Interesting Questions-19
"Many religions, one body?"
Letter to the Editor:
GOD'S MESSAGE, January 2011, p.3
MY UNDERSTANDING OF
THE teachings of the Bible is that all religions that believe
in Christ, like the various Protestant groups to name some,
compose the Church of Christ mentioned in the Holy Scriptures.
Remember that this Church is also referred to by the Holy Scriptures
as the "body" of Christ (Col. 1:18). The analogy is so purposive to
indicate that as a literal body is made up of many parts, the Church
built by Christ, though only one, is composed of
many religious groups believing in Christ.
Ma. Cecilia Conception
Los Andes, Chile
Editor's reply:
To begin with, we are glad to know that you
too believe that Christ built only one
Church (Matt. 16:18) the name of which is Church of Christ (Acts
20:28, Lamsa Translation). Concerning this Church, the Bible
moreover teaches that the true believers in Christ are baptized into
this "one body'' (I Cor. 12:13) and that outside it, there is
judgment (I Cor. 5:12-13)
The Bible however negates the opinion that all
religious organizations compose this singular Church of Christ.
Proclaiming one of the characteristics of this body or Church of
Christ, Apostle Paul stated, thus:
"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, who is above all, and through
all, and in you all." (Eph. 4:4-6, New King James Version)
Notice the unity in the one Church— members
share "one hope of [their] calling", believe in "one God/' receive
"one baptism. and uphold "one" or the same "faith" Not allowing the
members of the one true Church to be divided especially in faith,
the Bible prescribes, "there should be no schism in the body" (I
Cor. 12:25,Ibid)
that there should be no schism
in the body, but [that] the members should have the same care for
one another. (1 Corinthians 12:25, NKJV)
This important quality of the Church can hardly be
seen among various Protestant groups and other Christian-professing
religions when taken as a whole. Viewed collectively, these
religious organizations cannot be said to be truly united in faith
and religious convictions. Though their members may all be
professing faith in Christ, they nonetheless uphold different—and
oftentimes opposing—creeds, set of doctrines, biblical
interpretations, and religious practices.
Concerning the belief about God, for
instance, some denominations teach that Christ and the Father are
one and the same, while others uphold that Christ is distinct
from the Father. Demonstrating that these religions do
not have one or the same mode of baptism, some do immersion while
others, pouring (effusion), and still
others, sprinkling (aspersion). Some
churches even bestow baptism on the infants, and worse, on the
dead. As these religions make contradicting doctrinal claims, they
cannot be all true, much less compose the true Church of Christ.
The Bible itself clarifies for us the composition
of the Church of Christ In the one body or Church, what are many are
the members not the organizations:
"Christ is like a single body, which has many
parts; it is still one body even though it is made up of different
parts. In the same way, all of us, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether
slaves or free, have been baptized into the one body by the same
Spirit, and we have all been given the one Spirit to drink."(I Cor.
12:12-13, Today's English Version)
Take note that the "Jews or Gentiles" and "slaves
or free'' who are referred to as "many parts" of the body in the
verses were the members of the Church of Christ during the apostles'
time. Therefore, the "many parts" composing the
body or Church refer to the "many members" and not to "many
religious groups" Then, again, these members,
though many, have one hope and one faith,
complimenting one another as one body. As Apostle Paul further
elucidated:
"For as we have many members in one body, but all
the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are
one body in Christ, and individually members of one another" (Rom.
12:4-5, NKJV)
"Now indeed" as the Holy Scriptures itself
concludes, "there are many members, yet one body." (I Cor. 12:20,
tbid.)
But now indeed [there are]
many members, yet one body. (1 Corinthians 12:20, NKJV)
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