THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST
SPREADING THE SOUL-SAVING MESSAGE OF JESUs
“What Are the Differences Between the Church of Christ and Other Religions?” [Part 2]
Introduction by narrator accompanied by a cappella singing:
THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. Spreading the soul-saving message of Jesus. And now, Ben Bailey.
Have you ever wondered what the difference is between the church of Christ and modern religious groups today? Some would say that there is no difference at all. Others would say the only significant differences have to do with teachings on baptism and the weekly observance of the Lord’s Supper. That is not true, however. There are important differences between the church about which you read in the New Testament and many modern religious groups currently in existence. Today we are going to examine some of the differences between the church of Christ and other religious groups. In fact, we will be examining four specific differences.
The first difference we want to examine between the church of Christ and other religious groups pertains to the type of music that is employed in worship. A visitor to a worship service of the church of Christ would notice almost immediately that our worship is different in that we sing a cappella. That is to say, we do not use the accompaniment of instruments of music. I frequently am asked, “Why don’t you use instruments of music in worship?,” or “Why don’t you sing with the accompaniment of an instrument?” But neither of those is actually the question that a person needs to be asking. The real question is this: “Where, in the New Testament, do we find the authority to use instruments of music in worship to God?” The question is not “Why can’t we use instruments of music in worship?” The question is “Where is the biblical support that permits us to do such a thing?” We need to understand very clearly that the New Testament is our pattern today. We must not try to go back to the Old Testament in order to try to live and worship as people did then. We are not saved as people were in the Old Testament. The Bible clearly teaches in Ephesians 2:14-15 that Jesus nailed the Old Law and the Ten Commandments to the cross. He abolished those things, said Paul, “in His flesh.” We learn from Hebrews 8:13, “In that He says, ‘A new covenant,’ He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.” The Old Law had become obsolete. We know today that we are not to live and worship according to the Old Testament. In fact, we learn from the New Testament that it is the words of Christ that are going to judge us today. Thus, we need to ask, “Where in the New Testament do we find authority for singing?” What does God have to say on this subject?
Let’s take just a moment to see what the New Testament says about singing and about how we should or should not do that. We learn first and foremost that singing is something that ought to glorify the name of God. In Romans 15:9, Paul wrote, “For this reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles, and sing to Your name.” There we are told to sing, to confess God’s name among the Gentiles, and to lift it up with our voice. There is no mention of the use of an instrument. As we go farther through the pages of the New Testament, we come to passages such as Ephesians 5:19. There, we learn a very important principle of about singing. The apostle Paul said, “Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” Here we are told how Christians are to sing. We are to speak to one another. How? We are to do that in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in our hearts to the Lord. And as we do that, we are to teach one another. There is no mention of an instrument in this passage. In fact, an instrument cannot do what is commanded in this passage. It cannot speak. It cannot make melody in its heart (because it has no heart). And it cannot teach. The absence of the instrument is conspicuous. We must sing with our mind engaged. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 14:15, “I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding.” We engage our minds in the words of the song. We sing with our spirit, our emotions, and our zeal—which is exactly what God tells us to do in the New Testament. A companion passage to Ephesians 5:19 is Colossians 3:16, which also teaches us the basic principle of singing to one another in psalms and hymns, and making melody in our heart to the Lord. Both of these passages show us that we must not use instruments of music. In fact, everything that is said about music in the New Testament Age teaches us that we should not use an instrument, but that we should sing with our voice. For example, in Hebrews 2:12, we are told that when we assemble, we should sing praises to God and to His Son. In Acts 16:25, Paul and Silas are in prison where they are praying and singing hymns to God, and where the prisoners are listening to them. As we think about the words that Jesus spoke in Matthew 26:30 and what is recorded there about His disciples, we read, “And when they had sung a hymn and went out.” James talked about a happy person, and said, “If anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms” (Jas. 5:13).
As you look through the pages of the New Testament—from Matthew to Revelation—there is one thing you will not find. You will not find any authority for the use of instruments of music in worship to God. God tells us to use our voices. We are to sing one to another as a congregation. And we are to sing with the knowledge of what we are saying, and with our emotions involved in that as well. We must remember a very important principle—that we must do only that which the Bible authorizes us to do. The verse that follows Colossians 3:16 (about singing) teaches us a very important principle about authority. Verse 17 says, “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Christians are clearly taught not to go beyond what is written (1 Cor. 4:6). Think about that for a minute as it relates to singing. If we are not to go beyond what is written, and if within the pages of the New Testament (which is our guide today) we do not find one word about the use of instruments of music in worship, then we must not go beyond that. We must not bring something into worship that God has not authorized. Why is that? Revelation 22:18-19 says that we are not to add to or take anything away from God’s Word, lest the woes that are pronounced within that book fall upon us. We are not to do anything for which we do not find authority within God’s Word. When Jesus said that He had been given “all authority in Heaven and on earth,” and that Christians are to go out and make disciples of all nations (Mt. 28:18-19), the principle was that He is to tell us how to do that and how to worship. We are to simply follow His teaching. Thus, in the church today we do not use instrumental music because there is no authority for such within the pages of the New Testament. That New Testament is our guide. The only safe way to worship God is to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to one another making melody in our hearts to the Lord.
A second major difference between the Lord’s church and religious groups today is that we have a weekly observance of the Lord’s Supper. This is a crucial and important part of New Testament worship. In Matthew 26:26-29, Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper. At the Passover, He took the bread and told His disciples how it would represent His broken body. He took the fruit of the vine and told them how it would represent His blood. Today, we are to think about these things as we eat the bread and drink the grape juice. We are to think about how He shed His blood for each one of us. We are to partake of the Lord’s Supper as a memorial of how much Christ sacrificed for us. We find another important principle about the Lord’s Supper in 1 Corinthians 11:26-29. The apostle Paul here teaches us that as we eat the unleavened bread and as we drink the fruit of the vine, we proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. There are two things that we need to learn from this text. First, the Lord’s Supper is to last until Christ comes again. Until the last day—when we hear the trumpet sound and the Son of God returns—we are to observe the Lord’s Supper. Second, we learn from this text that there was a regularity involved in partaking of the Lord’s Supper. Paul said that as often as we eat of the bread and drink the cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death.
So how often should we partake of the Lord’s Supper? It obviously is to be taken regularly, but how often should we observe it? Is it something that we should do only on special occasions like Easter or Christmas? Is it something we should do monthly? Is it something we should do only on occasions established by men? What do the Scriptures say about this? God, in His Word, does teach us how often we are to observe the Lord’s Supper. Paul asked the question in Romans 4:3, “What does the Scripture say?” Today, we ask the same question in regard to first-century Christians and how they observed the Lord’s Supper. Let’s look in Acts 20:7 to see what the Bible has to say about the Lord’s Supper. Luke wrote, “Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.” Here we see first-century Christians. And they came together on the first day of the week for what purpose? They came together to break bread. They assembled on the first day of the week to observe the memorial of the Lord’s Supper. That was the purpose of their coming together.
But how often did they come together for this purpose? If we examine 1 Corinthians 16:1-2, we find that the Christians came together every first day of the week in order to worship God and to give of their means. They came together every first day of the week. What was the purpose of their coming together? Acts 20:7 teaches us that it was to remember the Lord’s death. From this we learn that Christians should come together every first day of the week to remember the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus and His broken body through the Lord’s Supper. I think that we can better understand this through the use of an Old Testament example. In Exodus 20:8, God said to the people, “Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy.” God never said, “Remember every Sabbath that comes around. We know, of course, that this is exactly what they did. And we know that God was pleased with what they did because they understood His command correctly. God did not have any “special” Sabbath in mind when He issued that command. Neither is there any special Sunday in mind in Acts 20:7. The example we find in the New Testament is of Christians meeting every first day of the week to remember Jesus’ death and to pay honor to Him and to the sacrifice that He made. If that is how Christians did this in the first century, why would we want to do anything different today? Why would we not want to be what they were and to do what they did in their worship of God? Someone might ask, “Why should we observe the Lord’s Supper on the first day of the week?” There are two important reasons. First, it was on Sunday that the Lord arose from the grave after His death (Mt. 28:1). Second, it was on the first day of the week that Jesus ascended into Heaven (Acts 1). Sunday is a special day to Christians because it was on that day that Christ arose from the dead, and it was on that day that He ascended to return to His Father. Today, we, too, are trying to go to Heaven, and we must remember what Jesus has done for each one of us. Think about this. If the Lord’s Supper is not to be observed on the first day of the week, then how are we to know when to observe it? Is the Lord’s Supper something that God has told us to do and commanded us to remember—yet failed to tell us how often we are to do it? We know from Scripture that there is to be “some” regularity to it. We know that we are to observe the Lord’s Supper. But has God left us without any evidence to show us what we are to do? Absolutely not! We find within the pages of the New Testament that Christians observed the Lord’s Supper on the first day of the week. Every week has a first day. So, today we must remember Christ’s death on the first day of every week.
Another difference between the church of Christ and other religious groups pertains to teaching on salvation. There are many different views on salvation. Some say that we are chosen by God (or “elected”) and that there is nothing we can do to change that. Others suggest that we are predestined from eternity to go to Heaven or Hell, and that there is nothing we can do to change that. Some say that all we have to do is “believe,” and we will be saved. Others teach that all we have to do is to “say the sinner’s prayer” or “make an altar call,” and then we will be right with God. Others teach that salvation is a gradual process (which, in one sense, it is). But they suggest that there is no point in that process at which we can know that we are saved. The Bible, however, makes clear not only what we must do to be saved, but also that there is a point at which we can know we are saved. In the Bible, there are five clear steps in the plan of salvation. And we can know that if we follow those steps, then we will be right with God. The first step is for us to hear God’s Word. We must come to the Scriptures, recognizing that God’s Word is the authority and that we must hear what God has to say on the subject of our salvation. Romans 10:17 says that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” We must realize that if we hear what the Bible says, then it will create faith in us—something that is necessary because, as Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Thus, we must come to the Scriptures and listen carefully to what God says.
The second step in the plan of salvation is to believe in Jesus Christ. In Acts 8, as Philip and the Ethiopian nobleman traveled down the road, they came to water and the nobleman wanted to know why he could not be baptized? Acts 8:37 offers us Philip’s response. “‘If you believe with all your heart, you may.’ And he [the nobleman] answered and said, ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.’” Verse 38 then goes on to say, “So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.” Afterwards, the nobleman “went on his way rejoicing” (vs. 39). So belief is also essential to salvation. Jesus said in John 8:24, “If you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” Notice that the Scriptures teach us that “belief alone” will not save us. James 2:24 specifically says that we cannot be saved by faith only. In fact, the only time that the words “faith only” are used is when the Bible says that we are not saved by faith only.
Third, once we have heard God’s Word and believed it, then our belief should cause us to act by repenting of our past sins. In Luke 13:3, Jesus responded to certain people who had asked Him if others around them were worse sinners than they were, “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” Repentance means that we have a change of will, of heart, and of mind—which then leads to a changed way of life. In Acts 3:19 Peter said, “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” Thus, as we believe in Jesus, our faith causes us to change our lives and to repent.
Fourth, we must confess Christ as Lord of our lives and as our Savior. Paul said in Romans 10:10, “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” In Matthew 10:32-33, Jesus said, “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.” We therefore must confess Christ as the Lord of our lives.
The fifth step in salvation is being baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. So many today say that baptism is not essential to salvation. They admit that it is something that a person “probably needs to do,” but that it is not something that someone needs to do as a step to salvation. That is simply not true. The New Testament makes it abundantly clear that baptism is essential to salvation. In Acts 2:37, the people to whom Peter spoke were cut to their hearts and cried out, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” They wanted to know what they needed to do deal with their sin problem, since they had just murdered the Messiah. Peter told them in Acts 2:38 to “repent and be baptized for (in order to receive) remission of sins.” He did not say that they should be baptized “after they had already been saved.” He told them to change their will and their way, and then to be baptized in water so that their sins could be washed away. This is in complete harmony with what the New Testament teaches on this subject. Jesus said, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved. He who does not believe shall be condemned” (Mk. 16:15-16). Saul (who would later become the apostle Paul) asked in Acts 9:6, “Lord, what would you have me to do?” Saul wanted to know what he needed to do to get right with the Lord. He was told to go into the city of Damascus where he would be told what he needed to do. He went into the city, and eventually Ananias came to him and said, “Why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). How do we call on the name of the Lord correctly? We do that by getting up, doing what God says, and obeying Him in baptism. At what point in the salvation process, then, are our sins washed away? Listen again to Acts 22:16—“Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” Peter said in 1 Peter 3:21, “baptism does now also save us.” There is a significant difference between the church about which you read in the Book of Acts and most religious groups today in regard to the teaching about salvation. We cannot afford to be wrong on a matter as important as this. We must determine to come to the Bible and do only what it says for us to do.
A fourth and very important difference between the church of the Lord and many religious groups today has to do with what is called “the security of the believer.” Many will say that once you are saved, you cannot fall from God’s grace. Once you have been saved, there is absolutely nothing you can do to lose your salvation. One of the proofs of the inspiration of the Bible is that thousands of years before people came up with the doctrine of “once saved, always saved” (i.e., the idea that you cannot fall from grace), God—in the very language that is used today to promote such a doctrine—refuted such a concept. Look at Galatians 5:4 for just a moment. In this text, Paul says, “You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.” Here, Paul makes it clear that Christians who had gone back to try to live under the Old Law had become “estranged” from Christ. That word means “cut off” or “severed.” These people were severed from Christ. They had literally “fallen out of grace.” The meaning of the Greek word ek is “out of.” They had fallen “out of” grace. When they had tried to go back to the Old Law, they had fallen out of grace.
Can we fall out of God’s grace? The Bible says that we can. Let’s consider today five examples of people in the Bible who did fall from grace. The first example is that of Hymenaeus and Alexander. We learn in 1 Timothy 1:19-20 that, “concerning the faith, [some] have suffered shipwreck, of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.” Here, Paul is speaking of people who were Christians, but whose faith had “sunk” (it had “suffered shipwreck”). As a result, these men were delivered to Satan and were lost after having once been saved. Second, think of the example of Demas in 2 Timothy 4:10. Paul wrote, “Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world.” Can people forsake God and His service because of their love for the world, yet still go to Heaven? Absolutely not! James 4:4 says, “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” We cannot forsake God and His service out of a love for the world, and then still expect to go to Heaven. Perhaps the best example, found in Acts 8, is Simon the sorcerer. Simon hears the Gospel, and as we see from verse 13, he is baptized. He continues for some time as a Christian, and he watches the apostles performing miracles. Remember that Simon was a magician. When he sees real miracles being performed by the apostles, he tries to buy the ability to perform miracles. Listen to what Peter said to him in Acts 8:23. Peter said, “You are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.” In verses 20-21, Peter said to Simon, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God.” If there was ever a case of a person becoming a Christian, and then shortly thereafter sinning so as to be lost, it is Simon the sorcerer in Acts 8. Peter told Simon that his money would perish with him, that his soul was in jeopardy, and that he needed to repent and pray to God. Listen to what Simon said in response. In Acts 8:24, Simon said, “Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me.” He was fearful, knowing that his soul would be lost.
Think, too, about the example of Judas in Acts 1:25. Here is how we can know that a person can be saved, but then be lost. Judas was one of Jesus’ twelve apostles, yet in Acts 1:25 it says of his apostleship, “from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.” From 1 Corinthians 10:12 we learn of those who, in the Old Testament, wandered in the wilderness for years. Their bodies fell in the wilderness, and we are told, “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” A person can so sin as to fall from grace. There are not only examples of such in the Bible, but there are also very clear Scriptures which teach us that one can be lost. In Revelation 3:5, Jesus said, “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life.” It is implied in Christ’s statement that if a Christian who was a part of the church in Revelation 3 did not overcome, he or she could so sin as to be lost. Matthew 7:21 teaches us this principle as well. Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” In 2 Peter 1:10, we are told to make our calling and election sure. If we cannot fall from grace, why would we need to make our calling and election sure? It is because we can fall back into sin and be lost. In 2 Peter 2:20ff., Peter spoke of some who were once saved, but who had fallen back into sin. Peter said of them, “
“For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: ‘A dog returns to his own vomit,’ and, ‘a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire’” (vss. 21-22).
Yes, the Bible does teach that a person can so sin as to be lost. But the Bible also teaches us an encouraging principle. We do not have to sin. And we do not have to be lost. God has done everything possible to ensure that we go to Heaven. I cannot help but think of the encouraging words of 2 Peter 3:9—“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” God has made a plan for us to be able to go to Heaven. He has made it possible for us to do His will and to live it out in our lives. We, however, must make sure that we are a part of the body of Christ. Does the group with which you worship use instruments of music? If so, then you are doing something that is not authorized within the New Testament. What does the group with which you worship teach concerning the Lord’s Supper? Is it something that is observed weekly as we find in the Book of Acts? What does the group with which you worship teach about salvation or the security of the believer? Is that group following the New Testament Scriptures? Our prayer for you today is that you will come to the New Testament and that you will determine to do only what the Bible says. Our prayer for you is that you will make it to Heaven by following the words of the Bible.
Narrator accompanied by a cappella singing:
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1. Instead of asking “Why can’t we use instruments of music in worship?,” what question should people be asking in regard to music in worship?
2. According to Ephesians 2:14-15, what did Jesus do to the Old Law?
3. According to Hebrews 8:13, with what did Jesus replace the Old Law?
4. Romans 15:9, 1 Corinthians 14:15, Ephesians 5:19, and Colossians 3:16 all authorize only one type of music in worship to God. What type of music is that?
5. Explain the importance of the statement in Colossians 3:16 in regard to the necessity of having biblical authority for whatever we do in worship to God.
6. According to Matthew 28:18-29, who has the right to dictate what we do in acts of worship to God?
7. This lesson talks about two important points that are taught in 1 Corinthians 11:26-29. What are those points?
8. Explain the meaning of Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 4:6 in regard to the importance of authority for things we do in worship to God.
9. What question did Paul ask in Romans 4:3 that Christians today should ask as well?
10. According to Acts 20:7, first-century Christians partook of the Lord’s Supper on the first day or the week. According to 1 Corinthians 16:1-2, on which first day of the week did they do that (as well as giving of their means)?
11. What was the purpose of the first-century Christians partaking of the Lord’s Supper?
12. The New Testament teaches us that there are two important reasons why Christians should partake of the Lord’s Supper on the first day of the week. What are those two reasons?
13. What are the five steps in the biblical plan of salvation?
14. According to Revelation 2:10, what should a person do once he or she has become a Christian?
15. Some people today teach that baptism is not essential to salvation. What do such passages as Mark 16:15, Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16, and 1 Peter 3:21 have to say about that?
16. What important point is taught in Galatians 5:4?
17. What was Peter saying in 2 Peter 2:20-22?
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