Prominent Religious Doctrines:
“Choose The Church Of Your Choice”

Probably one of the most familiar phrases heard among people is to “choose the church of your choice.” Billy Graham and others like him say this constantly. This is one of the “politically correct” things to say these days. So many people have the idea that after one is saved, they can join the church that they choose. We have heard many times on the TV, radio, and other media that “ ‘so-and-so’ church is what you are looking for” and other similar phrases. In fact, there is a church in Franklin, TN that put on their sign, “The People’s Church.” What does the Bible says about this type of thinking? Has God said that one can be saved and then go join the church of their choice? Does God sanction each and every organization that has “church” on their sign? Is He the author or promoter of these groups that teach different and conflicting doctrines? What saith the Scripture?

1. THERE IS ONLY ONE CHURCH MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE: It is important for us to note at the beginning, that when the New Testament speaks of the church, it is mentioned consistently in the singular. In Matthew 16:18, Jesus called her “my church.” In Acts 2:47, the Lord added the saved to “the church.” Paul called her “the church of God” (Acts 20:28). Christ is “head of ... the church” (Col. 1:18; Eph. 1:22). Paul said, “Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. ... the church is subject unto Christ, .... Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, ... that it should be holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5:23-27). Please reread these verses, and note the fact that the Lord’s church is singular in nature!

2. WHEN DOES ONE BECOME A MEMBER OF THE LORD’S CHURCH? Does the Bible teach that one can be saved one day, and then “choose their church” another day? The apostle Luke records that after the 3000 were baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:36-41), that many continued to submit to God’s plan of salvation. In Acts 2:47 we read, “Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” Here, we find the Lord doing the adding to His church, and it happened when one was saved! God adds only the saved to the church, and adds none of the unsaved to His church. One can only be a part of His church when he is saved from his sins; and this adding is done at that moment of salvation. There is no getting around this.

3. WHAT ABOUT ALL THE CHURCHES MENTIONED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT? Yes, there are several churches mentioned in the Bible. These include the church at Ephesus and Corinth, the churches of Galatia, the church at Rome, Philippi, etc. However, this does not mean that they were all different churches or different denominations teaching different and conflicting doctrines! These local congregations were composed of people who had been saved (Acts 2:38), and then banded together in a local area in order to do the work God gave them to do. When they did this, they were still the “church of God” (I Cor. 1:2) or the “church of Christ” (Rom. 16:16). In fact, it is only in the local church setting that we find one (Paul) “joining” the church at Jerusalem (Acts 9:26). In doing so, he was not taking his pick among Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Community Church, etc. Rather, since he had been saved (Acts 22:16), and been added to the church by the Lord (Acts 2:47), he had a desire to be a member of a local congregation of God’s people. They knew nothing of denominational divisions, but only of the Lord’s church (Rom. 16:16).

CONCLUSION