priest knew the letter of the Law and not of the heart of the law. I was ordained by a Baptist minister and he broke away from the church and became non-denominational and he feels the way I do. I find many sects of religion loosing much of what Jesus meant by his teachings. He did not teach separation of mankind, but unity. Until man has taken the word to heart and followed his two commandments, the world will continue to be struggling with self righteousness and spiritual pride. The Latter day Saints do not have a fence around salvation nor do the Catholics, Jews or the Muslims. It was won by the defeat of Lucifer by our Lord's sacrifice and obedience to the Father. We are the ones who choose to turn out backs on God's open door policy, not the other way around and it is not an exclusive invitation to any one religion or sect of religion. For God so Loved the world it says, not For God so Loved the Church of Christ or the 144,000. It says that God wishes non should parish. Like Dorothy said in the Wizard of OZ, "there is no place like home", and if I have my heart and faith on the promise of home by Jesus, it does not matter if I do not have a church. God made the church for man, not man for the church. I do not think that doctrine will change . Love God with all your heart and Love your neighbor as yourself and don't exclude him from salvation just because he believes different.
Jesus came to reveal the true Loving Father who waits with open arms. In the end, our choice will be our gain or loss.
He said be ready, Make your choice now who you serve, because I come in a twinkling of an eye and it will be too late to decide then because I come like a thief in the night.
Rev. TomCat - Love is his word, belong to his church.

Answer 8

I am a member of the church of Christ.

I appreciate your interest in the church.

" An oft-heard assumption and criticism by those in denominationalism or with no religious affiliation is that those in the Church of Christ think that they are the only ones going to heaven. An answer to this 'loaded' question can be found by looking at the authoritative New Testament with an honest, open, and loving heart.

First, we can affirm that besides those in Christ's church, there will be the faithful from many generations on the other side of the cross. The righteous from both the patriarchal and Mosaic dispensations will be there. These pre-date the church Jesus established. Also, heaven will be inhabited by the souls of those who are 'safe' (including the mentally handicapped and retarded, young children who die before reaching an age of accountability, the aborted, etc.). These are blessed not by virtue of their conscious obedience to the gospel but through their innocence.

Second, we need to tactfully affirm that salvation is in Christ and the body He purchased with His own blood (Acts 20:28; Eph. 1:20,21; Eph. 5:23). The Bible teaches that we are saved by many things: grace (Eph. 2:5), mercy (Titus 3:5), Jesus (Acts 4:12), His blood (Rev. 1:5), the Holy Spirit (John 3:5), the word (James 1:21), faith (Eph. 2:8), repentance (Acts 2:38), confession (Rom. 10:9,10) and baptism (1 Pet. 3:21). Many mistakenly submit to one or some of these Biblical prerequisites to salvation. Churches of Christ, in the main, strive for balance in stressing the divine and human sides to salvation. We should not insist on doing more, less, or other than what the Bible teaches.

Third, we sadly confess that not all members of the Church of Christ will be saved. Without setting ourselves up as judges, or trying to do God's work for Him, we realize that some who wear Christ's name are guilty of open or hidden sins that will condemn them in the judgment if not repented of. Being a member of the church has never eternally insured salvation in the New Testament, any more than being an Israelite insured salvation in the Old Testament (1 Cor. 10:1-12).

"Speaking the truth in love" (Eph. 4:15), we can kindly and firmly say that salvation today is in Christ and His church. We can and should urge honest-hearted people to follow the Bible pattern of obedience to receive God's wonderful reward (Rev. 2:10)"

The previous is an excerpt from the article I have linked first below. This article should have answered your first question.

The second part of your question pertains to instrumental music. Please notice the following verse in the New Testament:

Ephesians 5:19

19 Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord,

Furthermore, notice this verse:

Colossians 3:16

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

After searching the scriptures in the New Testament, I find NO authorization to use musical instruments. The only instrument I find is my "voice."

Now, you may be thinking, "I can can present scriptures from the Old Testament and prove instruments are acceptable."

If you go to the Old Testament, you are in a different law than the New Testament. In the Old Law given by Moses, you should also sacrifice animals.

The Old Law dissolved when Jesus died on the cross establishing the "new church" found in the New Testament.
Therefore, we should follow the instructions and teachings of the New Testament.

In addition, I have provided another link that contains six lessons about the New Testament church or the church of Christ.

If you have any additional questions about the church, please message me and I will politely answer any question with a Bible answer.

Answer 9

I was raised in the church of Christ and attend worship 3 times a week at least. I should be able to clear up a few questions.

First off, we absolutly don't believe that you have to be a member of the church of Christ to go to heaven, you must try your best to follow the New Testament commandments as closely as possible. This is a belief we hold the hightest, obviously.

The reason why we don't use intruments in worship is because the New Testament never authorizes the use of them, nor is there one example of a church using them. The bible commands us to sing and make a melody in your heart, so that is what you should do...sing, and nothing more.

Another big one is that we believe that you must be baptized to go to heaven, not by "asking Jesus into your Heart" we believe this as there are numerous verses on the subject one is Romans 6:4-11

4 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.

5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
NKJV

You see the chruch of Christ doesn't believe anything that's not found in Bible. We don't believe in worshiping God by what you feel is best in your heart. We believe that God's way is the only way to get to heaven. So if you believe in God you must believe in his word, and you can't change Gods word to fit your ideas of what's right ( and in no way do i mean you in particular)

Answer 10

I went to Church of Christ - they believe this and it is a lie from the devil. I don't know why they feel they are the only ones going to Heaven but they do. I am a Baptist now and believe the doctrine that they confess. BUT I am a Christian believing that Jesus is the Only Way to Heaven - relationship not religion.