Can someone tell me about the Church of Christ?

[Butterfly.29]

Hello everybody:) I am trying to find the right Church for me and I have started to look at the different sections of Christianity. I was wondering if someone who is a member of the Church of Christ could tell me their beliefs and experience in the Church. Thank you!

Edit: Sorry I'm not sure if I'm able to reply directly to anyone (or I don't know how lol) Thank you everyone for the answers they were very helpful:) Would anyone be willing to tell my about their current church and that churches beliefs? I have got a much better understanding from your answers then from research alone. Thanks so much!

 

Edited April 19, 2017 by Butterfly.29
Added paragraph

[other one]

I may not be a good deal to answer your question for I left that organization in the mid 60's over doctrine issues.....    Their people are mostly good people and thier church services without musical instruments has some of the best singing you will hear in a church.     My problem was that they teach that it is baptism that saves a person and if you haven't been baptized you can not possibly enter heaven......   actually at the time I left they taught that you had to be baptized by a member of thier denomination to be saved.

They do believe that works of the Spirit are no longer available and all the messages to Christians that God will send you will get out of reading the Bible.   They do not believe in eternal salvation.     

I would say though they do study and are a very moral people and fun to be around.  I do consider the people who attend there (my mother included when she was alive) are saved though they have a misconception as of how.   They do believe that Jesus came and died for our sins and in his deity,   They believe in the resurrection and all that.   Although they do preach giving and tithing is a good thing, I don't remember them ever saying it was mandatory as some that I have been to.  It is a lovely place to attend church although I do not agree with some of the doctrine.....     but then again we attend a Nazarene Church and I don't really agree with some if it's doctrine either......   but the people in the three we have attended are the most loving people I've met anywhere.....   so we worship with them and they accept us in the fold almost as members......   but they won't let us vote on things and that's ok.

[Jeff2]

Last time I checked, their members were all wet!

Along with Baptismal Regeneration, they generally do not believe in Inherited Depravity. This scheme is essentially modern Pelagianism.

[The_Patriot21]

I have been a member of more then one church of Christs, and overall enjoyed them. The one caution though is they have no central government (except for the united Church of Christ, and you should avoid those) so their doctrine will vary.

What you can expect, is CoCs tend to be very strongly Armenian. By that I mean they put strong emphasis on baptism for one. Many if the more legalistic ones will teach it's mandatory for salvation, though many, will once you get to actually sitting down and visiting with them will tell you that while they emphasize baptism, it's not what saves you. This does vary church to church, and it is something to be wary of.

They also by in large do NOT believe in once saved always saved. This has never been an issue for me, as first I'm not a OSAS person, and I don't think it's an issue worth dividing over anyway.

They are, also by in large, almillenial in their end times belief, as opposed to pre millennial like many Baptist churches.

Another thing to keep in mind is there are 2 sects to traditional Church of Christs, instrumental and non instrumental. A non instrumental Church will not allow the use of musical instruments in church, and often will not associate with churches that do. I've been in both and enjoyed services in both, but if you prefer instruments, or lack thereof that is something to keep in mind.

I have never had any regrets about my time spent in CoC churches, and even right now while my primary church is a southern Baptist, I spend a lot of time helping out a local Christian Church (very similar to CoCs) and spending time with them. If there's any more questions you have or want me to clarify any of my comments or a more specific question, feel free to ask and I will answer honestly.

[missmuffet]

Question: "Is the Church of Christ a good biblical church?"

Answer: This is a difficult question to answer due to the label “Church of Christ” being such a broad description. There are many churches who refer to themselves as the “Church of Christ.” Even within the most widespread “Church of Christ” association, there can be significant differences among the churches. There is no doubt that many in the Church of Christ group are genuine believers in Christ who desire to truly worship, follow, and obey Him. At the same time, there are others in the Church of Christ, and some Church of Christ churches, that are borderline cult-like in their preferences, practices, and doctrines. We are by no means disparaging every Church of Christ congregation or all churches that refer to themselves as the “Church of Christ.” The purpose of this article is to express some concerns and answer some questions about the Church of Christ that we have observed and experienced.

One “minor” issue is the Church of Christ policy of not allowing musical instruments in their church services. While we entirely agree that a church is well within the freedom God gives to not use musical instruments in worship, the problem is that some within the Church of Christ are fanatically against musical instruments. Some are fanatical to the point of declaring any church that uses musical instruments as not being a true, biblical, or godly church. Such dogmatism on a clearly non-essential issue is often the mark of a cult, not the mark of a good biblical church.

A second issue is the fact that some in the Church of Christ claim to be “the one true church,” outside of which there is no salvation. By no means do all Church of Christ members believe this, but it is prevalent enough to warrant concern. Some go so far as to argue that since the name is “Church of Christ,” that indicates that the church / denomination is the one and only true Church of the Lord Jesus. This is completely unbiblical. There is no one church or denomination that encompasses the entire Body of Christ. The “one true church of Christ” is comprised of all those who have, by grace through faith, personally received Jesus Christ as Savior. The Church is composed of true believers everywhere, no matter the local church or denominational affiliation. The claim of exclusive access to salvation is another common identification of a cult, not the teaching of a good biblical church.

A third and very important issue is the Church of Christ’s emphasis on baptism as being necessary for salvation. Church of Christ advocates point to Scriptures such as Acts 2:38, John 3:5, Mark 16:16, 1 Peter 3:21, and Acts 22:16 as biblical evidence that baptism is required for salvation. There is no denying that baptism is very important. Baptism is intended to be an initial act of obedience to Christ, an illustration of Christ’s death and resurrection, a public declaration of faith in Christ, a step of identification with Him, and a proclamation of desire to follow Him. In the minds of the apostles and early Christians, baptism was so inextricably linked with salvation that the two were viewed as inseparable. The idea that a person could receive Christ as Savior and not be baptized was completely foreign to the early church.

With that said, however, baptism is not required for salvation. There are biblically plausible and contextually valid interpretations of each of the above Scriptures that do not indicate baptism as being necessary for salvation. There are many Scriptures that declare salvation to be received by faith / believing, with no mention of baptism or any other requirement (John 3:16; Acts 16:31; Ephesians 2:8-9). If baptism is necessary for salvation, these Scriptures are in error and the Bible is contradictory.

Church of Christ advocates argue that when the Bible speaks of salvation “by faith,” it is speaking of a living faith, a faith that produces works of obedience, such as baptism and confession (Romans 10:9-10). They do not claim that baptism is a work that earns salvation, or in any sense makes a person worthy of salvation. Rather, the Church of Christ teaches that baptism is a work that God requires before He grants salvation. For the Church of Christ, baptism and confession are no different from faith and repentance—they are what God requires before He grants salvation to a person. The problem with this is that, while it may seem to be a subtle difference from the biblical doctrine of salvation by grace through faith, it is in fact a crucially important difference.

A person who has genuinely received salvation will produce good fruit. Good works are the inevitable result of salvation (Ephesians 2:10). What differentiates a “living faith” from a “dead faith” in James 2:14-26 is the presence of good works. Church of Christ advocates are right to denounce churches that teach intellectual assent to the facts of the Gospel as sufficient for salvation. The Church of Christ is right to reject the idea that a dead faith, a faith that produces no good works, is what saves a person. Faith / trust in Christ as the Savior is what saves a person, but this faith is a living faith that always results in and produces good works. To say that good works must be present BEFORE a person is saved is to make salvation dependent on our obedience, which is works-salvation, not salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. As Titus 3:5 declares, “He saved us – not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”

So, are Church of Christ churches good biblical churches? This is a question that cannot be answered with an all-encompassing response. Many Church of Christ churches are in fact solid, biblically based churches. There are many Church of Christ churches which declare the true Gospel of salvation by faith alone, through grace alone, in Christ alone. At the same time, with an extreme over-emphasis on the absence of musical instruments, with a claim of exclusive access to salvation, and with a doctrine of salvation that is borderline (at best) works-based, there are other Church of Christ churches that should definitely not be attended / participated in. This requires discernment on the part of a believer considering joining a Church of Christ church. The answer to the question depends entirely on which type of Church of Christ church it is.

https://www.gotquestions.org/Church-of-Christ.html

[The_Patriot21]

good example if the innacuracy of gotquestions. they got a good portion right-like the last paragraph, where it says that they cant answer whether theyre biblical or not across the board, but the first part, they missed something-something a lot of people do, is that not all Churches of Christ are non-instrumental. There are many that use instruments, in fact, originally, they all had them. the CoC was originally a predominantly southern denomination-when the civil war hit, musical instruments like pianos became hard to find, and few and fewer churches had them, so they naturally disappeared on their own, and over the years it turned into a tradition to not have any instruments.

Of course, many CoCs do use instruments today.

[missmuffet]

23 minutes ago, The_Patriot2017 said:

good example if the innacuracy of gotquestions. they got a good portion right-like the last paragraph, where it says that they cant answer whether theyre biblical or not across the board, but the first part, they missed something-something a lot of people do, is that not all Churches of Christ are non-instrumental. There are many that use instruments, in fact, originally, they all had them. the CoC was originally a predominantly southern denomination-when the civil war hit, musical instruments like pianos became hard to find, and few and fewer churches had them, so they naturally disappeared on their own, and over the years it turned into a tradition to not have any instruments.

Of course, many CoCs do use instruments today.

Thank you

[The_Patriot21]

Just now, missmuffet said:

Thank you

did you read the rest of the paragraph-about the parts they got Wrong.

[missmuffet]

1 minute ago, The_Patriot2017 said:

did you read the rest of the paragraph-about the parts they got Wrong.

I will take the few kind words and digest them Pat.

[The_Patriot21]

3 minutes ago, missmuffet said:

I will take the few kind words and digest them Pat.

they were all kind-just pointing out the facts, that while gotquestions is a good site theyre not perfect, and they get stuff wrong-which is why its good to get out and do research on ones own.