Church of Christ question

[Obie]

Couldn't figure out where to post this question, so if I'm in the wrong aisle sorry. My nephew has begun attending a Church of Christ. Can someone please tell about them. I am a WHOLE bible-believing christian. Guess I could be discribed So. Baptist.

[LivnForChrist]

What do the Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Catholics, and the Church of Christ denomination all have in common? T
hey each claim to have THE Way; THE Truth; and THE Life, and that no one gets to heaven without being a part of their
organization! Certainly they can't all be right since their individual doctrinal beliefs are diametrically opposed to one another.

more

[dan p]

Couldn't figure out where to post this question, so if I'm in the wrong aisle sorry. My nephew has begun attending a Church of Christ. Can someone please tell about them. I am a WHOLE bible-believing christian. Guess I could be discribed So. Baptist.

Hi , and I attened a Church of Christ as teenager , and what they taught on salvation , you have to be water Baptized to be saved .
Obviously , that contradicts Eph 2:8 , For by grace you are having been saved through faith , and this not from yourselves , it is the gift of God .

You may have a hard time convincing about Baptism , since So Baptist , also baptize !!

There are 12 different kinds of Baptism that I have seen and most do not deal with water , Like 1 Cor 12:13 ; 1 Cor 15:29 ; and 1 Cor 10:2 and this is just a few of them , dan p

[mikhen7]

To add: Generally, they are "Reconstructionists," "post Millennialists" and teach "Dominion Theology" in their colleges. They come from the "Campbellite Movement" and are united in many ways with the Independent Christian Churches. The do not believe in musical instruments or eternal security.

God Bless

[IamPJ]

Just wanted to add...I was raised in the Church of Christ and not all of them have the same beliefs...some differ.

[mattfivefour]

I agree with PJ. Vicki was raised in the Churches of Christ and occasionally we still attend (though I disagree strongly with their over-strict insistence on immediate baptism and on their preterist eschatology.) Overall, though, they love the Lord and want to follow Him exactly ... which is why they believe that water baptism is an important part of salvation. They believe that you are saved by grace through faith in Christ's finished work on the Cross but believe that this will result in immediate obedience to Christ's command to be baptized. On the day of Pentecost (and also afterward at other conversions), as they like to point out, Peter told those who wanted to be saved, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." (Acts 2:38) They follow that literally.

However, having said that, there is no unanimity in the Churches of Christ. Each congregation is independent. They have no denominational hierarchy or head office. The local churches are run by the local elders. There are no bishops or denomination executive. Hence there is great variety among them. Most, admittedly, are preterist; but some are not. Some allow instruments in worship, some voice only. Some believe that baptism saves you by completing what you began with your confession of Christ. Others believe only that it is the final seal on an already accomplished salvation. So it is impossible to paint them all with one brush. The movement started as the US Restoration Movement of the early 1800's which sought to get back to NT Christianity and get away from the denominational, liturgical, churchianity that they believed had imposed itself on the truth of Jesus Christ.

I applaud their desire to serve Christ ... and many are among the finest Christians you could ever meet. But there are specifics in their theology that are out of line with what I believe scripture says. Therefore I could never make one my church home. Having said that, I wish more churches put the same emphasis on water baptism, on the all-sufficiency of the work of Christ at the Cross, and on the celebration of the Lord's Supper on every occasion they assemble.

[IamPJ]

Thank you Adrian for that information.

[mikhen7]

I agree with PJ. Vicki was raised in the Churches of Christ and occasionally we still attend (though I disagree strongly with their over-strict insistence on immediate baptism and on their preterist eschatology.) Overall, though, they love the Lord and want to follow Him exactly ... which is why they believe that water baptism is an important part of salvation. They believe that you are saved by grace through faith in Christ's finished work on the Cross but believe that this will result in immediate obedience to Christ's command to be baptized. On the day of Pentecost (and also afterward at other conversions), as they like to point out, Peter told those who wanted to be saved, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." (Acts 2:38) They follow that literally.

However, having said that, there is no unanimity in the Churches of Christ. Each congregation is independent. They have no denominational hierarchy or head office. The local churches are run by the local elders. There are no bishops or denomination executive. Hence there is great variety among them. Most, admittedly, are preterist; but some are not. Some allow instruments in worship, some voice only. Some believe that baptism saves you by completing what you began with your confession of Christ. Others believe only that it is the final seal on an already accomplished salvation. So it is impossible to paint them all with one brush. The movement started as the US Restoration Movement of the early 1800's which sought to get back to NT Christianity and get away from the denominational, liturgical, churchianity that they believed had imposed itself on the truth of Jesus Christ.

I applaud their desire to serve Christ ... and many are among the finest Christians you could ever meet. But there are specifics in their theology that are out of line with what I believe scripture says. Therefore I could never make one my church home. Having said that, I wish more churches put the same emphasis on water baptism, on the all-sufficiency of the work of Christ at the Cross, and on the celebration of the Lord's Supper on every occasion they assemble.

I agree. They are 100% autonomous. Because of this they differ by assembly. I went to one of their colleges my first year of college and now live near their sister college and seminary. In the schools is where I see a big push toward what I wrote mentioned. That said, it does not mean they all hold to it. So the best advice to answer to original OP is, knowing the things listed in this thread by all, go to their website and read their statement of beliefs. You could also send an email inquiring of their eschatological beliefs. You could also trust that the things you taught your child are ingrained enough that he would be able to discern if he was being misled. Personally, the acapela (sp) music does not bother me at all. It is a solid form of worship. Admittedly some like the instruments better. But if it was not acceptable then why would so many leaders do both? Praise God that their biggest emphasis is on the salvation of the soul!!

I have to add one last thing, although I do not believe that "Reconstructionism" is biblical in all of its tenets I have to say that the postmillennial push to convert the world to Christ and bring in His kingdom may make them one of the most evangelical witnessing churches in America. Just a thought. While in school evangelism was heavily pushed and I applauded that, I just saw the motivation behind it, as it was taught, as trying to fulfill an agenda rather that genuine interest for the lost. But on an individual level, on the level God works in the heart after a soul is genuinely converted, this agenda never came out. I saw genuine love for individuals. I saw people witnessing because they were genuinely concerned.

God Bless

[JoelH]

Couldn't figure out where to post this question, so if I'm in the wrong aisle sorry. My nephew has begun attending a Church of Christ. Can someone please tell about them. I am a WHOLE bible-believing christian. Guess I could be discribed So. Baptist.

Is that the United Church of Christ? This will be liberal in the worst sense - were Puritan a few centuries ago, but have been Unitarian/liberal since about 1800. It's Obama's church as I understand.

Don't know a lot about the other "Churches of Christ" sorry.

[IamPJ]

United Church of Christ is different than the Church of Christ.