How Can You Tell Which Church Belongs to Christ?

[Ran77]

All of the churches claim to be the one that belongs to Christ, but how would a person go about finding out which one actually does? It seems to me that you would need to compare the modern day churches to the one that Christ established. Using that as the template I plan to look at the Church that Christ established. I will list the points numerically to make it easier to keep track of them.


I'm going to start with the organization of Christ's Church.

1. Christ's Church is founded upon Apostles and Prophets.

Ephesians 2:

18. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

19. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;

20. And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;


My first question to all of the non-LDS is whether your church is founded on apostles and prophets? And if not - why not?

 

[timewerx]

A church belongs to God if it has no church buildings, no rituals of any kind, and strives to put people out of misery, providing hope to those who are in distress.

"I desire mercy, not sacrifice" - Christ.

Put your hands down, get out of church and start helping people!

 

[ananda]

The church (organization) does not belong to Christ. The faithful Christian belongs to Christ.

There is no need to search for Christ through an organization.

 

[Ran77]

A church belongs to God if it has no church buildings, no rituals of any kind, and strives to put people out of misery, providing hope to those who are in distress.

"I desire mercy, not sacrifice" - Christ.

Put your hands down, get out of church and start helping people!

I would like to see a verse to support the idea you presented.

 

[Ran77]

The church (organization) does not belong to Christ. The faithful Christian belongs to Christ.

There is no need to search for Christ through an organization.

Do you have support for this concept?


Because I have already posted a verse that the household of God is built with the foundation of apostles and prophets. This is the way it was setup by Christ and should still exist today. Any church that isn't based on apostles and prophets has made an important move away from what Christ established. A bad move.

Acts 1: 22-25

22. Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.

23. And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias.

24. And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen,

25. That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.

Not only did the Savior establish it, the early Church continued the practice.

And we were told how long to expect to continue the practice.


Ephesians 4: 11-13

11. And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

12. For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

13. Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

I'll give you a hint, we have not all come in the unity of faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man. Which means that we should still be listening to apostles and prophets.

And verse 14 tells us why.

14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;


In other words, the apostles and prophets are meant to keep us on the right doctrinal path so that we don't have a thousand different versions of what Christ meant when He said what He said. So that we wouldn't have the situation we see around us today.


I return to my first question: Is your church founded upon apostles and prophets? Or has it moved away from what Christ established?

 

[single eye]

Ran77, You did not go back far enough. Jesus did not write ephesians nor did He teach it to His disciples. The disciples did not write ephesians either. The faith was once delivered to the saints by The Spirit of Truth and Jesus, after this they produced scripture. The fruit of scripture is healing the sick and casting out demons. What prophets do you find producing these fruits?

 

[joneysd]

All of the churches claim to be the one that belongs to Christ, but how would a person go about finding out which one actually does? It seems to me that you would need to compare the modern day churches to the one that Christ established. Using that as the template I plan to look at the Church that Christ established. I will list the points numerically to make it easier to keep track of them.


I'm going to start with the organization of Christ's Church.

1. Christ's Church is founded upon Apostles and Prophets.

Ephesians 2:

18. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

19. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;

20. And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;


My first question to all of the non-LDS is whether your church is founded on apostles and prophets? And if not - why not?

the church who worships him....... in his church...

 

[Theway]

the church who worships him....... in his church...

By "church" I assume you mean the people within the congregation; which then brings up the question...
How does one worship God?
Please give real examples and not just platitudes.

 

[joneysd]

By "church" I assume you mean the people within the congregation; which then brings up the question...
How does one worship God?
Please give real examples and not just platitudes.

Christians worship Jesus, in song, in prayer, even dance..


do lds worship Jesus...

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

it 'looks like' to me that it is a veiled attempt to justify a chruch that is not necessarily His, by a method that is not necessarily of Him.....

His Body is not of the flesh, but of heaven. recognized in Ephesians, Philippians, even in Corinthians
more than in the cities, states, countries and forums today. (too much is counterfeit today; that's never been true not just in our lifetimes; for many generations).

oh, that/those which is true, is around.... not advertising, not seeking attention for themselves, not greedy, not adulterous, not idolatrous, not selfish, .... (read the descriptions in 1 and 2 Timothy, 1,2,3 John 1,2 Peter and other Letters in the NT).
a lot of "nots" because
the groups, official and unofficial, today, are rarely what Scripture describes as His.
No, not that His are Perfect (see Corinthians!?) ,
but His are not opposed to His Word like most groups today are.(and most have been ever since 100a.d.).
i.e. His are uncommon. Not , no NOT loving the world and the things of the world.(that right there rules out most here and everywhere).

the Scripture is the only reliable, trustworthy plumb line. Test everything by Scripture.
most fail. (people and groups).
that's a good thing. just like testing pure gold someone's trying to sell you - would someone want lead mixed in when they're paying $2000/oz or whatever?, just for gold!?
the soul is worth so much more. so much more important, and potentially eternal...
peace, joy and righteousness , all three, are so rare today...
seek the Creator for what is right and true, man does not provide it, less in fact the more he claims to !

 

[joneysd]

it 'looks like' to me that it is a veiled attempt to justify a chruch that is not necessarily His, by a method that is not necessarily of Him.....

His Body is not of the flesh, but of heaven. recognized in Ephesians, Philippians, even in Corinthians
more than in the cities, states, countries and forums today. (too much is counterfeit today; that's never been true not just in our lifetimes; for many generations).

oh, that/those which is true, is around.... not advertising, not seeking attention for themselves, not greedy, not adulterous, not idolatrous, not selfish, .... (read the descriptions in 1 and 2 Timothy, 1,2,3 John 1,2 Peter and other Letters in the NT).
a lot of "nots" because
the groups, official and unofficial, today, are rarely what Scripture describes as His.
No, not that His are Perfect (see Corinthians!?) ,
but His are not opposed to His Word like most groups today are.(and most have been ever since 100a.d.).
i.e. His are uncommon. Not , no NOT loving the world and the things of the world.(that right there rules out most here and everywhere).

the Scripture is the only reliable, trustworthy plumb line. Test everything by Scripture.
most fail. (people and groups).
that's a good thing. just like testing pure gold someone's trying to sell you - would someone want lead mixed in when they're paying $2000/oz or whatever?, just for gold!?
the soul is worth so much more. so much more important, and potentially eternal...
peace, joy and righteousness , all three, are so rare today...
seek the Creator for what is right and true, man does not provide it, less in fact the more he claims to !

amen ...

 

[Norah63]

How can you tell which church belongs to Christ?
By the revelation of Jesus Christ to the person seeking relationship with Him.

 

[bbbbbbb]

How can you tell which church belongs to Christ?
By the revelation of Jesus Christ to the person seeking relationship with Him.

The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? Jeremiah 17:9

 

[Albion]

All of the churches claim to be the one that belongs to Christ, but how would a person go about finding out which one actually does? It seems to me that you would need to compare the modern day churches to the one that Christ established. Using that as the template I plan to look at the Church that Christ established. I will list the points numerically to make it easier to keep track of them.


I'm going to start with the organization of Christ's Church.

1. Christ's Church is founded upon Apostles and Prophets.

Ephesians 2:

18. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

19. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;

20. And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;


My first question to all of the non-LDS is whether your church is founded on apostles and prophets? And if not - why not?

To answer the question as fairly as I am able, I can immediately eliminate any church whose main concepts and beliefs did not have any place in the church of Christ until many centuries after Christ or, worse, were completely unknown to everyone.

My first question to all of the non-LDS is whether your church is founded on apostles and prophets? And if not - why not?

Yes, it is; and I do consider that to be important.

 

[NYCGuy]

All of the churches claim to be the one that belongs to Christ, but how would a person go about finding out which one actually does? It seems to me that you would need to compare the modern day churches to the one that Christ established. Using that as the template I plan to look at the Church that Christ established. I will list the points numerically to make it easier to keep track of them.


I'm going to start with the organization of Christ's Church.

1. Christ's Church is founded upon Apostles and Prophets.

Ephesians 2:

18. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

19. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;

20. And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;


My first question to all of the non-LDS is whether your church is founded on apostles and prophets? And if not - why not?

The Catholic view is that the Catholic Church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. To us this means that we carry on the faith, and the authority, given anciently.

 

[barryatlake]

From -"Pillar of Fire Pillar of truth"

The Four Marks of the True Church
1. -The Church is One. see Rom.12;5, 1 Cor. 10;17, 12:13
2.-The Church is Holy .see Eph.5:27, Rev 19:7-8
3.- The Church is Catholic. see Matt.28:19-20, Rev.5: 9-10.
4.- The Church is Apostolic. see Eph.2:19-20

Early Christian writings prove the first Christians were thoroughly Catholic in belief and practice and looked to the successors of the apostles as their leaders as instructed and commanded by Jesus. Luke 10: 16.

 

[ananda]

Do you have support for this concept? ... I return to my first question: Is your church founded upon apostles and prophets? Or has it moved away from what Christ established

Messiah commanded "But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Messiah; and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters/teachers: for one is your Master/Teacher, even Messiah." (Mt 23:7-10). Messiah stated that He was our one and only Shepherd/Pastor (Jn 10:16, cf Eze 34:23, Jn 10:11, 1Pe 2:25), Master, and Teacher (Mt 23:8-11). We are all simply equal brethren, as Messiah commanded (Mt 23:8 cf Mt 20:25,26) - some might be elder brothers and sisters, and others are younger, but nothing more than that.

... yet today, we see many self-professed believers - both men and women - calling themselves (or allowing themselves to be called) by various titles with varying degrees of status and rank such as "teacher, rabbi, pastor, father, reverend, eminence, etc." Whereas I believe Messiah only allowed one status for all His followers - "brethren" (aka "brother" or "sister"). The disobedience resulted in the false system involving hierarchies which Messiah condemned in Revelation, with so-called "Pastors", "Priests", "Bishops", etc. lording it over His flock ... aka "organizations".

Jesus came to create a relationship with His people. Paul revised that and created an earthly organization (as evidenced by your prooftexts).

 

[bling]

John 13: 34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another

John17: 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

By their Love you can know, but this Love is not a worldly type Love. There are lots of “reasons” for doing “good” stuff only one reason for doing “Good stuff” for an unselfish (unself-seeking) motivation.

 

[Ironhold]

Christians worship Jesus, in song, in prayer, even dance..


do lds worship Jesus...

So basically, all you can do is snipe?

 

[Ran77]

Ran77, You did not go back far enough.

I'm not sure what you mean by this.

Jesus did not write ephesians nor did He teach it to His disciples. The disciples did not write ephesians either. The faith was once delivered to the saints by The Spirit of Truth and Jesus, after this they produced scripture.

How do you feel this affects what I stated?

The fruit of scripture is healing the sick and casting out demons. What prophets do you find producing these fruits?

Actually, I started a thread (and should get back to it) which listed the actions the Bible lists the prophets doing. Healing the sick and casting out demons did not have a high occurance on that list. What showed up most often is what I posted in the OP, teaching and correcting doctrine.

I only know of the LDS prophet doing that today. Which is why I started the thread - to see how the other churches match up with what Christ setup.