The concept of denominations is not present in the New Testament.

Organization: We are not part of any earthly hierarchy.

• Ephesians 5:22-24

• Church in the universal sense:

  • Ephesians 4:4 – There is one body – the group of people saved by Christ.

  • Matthew 16:16-19

  • Hebrews 12:22-23

  • The Bible often describes the church in the universal sense – all those that are saved in Christ.

    • I Corinthians 16 – This includes dead Christians.

• Church in the local sense:

  • Romans 16:16

  • I Corinthians 1:2

• What’s not in the Bible: denominations

Doctrine: We simply try to study and obey the Bible (not a creed book, statement of beliefs, tradition …)

• Matthew 7:21-23

• John 17:17-23 – We should be unified on truth – not separated by creeds and traditions.

• Ephesians 4:5, 11-14 – Let’s just read the Bible!

• Failure to be unified leads to church-shopping to see whose beliefs you like best, rather than searching for truth. We should only be comparing to the Bible, not our own desires.

Identity: We are simply Christians, not a type of Christian.

• Romans 6:3

• Galatians 3:27

• We have no Bible authority to identify ourselves as any type of Christian.

• I Corinthians 1:10 – Paul tried to stop this sort of division.