Misconceptions About the Church of Christ - 3/14/1

TEXT: 1Ti 4:16

INTRODUCTION:
1. Once in a while one who is a member of the church of Christ may hear or come across someone warning them of something about the church.
2. The most important thing is that truth has nothing to fear – Satan loves to sow discord and doubt by making one who may be investigating feel awkward or unintelligent.
3. The following are some of the false claims and common misunderstandings of the church of Christ.

DISCUSSION:

I. THE CHURCH OF CHRIST DOES NOT BELIEVE THE OLD TESTAMENT.
A. There is no foundation for accepting the New Testament without accepting the Old.
1. 2Ti 3:16
2. ALL scripture is inspired.
B. Men confuse believing in the principles of OT with being subject to the laws of OT.
1. Col 2:14
2. Prophecy was fulfilled in the NT but without knowing the OT, we will never understand when and how it was fulfilled or the purpose.
C. The OT is a volume for study.
1. Men who lived under the NT preached from the OT.
a. Rom 15:4
b. 2Pe 3:1-2
2. Christ quoted the OT.
a. Mat 4:4
b. Deu 8:3

II. THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IS OPPOSED TO MUSIC.
A. The church of Christ is not opposed to music.
1. She is opposed to mechanical instruments of music in worship.
2. The Lord has regulated worship to him.
3. Joh 4:24
B. There is a specific range of NT teaching on music.
1. It covers the Lord’s ministry; the prophecies concerning the Lord’s will being brought to men; the practice of the apostles; the pattern that the NT church set before us in the first century.
2. Eight passages in the NT involve music in worship: Mat 26:30 (see Mk 14:26); Act 16;25; Rom 15:9;1 Cor 14:15; Eph 5:19; Col 3:16; Heb 13:15; Jas 5:13.
3. Significant to acknowledge that nowhere is the use of musical instruments inserted into worship.
C. We are to have music in worship but it is to be vocal.

III. THE CHURCH OF CHRIST WAS BEGUN BY ALEXANDER CAMPBELL.
A. Alexander Campbell or any other man could not have originated Christ’s church.
1. Mat 16:18 – the church foretold.
2. Act 2:47 – came into being as Christ said it would.
3. Act 20:28
4. Campbell studied himself out of denominationalism and tried to get others to return to NT faith.
B. Luk 8:11
C. Those who claim that Campbell began the church of Christ deal with an impossibility of time.
1. Campbell arrived in America in 1809.
2. In 1801, Barton W. Stone set out to restore NT Christianity and dissolve all religious factions
3. His movement later joined forces with Campbell’s, but he was working to restore the oneness of the Lord’s church several years before Campbell.

IV. THE CHURCH OF CHRIST BELIEVES IN WATER SALVATION.
A. Luther’s doctrine of "salvation by faith only” has caused many to "warn” against the church of Christ.
1. Baptism where the objection is made.
2. They claim that the church believes man is saved by water.
B. We, along with all children of God, must be obedient for salvation.
1. Heb 5:9
2. 2Th 1:8-9
3. Baptism in water = the form of obedience which we have been commanded in order to be added to the kingdom/church.
C. Man’s obedience involves baptism.
1. It is a part of his obeying the gospel (Mark 16:15-16).
2. It is for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38).
3. It is to wash away sins (Acts 22:16).
4. It is to put on Christ (Gal. 3:27).
5. 1Pe 3:21
6. Water does not save, but the obedient act of being immersed in water does.

CONCLUSION:
1. These misconceptions are often given by sincere people who have questions or who are mistaken based on what they have heard.
2. This is why it is imperative to investigate the word of God.
3. Our souls depend on the necessity to hear, to believe, to repent, to confess, to be baptized, and then to remain faithful all the way to end.



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