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There are many wonderful Churches of Christ.
However approximately 20% of Churches of Christ teach
these painful doctrines:
1. You can
never be sure you
are saved.
This is never stated out loud
from the pulpit. However Bible stories of people being struck dead are told so
many times from the pulpit that the message comes across loud and clear. Every
time a passage about the security of salvation is read in a Bible class, the
teacher is quick to counter it with verses like: "Make every effort to work
out your salvation with fear and trembling." The statement is made repeatedly
that Baptists are so sure they are saved that they use grace as a license
to sin.
One of us
taught at a rural Church of Christ for 18 months. Each sermon Sunday morning and
Sunday evening was on the security of our salvation. After 18 months a 70 year
old woman was asked, "Do you believe you're definitely going to heaven?" "No,"
she replied, "but I feel a lot more secure than when you first arrived." A few
months later her husband died of cancer. She was worried that he wouldn't go to
heaven because he died smoking cigarettes. He had tried many times to quit, but
never did. *
"I write these things to you who
believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you
have eternal life." --I John 5:13
"19We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and
secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain" --Hebrews 6
One preacher
explained "Not Under Law, But Under Grace"
(Romans 6:14) in this way:
"'`For you are not under law'' is an ellipsis
(``Gram. Omission of one or more words, obviously understood, but
necessary to make the expression grammatically complete,''
Webster. ..."For you are not under law only, but also under
grace'').
This preacher cannot imagine a forgiveness from God that puts us under grace and
not under law.
Another example
comes from a preacher who wrote an article entitled: Will Those Under Grace Have
To Give an Account? His answer is "yes."
2. Only people baptized in the
Churches of Christ will be saved.
See here
and
here for examples of this teaching.
"26If those who are not circumcised keep the law's requirements, will
they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? 27The one who
is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even
though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.
28A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision
merely outward and physical. 29No, a man is a Jew if he is one
inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit,
not by
the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God." --Romans 2
3. Every time you sin you are lost until you ask forgiveness.
See here and
here for examples of this teaching.
"For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under
grace." --Romans 6:14. Paul teaches that we live under forgiveness.
"12But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice
for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. 13Since that time he
waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, 14because by one
sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy."
--Hebrews 10
"23The words "it was credited to him [Abraham]" were written not for
him alone, 24but also for us, to whom God will credit
righteousness--for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the
dead. 25He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to
life for our justification." --Romans 4
For more on this click here.
4. Obedience is following the blueprint in the book of Acts.
See here for an
example of this teaching.
'16"This is the covenant I will make with them
after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds." 17Then he adds:
"Their sins and lawless acts
I will remember no more." 18And where these have been
forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.' --Hebrews 10
There is no new law in the New Testament. There is only new forgiveness and the
fulfillment of the shadows of this forgiveness found in the Old Testament. (See
sidebar for more.)
5. Worship is following the blueprint in the book of Acts.
The practice of establishing authority by command, apostolic example and
necessary inference, is a
doctrine that descends from
the Scottish Enlightenment, the reformed
Presbyterians, the Puritans and
Ulrich Zwingli.
See here for an
example of this teaching in the Churches of Christ.
Worship is telling God how much you appreciate what he has done for you.
Worship is every positive thing that goes on in your head and in your heart.
6. God is reluctant to forgive.
"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was
filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms
around him and kissed him." --Luke 15:20
7. Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10) are an example of how we will be punished
for wrong worship.
See here
and here for examples of this teaching.
Nadab and Abihu were instructed to take coals of fire from the altar to
burn incense before God. They took coals from a different fire. The symbolism is
clear: The altar represents Jesus' sacrifice (Hebrews 13:10-12) and incense
represents prayer (Rev. 5:8). The symbolism of this passage only teaches that
our prayers are unacceptable to God unless we go through the sacrifice of
Jesus Christ. It is a teaching in humility. It is not our own obedience that
is acceptable to God, but Christ's sacrifice and Christ's obedience through
which we find access to God. This passage is actually comforting when we realize
that our own efforts are not what put us in a right relationship with God, but
it is what God has done for us, and our simple acceptance of that fact, that
brings us to God.
8. Uzzah (II Samuel 6) is an example of how we will be punished for wrong
worship.
See here for an
example of this teaching.
The priests were instructed never to approach the ark of the covenant (the
Presence of God) without blood and incense (forgiveness and prayer). They were
never to touch the ark, but were to carry it on their shoulders. Uzzah, a
priest, steadied the ark when the oxen stumbled, and was struck dead.
King David parked the ark in the nearest house, then later moved it the proper
way, with the priests carrying it on their shoulders. Sacrifices were made.
David leaped and danced with all his might before the ark. (II Samuel 6).
There is no record of God asking David to leap and dance. Yet God accepted
David's worship and no-one was struck dead.
9. Instruments of music are forbidden and unacceptable to God in church
worship.
See here for an
example of this teaching.
a. There are instruments of music in worship to God in heaven (Revelation 5:8).
b.
There were instruments of music in worship in the Old Testament.
c. There is no condemnation of instruments of music in the New Testament
(or in the entire Bible).
d.
There are many Psalms quoted in the New Testament, with no statements of caution
to make sure to not obey the musical instrument passages in the Psalms.
10. The Lord's Supper must be taken every Sunday.
See
here and here for examples of this teaching.
This doctrine is based primarily on Acts 20:1-7. The passage says the church at
Ephesus met on Sunday night to "break bread", the idiomatic expression for
eating a meal. They eventually "broke bread" the next morning after Paul
preached all night. The passage does not specify whether this was a picnic meal
together, or if it was a special ceremony to remember Christ's death, burial and
resurrection. There is no command in this passage, only an example. There is no
statement as to how often they came together, or how often they ate together.
The passage states the reason they met on this night was because Paul was
leaving town the next day, not because it was the regular weekly church day. The
passage also states they met in an upper, or second floor, room. If this passage
is to serve as a binding example on the church today then we must meet in upper
rooms, and we must meet all night before we take communion the next day.
The early church met daily to "break bread" as one of their activities together
(Acts 2:47). There are no references in the rest of the Scriptures to indicate a
specific day on which to meet.
The command is from Jesus: "As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup,
do so in remembrance of me." Jesus does not specify a time frame, however it was
at Passover, a Thursday night, that Jesus uttered these words. Many (outside the
Churches of Christ) believe that
Jesus meant the Lord's Supper to be taken each Passover, once a year.
Others realize that the New Testament does not contain new rules to keep, nor
can it be called a blueprint for the work, worship and organization of the local
congregation. So they take Jesus at his word: as often as they eat the Lord's
Supper, they eat it to remember Jesus.
Paul instructed the Corinthian church to "Lay by in store each one of you on the
first day of the week, that there be no collections when I come" (I Corinthians
16). Commentators are divided on this passage, but the vast majority say that
the activity was to be done at home, not at church, "laying by in store" being a
reflexive verb referring to what one does to or for oneself.
11. I have to be worthy to take the Lord's Supper.
See
here for an example of this teaching.
Paul rebuked the Corinthians for taking the Lord's
Supper in an unworthy manner (I Cor. 11). Paul describes the rich members as selfish
with their picnic baskets and not sharing--thus one was drunk and another went
hungry. Paul says that they were condemning themselves for not sharing.
The Lord's Supper is about how God shares his love and forgiveness with us. When
Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Episcopalians and Lutherans take the Lord's
Supper they first freely confess that they are sinners unworthy of God's
forgiveness. In other words they confess that they are unworthy, and are
grateful for God's free gift.
The more unworthy we feel, the more important it is to be reminded through the
Lord's Supper that we are freely forgiven by God.
12. Missing a church service is a sin.
See
here for an example of this teaching.
"Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, as is the habit of some, but
rather encouraging one another all the more as you see the day approaching"
(Hebrews 10:25).
This is the only passage commanding going to church.**
Much of the guilt dealt out in lessons and sermons is aimed at those who
have left the Churches of Christ, with the effect that anyone who leaves knows
what they will get after they are gone.
One of the reasons members of the hard-line Churches of Christ find it so difficult to
leave is that they honestly believe they cannot miss a church service. So on
Saturday night or Sunday morning they get the yellow pages out and search
through all the listings hoping that there will be one that will be okay to meet
with. But there isn't one, so they go back to the discouraging church they are
stuck with until they completely burn out.
Click here for a Legalism Questionnaire.
Click here for an examination of almost all of the
passages of Scripture that define what a false doctrine or a false teacher is.
