It's wrong to say denomination is bad

jesusislord · 10-09-2020, 09:30 PM

It's wrong to say denomination is bad, unless you misunderstood what does it really means.

According to the definition of Oxford dictionary:
'a recognized autonomous branch of the Christian Church.'

some may argue they are the true church, nothing wrong with that, since Jesus had 12 apostles and had sent the Holy Spirit to the guide the church, a true church is indeed a true church if they ascribe to the teaching of the apostle. Now, what's the marks of a true church?

the ministry of the Word and of the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper are the hallmarks of the true church. - John Calvin.

so in a city, they may be many groups or churches that does the Lord's work (preaching and upholding the gospel) or simply gather as a group of believers.

so for many years I was meeting in a church which affiliated with the teaching of watchman nee, aka watchman nee's denomination. Luther started his work, Calvin did it in his way, Wesley did the same, no man is perfect in their service. But today thanks to these gifted teacher from the Lord we have so many Christian groups - Lutheran, Reformed, Methodist and so on, we as a whole, are the visible church in various locality (including believers in Catholic and Orthodox too)! if someone argue you need to meet by the principle 1 city 1 church you missed the mark what a church is.

so now come to the problem of division and differences. The number of believer today is far greater than the believer in 1st century, we can't literary take the pattern from the bible (1 city 1 church under 1 ministry) and execute that way. Does single ministry is able to serve millions of believers in various city, states, countries and region? Each minister or elder or believer in a denomination / church should be responsible to serve in that community.

1 city 1 church 1 ministry 1 publication is only practical if all the saints would agree to meet that way, and that particular ministry must be the single best ministry in able to care for millions of believers on the earth, and the publication must be able to produce books that's widely accepted and good enough for all the believers.

How to go about the issue of division?
Believers are one in Christ. I don't see how conformity and meeting according to locality is the way to go to try unite the saints. Oneness is spiritual. Jesus said who are my brother and sister? Those who does the Father's will. When group A and group B are obeying God and taking Jesus as Lord, then they are one with the ministry of Jesus Christ in the heaven!

Thus, I conclude that I was merely part of a Christian denomination, I reject the upsell of extra biblical idea of the ground of the church taught by LSM. It's silly to distance ourselves from other believers from different denomination, tradition and ministry. Just because you have an idea how to run your church doesn't means you have the right to look down, slander, devalue what others are doing, especially they indeed preach the gospel and are genuine believers of Jesus.

10-09-2020, 09:30 PM	#1
jesusislord Member Join Date: Jun 2019 Posts: 35	It's wrong to say denomination is bad It's wrong to say denomination is bad, unless you misunderstood what does it really means. According to the definition of Oxford dictionary: 'a recognized autonomous branch of the Christian Church.' some may argue they are the true church, nothing wrong with that, since Jesus had 12 apostles and had sent the Holy Spirit to the guide the church, a true church is indeed a true church if they ascribe to the teaching of the apostle. Now, what's the marks of a true church? the ministry of the Word and of the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper are the hallmarks of the true church. - John Calvin. so in a city, they may be many groups or churches that does the Lord's work (preaching and upholding the gospel) or simply gather as a group of believers. so for many years I was meeting in a church which affiliated with the teaching of watchman nee, aka watchman nee's denomination. Luther started his work, Calvin did it in his way, Wesley did the same, no man is perfect in their service. But today thanks to these gifted teacher from the Lord we have so many Christian groups - Lutheran, Reformed, Methodist and so on, we as a whole, are the visible church in various locality (including believers in Catholic and Orthodox too)! if someone argue you need to meet by the principle 1 city 1 church you missed the mark what a church is. so now come to the problem of division and differences. The number of believer today is far greater than the believer in 1st century, we can't literary take the pattern from the bible (1 city 1 church under 1 ministry) and execute that way. Does single ministry is able to serve millions of believers in various city, states, countries and region? Each minister or elder or believer in a denomination / church should be responsible to serve in that community. 1 city 1 church 1 ministry 1 publication is only practical if all the saints would agree to meet that way, and that particular ministry must be the single best ministry in able to care for millions of believers on the earth, and the publication must be able to produce books that's widely accepted and good enough for all the believers. How to go about the issue of division? Believers are one in Christ. I don't see how conformity and meeting according to locality is the way to go to try unite the saints. Oneness is spiritual. Jesus said who are my brother and sister? Those who does the Father's will. When group A and group B are obeying God and taking Jesus as Lord, then they are one with the ministry of Jesus Christ in the heaven! Thus, I conclude that I was merely part of a Christian denomination, I reject the upsell of extra biblical idea of the ground of the church taught by LSM. It's silly to distance ourselves from other believers from different denomination, tradition and ministry. Just because you have an idea how to run your church doesn't means you have the right to look down, slander, devalue what others are doing, especially they indeed preach the gospel and are genuine believers of Jesus.