What if you were going to try to find the church of the New Testament today—the one that we read about in the pages of our Bible? How could you go about identifying it? Is there any way to know for sure, in one’s examination of “churches” today, if a “church” that he finds is actually the one that Jesus established? As one reads through the New Testament, there are certainly a number of identifying marks of the Lord’s church. Perhaps first and foremost is identifying the authoritative pattern that the church uses.
First, it is important to understand the authoritative pattern that the church of the Bible does not use. Many religious groups today are following doctrines that come from creed books, such as various church manuals, church disciplines, catechisms, etc. Is there anything wrong with that? Well, consider that man is not to “add to” or “take away from” God’s Word (Rev. 22:18-19), and he is to “speak” only “the utterances of God” (1 Pet. 4:11). To find our teaching or authoritative direction in a book other than the Bible is to “go beyond what is written” (1 Cor. 4:6).
Second, it is critical to understand the authoritative pattern that the church of the Bible must certainly use. When Moses built the tabernacle in the Old Testament, he made “all things according to the pattern shown” to him by God (Heb. 8:5). Even more so, God gave a clear “pattern” for His church to follow in all things, and that “pattern of sound words” (2 Tim. 1:13) is His inspired Word (2 Tim. 3:16-17). The command is distinct and comprehensive—“Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Col. 3:17). His authoritative Word is the pattern for the church!
Third, it is vital to understand the consequences of not following the authoritative pattern prescribed in Scripture. Going beyond what God’s Word authorizes and practicing a “Christianity” that is not firmly founded upon and grounded in the pure, unadulterated doctrine of the New Testament is not an insignificant matter. Such will result in being “accursed” (Gal. 1:8-9) and taken from “the Book of Life” (Rev. 22:19), for such action forfeits one’s relationship with God Himself (2 John 9). That verse affirms, “Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God.” This is a matter of eternal consequence!
So, what if you were going to try to find the church of the New Testament today? What if, in your search, you found a church that uses some other book as their guide instead of the Bible? What if you found a church that uses the Bible some but also follows an additional creed or manual or catechism? The reality is that if a “church” today uses or follows any law system, doctrine, creed or discipline other than the New Testament, it is not the church that Jesus established on this earth. Our desire should be to find His church today and restore it to the pattern that He gave in Scripture.