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Salvation vs Church Membershipby Phil Maxwell May 2004
We believe that the gospel or good news of Yahshua the Messiah (a.k.a. Yeshua, Y'shua, Yehoshua, Jesus Christ, etc.) is that though death is an unavoidable universal condition of humanity, eternal life through the resurrection is available to all. Christianity -- the churches, organizations, ministries, and individual members -- are supposed to be about bringing this great invitation to the world. Unfortunately, most of the doorways to Christianity in the world at present come with various strings attached that ultimately obstruct true seekers' path to the kingdom of heaven.
The fundamental problem seems to be that the statements of faith serving to define each "brand" of Christianity and, therefore, membership criteria, almost always go well beyond simple Biblical salvation; i.e. they define their own members differently than true Christians. Invariably, these self-applied definitions also define others in a diminished light. Multiply this extra-biblical factionalizing by the thousands of distinct groups and brands of Christianity in the world, and the result is everything but the real Church of the One, True and Living God (YHWH, Yahweh, the Father). The true body of Christ is, first and foremost, singular. All members are supposed to be united as brethren, not masters, under the sole authority of the one true God, the Father (Yahweh), led only by the one true Lord and Master of all men, Yahshua the Son of God. According to the Bible, the next level of organization in the true Church goes directly to individuals and individual households, with no spiritually oriented sub-groups in between. Thus, to identify one's self as a Christian of a particular brand (Pentecostal, Baptist, Lutheran, Catholic, etc.), is to affirm the present factionalized, competitive, and completely anti-Christ (who is not divided) church system. By accepting a 'Pentecostal' label, for instance, one also professes to not be a Baptist, Catholic, etc., and, furthermore, strongly implies a superior attitude about their own chosen brand.
The bottom line is this: If the body is divided, it is not the body of Christ, regardless of claims and works implying otherwise. There is only one Lord of the real body of Christ, it has only one Spirit (no divisions, competition, etc.), and it has only one Head. God has not inserted workers of the churches into the heavenly authority chain between Christ and every man; rather, as in the days of the judges in ancient Israel, every man is to do what is right in his own eyes, knowing that he will give account. Joining a group falsely claiming to be the body of Christ actually separates one from Him under a delusion of drawing closer. When we define or even qualify what we regard as a 'true Christian' beyond the simple, basic criteria set forth in the Bible, we partake in a great evil in the world against the name of Christ and His gospel of salvation. We have been given keys to the kingdom of heaven, but we don't own the door: Our place is to receive whoever Yahshua receives, which we can only do by aligning our criteria of acceptance to His, and the Bible is very straightforward and clear on His requirements. What is notable about our statement of faith ("We Believe...") isn't so much what we believe, but what we neither believe nor discriminate against others for differing over. That's because neither Yahshua nor His apostles ever required affirmation of extra-biblical doctrines like the deity of Christ, trinitarian concept of God, keeping part or all of the Law of Moses, etc., though most churches and Christian groups define themselves and their members by such criteria. We've been told before, a little leaven leavens the whole lump. Therefore, while few would differ with the points or even thoroughness of the short list that follows regarding the Biblical doctrine of salvation, most would also readily diminish or entirely dismiss true children of God who dissent from their own extra-Scriptural, non-apostolic doctrines and creeds. Those who have received and been received as servant-brethren of the Lord Yahshua according to the following are children in the family of God, brethren to each other -- nothing more and nothing less. There are no step-children, cousins, or grandchildren in Yahweh's family, and those who attempt to exalt themselves at the expense of others through exalting their own brands of Christianity are missing the mark. |
