Which church is right? The answer is simple: the one that follows the Bible completely. The Bible is the complete word of God and furnishes us with everything we need to serve him (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:3). There is no additional revelation from God to man. God, through the Holy Spirit, delivered his will to man in the first century and that will has been recorded and providentially preserved for all mankind (Jn. 16:13; Jude 3; 1 Pet. 1:25).

The Bible teaches that Christ only has one church (Eph. 4:4; 1:22-23; Matt. 16:18). When we confess our faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, repent of our sins, and are baptized in water for the remission of our sins then the Lord adds us to his church (Rom. 10:10; Acts 2:3 8,47). There is just one church and the person who obeys the Lord's commands becomes a part of that body. He can then wear the name Christian, because then and only then is he truly a follower of Christ (Acts 11:26).

Must Be Right On Worship

After obeying the conditions given by the Lord, we must worship him as he has commanded. Since there is only one church, we must find the right one so that we can continue to please God. His word plainly teaches that it is possible to worship him in vain (Matt. 15:8-9). The acts of worship that we read about in the Bible consist of prayer, singing, giving of our means, teaching and being taught, and eating the Lord's Supper on a weekly basis (Acts 2:42; Eph. 5:19; 1 Cor. 16:1-2; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 11:17-34). We are commanded not to go beyond the doctrine of Christ and not to participate with those who do, so it is imperative that we find the right church and worship with that body (Gal. 1:8-9; 2 Jn. 9-11).

When a group calling itself the church adds the instrument to their service or takes the weekly observance of the Lord's Supper from their service, then on that point they are wrong. They are not the church we read about in the Bible. We must take our Bibles and find the right church.

In the next article, we will investigate more distinguishing marks of the right church. It must be remembered that in order to be the right church, it must be right on all points. One church may be right on some points and wrong on others which would make it wrong (Jas. 2:10).

Guardian of Truth XXXV: 7, p. 203
April 4, 1991