Denominations

[OneLight]

Maybe you could do a search about denominations. There have been a lot of strong discussions on this board recently about this and it would be beneficial for you to research this subject some.

OneLight

[Treasure]

Shalom,

There is a difference in denominationalISM and belonging to a denomination, IMHO.

If people look to their denomination to save them and don't emphasize a personal, individual relationship with Jesus, being born-again, filled with the Holy Spirit and walking in His ways. That is the problem.

OTOH, denoms are just sub-groups of the Body that gather according to similar beliefs.

[Angel1969]

I belong to Christ First,then i belong to my personal convictions about my beliefs on Jesus Christ. Which i believe must be looked at daily through the Spirit that dwells in each of us.

Love In Christ

Angel

1 Corinthians 1:11 For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.

1 Corinthians 1:12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?

1 Corinthians 1:14 I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius;

1 Corinthians 1:15 Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.

Comparison:

There seems to be contentions among the denominations.

Now this I say, that every one of you says, I am of Martin Luther (Lutheran); and I of John Calvin (Presbyterian); and I of John Wesley (Methodist); and I of Christ.

Is Christ devided? Was Martin Luther crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Luther?

I think you should be able to see what I am trying to say here. The scriptures seem to show that denominationalism is not correct.

[Phil.2:12]

OTOH, denoms are just sub-groups of the Body that gather according to similar beliefs.

And therein lies the problem. This was exactly the problem in the Corinthian church. There were some in the church that backed Paul and what he taught. Others supported Apollos and his stand on the issues of the day. These were just sub-groups within the church that were gathering according to their similiar beliefs. The very prototype of denominations was seen in this Corinthian church and Paul berated them for their spiritual immaturity that caused these sub-groups to form because such formation prevented unity within the church. The Body of Christ is supposed to be in unity with each other on all points, this precludes all sub-groups of people gathering around similiar beliefs. Such sub-groups are not what God wants, but don't take my word for it, listen to Paul as he addresses this point in his letter to the Ephesian church.

And He gave some, apostles, and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure uf the stature of of the fullness of Christ: that we be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to to deceive. (Ephesians 4:11-14, KJV, emphasis added)

If we all come into the unity of faith, there cannot be sub-groups gathering acording to similiar beliefs, for all will believe the same thing and the need for separate sub-groups with differing beliefs will pass away. The Body of Christ is far from the unity of the faith that is the expressed will of our Heavenly Father as stated by Paul to the Ephesians. Do we really think that there will be a section for Presbyterians, a section for Baptist, or Catholics, or Episcopalians, Lutherans, Charaismatics, ect. in Heaven? Of course, we will put the weird (to us) Pentecostals in the far corner so they won't bother any of the rest of us when they get all fired up.

Of course, this is sheer nonsense, for there will be total unity of all in Heaven. What will be true in Heaven is supposed to be true on earth, for that was expresly what Jesus taught His disciples when He gave them the Lord's prayer,"Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven". There will be no sub-groups of similiar beliefs in Heaven, for there, the total truth will be revealed for all to see. I can well imagine a constant "bonking" sound in Heaven as new arrivals hit their foreheads with the palm of their hand and say, "Why didn't I see that before?". Denominations (sub-groups with similiar beliefs) were not in the will of God in the first century Body of Christ, as Paul eloquently testifies to and they are not for the current body of Christ, no matter how the subject is spun.

[EricH]

1 Corinthians 1:11 For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.

1 Corinthians 1:12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?

1 Corinthians 1:14 I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius;

1 Corinthians 1:15 Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.

Comparison:

There seems to be contentions among the denominations.

Now this I say, that every one of you says, I am of Martin Luther (Lutheran); and I of John Calvin (Presbyterian); and I of John Wesley (Methodist); and I of Christ.

Is Christ devided? Was Martin Luther crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Luther?

I think you should be able to see what I am trying to say here. The scriptures seem to show that denominationalism is not correct.

Tis was addressed to a single church body. it would be hard to take thise warning about disunity in a local body and say that they mean churches cannot band together in denominations

[Ddavid from NC]

1 Corinthians 1:11 For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.

1 Corinthians 1:12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?

1 Corinthians 1:14 I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius;

1 Corinthians 1:15 Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.

Comparison:

There seems to be contentions among the denominations.

Now this I say, that every one of you says, I am of Martin Luther (Lutheran); and I of John Calvin (Presbyterian); and I of John Wesley (Methodist); and I of Christ.

Is Christ devided? Was Martin Luther crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Luther?

I think you should be able to see what I am trying to say here. The scriptures seem to show that denominationalism is not correct.

Tis was addressed to a single church body. it would be hard to take thise warning about disunity in a local body and say that they mean churches cannot band together in denominations

Denominations represent grasp of theology not merely disunity. I have diverse friends from across the denominational spectrum that I fellowship with and partner in ministry with...how about you?

[OneLight]

OTOH, denoms are just sub-groups of the Body that gather according to similar beliefs.

And therein lies the problem. This was exactly the problem in the Corinthian church. There were some in the church that backed Paul and what he taught. Others supported Apollos and his stand on the issues of the day. These were just sub-groups within the church that were gathering according to their similiar beliefs. The very prototype of denominations was seen in this Corinthian church and Paul berated them for their spiritual immaturity that caused these sub-groups to form because such formation prevented unity within the church. The Body of Christ is supposed to be in unity with each other on all points, this precludes all sub-groups of people gathering around similiar beliefs. Such sub-groups are not what God wants, but don't take my word for it, listen to Paul as he addresses this point in his letter to the Ephesian church.

And He gave some, apostles, and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure uf the stature of of the fullness of Christ: that we be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to to deceive. (Ephesians 4:11-14, KJV, emphasis added)

If we all come into the unity of faith, there cannot be sub-groups gathering acording to similiar beliefs, for all will believe the same thing and the need for separate sub-groups with differing beliefs will pass away. The Body of Christ is far from the unity of the faith that is the expressed will of our Heavenly Father as stated by Paul to the Ephesians. Do we really think that there will be a section for Presbyterians, a section for Baptist, or Catholics, or Episcopalians, Lutherans, Charaismatics, ect. in Heaven? Of course, we will put the weird (to us) Pentecostals in the far corner so they won't bother any of the rest of us when they get all fired up.

Of course, this is sheer nonsense, for there will be total unity of all in Heaven. What will be true in Heaven is supposed to be true on earth, for that was expresly what Jesus taught His disciples when He gave them the Lord's prayer,"Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven". There will be no sub-groups of similiar beliefs in Heaven, for there, the total truth will be revealed for all to see. I can well imagine a constant "bonking" sound in Heaven as new arrivals hit their foreheads with the palm of their hand and say, "Why didn't I see that before?". Denominations (sub-groups with similiar beliefs) were not in the will of God in the first century Body of Christ, as Paul eloquently testifies to and they are not for the current body of Christ, no matter how the subject is spun.

I also agree to this understanding. Denominations, in my eyes and understanding, is totally wrong. To keep a division in the true Body is easier then searching for truth and change. I have been on other boards that confused this fact and call it ecumenism, when it really is the word that tells us that this is how it should be. Ecumenism, as in the One World Religion, takes away a lot from the bible in order to have unification amongst different religions. They are watering down the Bible so there will be no more division. There is a difference.

As I asked before, if Jesus was not divided, how is it that His Body thinks it's OK for it to be divided?

[Vickilynn]

Shalom,

I disagree that denominations are wrong UNLESS these denoms are placed above the Word of G-d.

You see, just for logistics sake, we have some that like to meet on Saturday and some that like to meet on Sunday.

Some that like to hoop and holler and some that like to sit in reverent silence.

Some that like hymns and some that like ear-splitting Contemporary Christian worship music.

Some that have women in leadership and some that have all-male leadership.

There is nothing wrong with gathering WITHIN the Body in groups where one feels that the Scriptures are walked out accurately. That should not cause "division" but rather DIVERSITY. Look at it that way.

We are different parts of the Body and there is nothing wrong with worshiping in our diversity as long as we all are worshiping Jesus the Messiah and in Spirit and in Truth.

[OneLight]

Then please explain how and why each denomination began and how they untie the Body. Here is a link to a couple of sites where you can begin to see how each beliefs are different. First, lets start with the List of Christian Denominations. Then we can check out the Christian Denomination Comparison Charts. If there is no real division, then why is there so much time spent explaining one form another? Like I said, it is much easier to sit back and accept this then it is to correct it.

OneLight

[Vickilynn]

If there is no real division, then why is there so much time spent explaining one form another? Like I said, it is much easier to sit back and accept this then it is to correct it.

OneLight

Shalom Alan,

And how would you correct it? Would have us all worship the same?

What of the ones who believe Saturday is right?

What of the ones who believe Sunday is right?

What of the ones who believe women should be pastors and the ones who don't?

There is nothing to "correct" unless you want everyone to be clones.

We are all different and there is nothing wrong in expressing that difference in our worship.

And also we have differences of convictions.

Paul said in Romans 14 that we should simply allow grace. Instead of insisting we all be the same (which is not Biblical nor realistic) GRACE is needed to love one another even with our differences.

We are one Body (in Messiah), but we are different parts. We are not all the legs or the arms.