TWO VIEWS OF THE CHURCH
By David J. Riggs
Intro.
A. Some who think that one can be saved in any church say, "There
is error in all churches."
1. They think that since all men sin and have short-comings,
all churches have error and short-comings.
2. However, they confuse the human side with the divine side.
B. Also, when we try to expose a certain error in their church,
they say, "I don't go along with everything my church teaches.
I know we have some error, but all churches have some error. We
have some error and some good, and you have some error and some
good."
C. Also, they say, "How can you keep saying you are the only ones
right when we have members as good as yours?"
1. They conclude, "You people claim you are the only ones
going to heaven, because you think you are better than
everyone else. You church of Christ people are a very
conceited and arrogant people."
2. However, in these things they are confusing the human side
with the divine side.
a. All churches have error in the human side, but any
church that has error on the divine side is an apostate
church. Let's look at both sides of the church.
I. First, lets look at the divine side of the church of the Lord.
A. The Divine Side.
1. Origin - Day of Pentecost - Acts 2
a. At hand - Matt. 3:1-2; Mark 1:14-15; Matt. 10:7; Luke
10:9
b. Yet future - Matt. 16:18; Mark 9:1; Luke 23:51; 24:49;
Acts 1:5,8
c. On Pentecost the H.S. came with power, thus marking
its beginning.
d. Any church which claims another date cannot be the
Lord's church.
2. Foundation - 1 Cor. 3:10-11; Isa. 28:16
a. Any church which does not have Christ as its only
foundation cannot be a church of Christ.
b. Compare: Joseph Smith, Mary Baker Eddy; Ellen G.
White
3. Builder - Must be the Lord - Matt. 16:18; Psalm 127:1
a. To be built by the Lord, it must be built according to
the Lord's pattern - Heb. 8:5
b. If not built according to the pattern, it is not the
Lord's, even though they are building intensely and have
a visible organization.
4. Head - Col. 1:18; Eph. 1:22-23; 5:23
a. The church is not answerable to earthly headquarters.
b. Christ alone has the right to state what he wants in His
church.
5. Organization - Phil. 1:1; Acts 14:23; 1 Pet. 5:2
a. The qualifications cannot be ignored.
b. We cannot add other officers and overseers. Instead of
having several bishops over one church, the tendency
today is to have one bishop over many churches.
6. Worship - John 4:24
a. Prayer - 1 Cor. 14:15
b. Singing - Heb. 2:12
c. Preaching - On the Lord's day (Acts 20:7) and on other
days (Acts 19:9).
d. Giving - 1 Cor. 16:2
e. Lord's Supper - Acts 20:7
7. Mission or Work - Eph. 4:12; 1 Tim. 5:16; 3:15
8. Requirements for membership - Acts 2:38,41,47
B. This is God's arrangement.
1. We must have this without error - 2 Pet. 3:17
2. Anything else is lawlessness - Matt. 7:22-23
3. Anything different is error and error condemns - 2 Thess.
2:10-12
4. Those who would teach anything else are false teachers and
have the curse of God on them - Gal. 1:8-9
5. Those who follow the false teachers are likewise condemned
- Matt. 15:9,14
II. Secondly, lets look at the human side of the church.
1. Composed of mere mortals - Matt. 26:41
a. Luke 17:10 - The way we should look at ourselves
b. 1 Cor. 1:27-31 - No flesh glories before God
2. Men can and do sin - 1 John 1:8-10; Rom. 3:23
a. James 1:12-15 shows how sin comes about. Sin is
certainly not inherited from our ancestors.
(1) Illustration: Two men are tempted to steal
something. One says, "no." He has not sinned even
though he was tempted. The other says, "yes." He
has sinned even though he may not have the
opportunity to take what he desired.
3. Men have faults - James 5:16
a. Peter had his faults - Gal. 2:11
b. Men are faulty on the human side, but the divine side is
not faulty and cannot be.
4. We must restore - Gal. 6:1
a. 1 Thess. 5:14; James 5:19-20
b. We can help men, but we can't help God in His
arrangement.
c. All creeds are made in view of helping God.
d. Many organizations have been devised for the purpose
of aiding God.
5. We must discipline - 1 Cor. 5:4-5; 2 Thess. 3:6
a. The Scriptures are given for correction - 2 Tim. 3:16-17
b. Men need correction, but God doesn't.
6. We should improve ourselves - Rom. 12:1-2; Titus 2:11-12
a. We need to learn to love the world less - 1 John 2:15-17
b. We can improve ourselves, but we cannot improve upon
the divine order.
7. We should change - For the better - 1 Pet. 2:2; 2 Pet. 3:18
a. We dare not change God's arrangement.
8. We should recognize our weaknesses - 1 Cor. 10:12; Rom.
12:3; Luke 18:10-14
a. We should recognized our own weaknesses, but at the
same time realize that there are no weaknesses on the
divine side.
Concl.
A. They say, "There is error in all churches."
1. However, they have confused the divine side with the human
side.
2. God made provisions for weaknesses and error on the human
side, but on the divine side, He allows for no error. 2 John
9; 1 Cor. 4:6; Gal. 1:6-9
3. If we have error on the divine side we must give it up. Eph.
5:11; James 5:19-20
a. For one to repent of error, he must completely give up
that error.
B. They say, "How can you say you are right and we are wrong
when we are as good as you are?" They conclude, "The church of
Christ people think they are better than anyone else."
1. Again, they have confused the human side with the divine
side.
2. We are saying we are right and others wrong, not because
we are perfect (on the human side), but because we respect
God's arrangement.
a. We are right because we have perfection on the divine
side.
b. It is an absolute necessity that it be right.
c. Anything other than God's arrangement is lawlessness,
error, and the curse of God rests on it.
Chart:
THE CHURCH
The Divine Side
Origin
Foundation
Builder
Head
Organization
Worship
Mission
Requirements for membership
The Human Side
Mere Mortals
All men sin
Men have faults
We must restore
Must discipline
Should improve
We should change
Should recognize weaknesses