Why am I a Member of the Church of Christ?
When we look out across the religious landscape, it is easy to see that there are a lot of choices one can make as to a religious preference. There are many many churches who claim Jesus Christ as their saviour but there was only one in new testament times that Jesus built and endorsed. When we look into scripture it is easy to see that there is only one body of Christ (Ephesians 4:4) and that this one body of Christ is the church (Colossians 1:18; 24, Ephesians 1:22-23. Jesus promised to build only one church in Matthew 16:18. Jesus only died for one church (Ephesians 5:25). Jesus only shed His blood for one church (Acts 20:28). Jesus is the head over only one church (Colossians 1:18).
Why Christ’s Church, the Church of Christ, The Church of God?
So with all this scripture from God’s word which proves that Jesus only built, died for, bled for and rules over only one church, then that is the church we should seek to be a part of and no other. We should strive to be a part of the church Jesus built. We should seek to be a part of the church Jesus died for. We should desire to be a member of the church Jesus bled for. We should make every effort to be a member of the church Jesus reigns over. Because if Jesus only built one church, then all the others we see out on the religious landscape were built by someone else. If Jesus bled and died for only one church, then all the other ones we see out on the religious landscape are counterfeits, fakes or imposters. If Jesus rules over only one church, then all the ones we see out in the religious landscape are serving someone other than Christ. One cannot serve Christ without being a member of His body of followers. I am a member of the church of Christ because it strives to be the one church that Jesus built both in name and in faith.
Jesus taught that those who worship according to the commandments of men do so in vain (Matthew 15:9, Mark 7:7). Paul taught that those who make their own religions after the commandments of men will perish in Colossians 2:16-23. God’s word tells us not to follow after the teachings of men in our worship and in our lives. Since there is only one God, one faith, one body and one hope, then we must reject the teachings of men where they do not agree with the one faith which is found only in the word of God. I am a member of the church of Christ because it strives always to reject the teachings of men and use the word of God as the sole authority in matters of faith.
Paul wrote in his letter to the Christians in Galatia, “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed” (Gal 1:8-9). There was only one gospel that was taught by the apostles. Paul confirmed that the gospel he taught was the same one that the other apostles taught in Galatians 2:7-8. The Bible says there is only one gospel and that those who teach another are condemned. I am a member of the church of Christ because it teaches the exact same gospel the Paul and all the other apostles taught in the first century.
Jesus once told a woman He met at a water well that true worshipers had to worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24). Those who worship in spirit must do so from the heart with the right attitude. Those who worship in truth worship in accordance with what the word of God says about it. Jesus Himself said that God’s word is truth (John 17:17). We can know that our worship is in truth when it is according to God’s word. I am a member of the church of Christ because being right matters and I know that if I do everything the way God says in His word that I can too be right with Him. I don’t want to think I am right, I want to know that I am right beyond any doubt. I don’t want to live my life without the certainty of knowing that I am doing so according to the way God wants me to.
I know that I only have one life to live for Christ and that when it is over, my eternal destiny is set. I want to be sure that the life I live is in accordance with God’s will because I know I can never come back and try again if I am wrong. I know that if I am a faithful member of the same church that was built, bought, bled for, died for and ruled over by Jesus Christ that I can be confident in my faith and sure of my salvation. I know that the church of Christ existed and worshipped in the first century and that if I study God’s word and worship like those Christians worshipped, believe what they believed and live faithfully like they did, that I can be the same thing today that they were back at the beginning of it all.