Enemies Of The Cross 2

Last week’s article examined some of the warnings the New Testament contains about false teachers.  These teachers were, and continue to be, enemies of the cross.  Their teachings are different from the inspired word of God and are, therefore, opposed to all that is godly.  Are the teachings of these men still evident today?

Yes they are.  Their teaching is best seen in the division of believers into various denominational bodies today.  The American College Dictionary defines denomination as “a  religious sect” (page 323).  Denominationalism is defined as “the tendency to divide into denominations or sects” (page 323).  A sect is “1. a body of persons adhering to a particular religious faith; a religious  denomination.  2. a group regarded as deviating from the general religious tradition or as heretical.” (page 1095).  A denomination then is a group that is a sect, one that divides from believers and has deviated from the general religious tradition. Is this wrong?  Yes!

Paul instructed the Corinthians to not divide themselves, but rather have no divisions among them (I Corinthians 1:10).  The problem in Corinth was division over their favorite preacher.  Paul charged “that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ” (verse 12).  Each of these preachers taught the same doctrine and all encouraged unity among believers.  If they did not, they became enemies of the cross (see Galatians 1:6ff).  The New Testament nowhere condones the division of the body of Christ.  Paul taught there is only one church in the book of Ephesians.  He stated the church  is the body of Christ in 1:22,23.  In 4:4 he stated “there is one body.”  One body,  not two or two thousand bodies, only one body.  Anyone who divides the body of Christ, the church, is guilty of doing that which the New Testament condemns.

Why are there so many denominational churches today?  Many of them owe their existence to some preacher or theologian of the Protestant Reformation Movement.  The original goal of these men was good.  They sought to reform obvious abuses in the religion of their day.  But unfortunately, their followers took their writings and made them the standard for understanding God’s will, and some even named their churches after these men.

The final result is division and confusion. Unity of believers serves to demonstrate the divine mission of the church (John 17:21).  The division of denominationalism sends a different message, one of confusion which hinders honest seekers from finding the church Jesus established, the church which demonstrates its divine mission.

— Denny