Denominations

We should note right up front that the discussion of denominations cannot be furthered by looking for them in the Bible. It never was God's intention that His people find a way to divide, to form various churches with different names and individual beliefs, however minor the differences may be.

In fact, what we see in the NT is a lot of teaching regarding unity. Jesus, praying right before His arrest (John 17), went to the Father and prayed that His disciples "may be one." This is repeated several times in this one prayer, showing that Jesus was concerned about His followers splintering after He left them.

We see this very same problem occurring in Corinth, causing Paul to have to address this matter to the Christians in his letter of 1Cor. In 1:10, Paul says, "Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment." He goes on to say that some were saying "I am of Paul," or others, "Apollos" or "Cephas" etc. In 3:3, he continues the discussion by saying, "For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?"

But this is exactly what has evolved in Christendom today; and for the most part, nobody really sees a problem with it. The common answer is: "We are all headed for the same place; we just are getting there a little differently." But that isn't the attitude of the Bible, which is God's Word to us. The Bible attitude is clearly: "NO!" Christians are to be one; just Christians.

Ephesian 4, (read chapter 3 also) says, "...keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body" (church), one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. Oneness, unity, means a great deal to God....and thus, it needs to be important to us. The denominational setup that we men have created is not right, not Biblical, not pleasing to God.

Thanks for reading. Have a great week!