| Choosing a Church
As a new-believer you must be asking or
thinking, ‘Why is it so important to belong to a congregation
of Christians?’ Well, there’s a tremendous amount
of Bible teaching and admonitions for not trying to go the
Christian walk alone. But suffice it to say that there is
a devil out there, and a lot of his unfriendly cohorts (demons),
and they all hate Christians. Their avowed aim is the destruction
of all Christians. Then this world is basically anti-Christian
to begin with, so with those three major strikes against you,
you’d better have some Christian allies to gather with
and spiritually grow with. That’s the second most important
reason. Also, for some reason, Christians spiritually grow
in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ far better and
faster in a group orientation. Why do we need to grow in the
“grace and knowledge of the Lord” as Peter commands?
The Bible may say “come as you are”, but the Lord
doesn’t want you to stay like that, the way you’re
old self was in this Satanic world with its evil lifestyles.
The whole principle of Christian discipleship is that of having
teachers and elder brothers and sisters in Christ, assisting
you and teaching you in your Christian walk with Jesus. But
this short article is not about that. It is about how to choose
a Christian church and denomination that is right for you.
From having read the brief history of the early Christian
church, you realize that the body of Christ went through a
major separation during the period of its infancy. Two major
groups were extant in Paul's day, the Judeo-Christians and
the Gentile Christians, made up of the Greco-Roman church
in later times (300’s AD onward). In Palestine the Judeo-Christian
church became persecuted and chased from land to land, and
then parts of this group are believed to have become the Sabbatarian
churches that we see today, according to Sabbatarian historians.
In history this was a tiny group when compared to the other
group. According to the Sabbatarian’s own histories,
but somewhat contested by other historians for lack of sufficient
evidence, these Sabbatarian groups started out mainly Jewish
in ethnicity, but became composed ethnically of whatever nationality
they migrated into as time went on, as they migrated from
Asia Minor to Yugoslavia, to southern France, to England,
and finally with Stephen Mumford, to Rhode Island and the
United States. Again, this is letting the Sabbatarians have
a say somewhat, in their own history. The Gentile Christians
had some significant revivals that were really Christian,
and from which the evangelical Christian church can trace
its heritage, starting with Martin Luther, George Mueller,
John Wesley, the Morovians of Germany, the Pilgrims of Plymouth
Mass., and the Baptists of Rhode Island-all leading to the
evangelical Christian churches we see around us today. Just
as the apostle Paul was pointing out to these two same groups
in Romans 14, who were part of one congregation at that period
of time, both groups were covered by the blood of
Christ, i.e. they were both composed of born-again Christians.
The Christian church I have been a member of for over thirty
years was a Sabbatarian Christian church, somewhat Torah observant
in believing that the 10 Commandments, Holy Days, and dietary
laws were still to be kept by Christians, and I know for a
fact that the Holy Spirit was indwelling in the majority of
our members. Paul never stated whether the Jewish Christians
in the Roman Church of God he was addressing were Torah observant
or not, but from the context of Romans 14, it seems that they
must have been. And that is a good thing. Because the Sabbatarian
branch of Christianity is somewhat Torah observant, believing
at least that the 10 Commandments are still in full force.
So in choosing a Christian church to become a part of, say
you’re a new believer, and are sort of looking. What
should you look for? Well that depends on you, and more importantly,
it depends on your Christian conscience. The criterion for
this entire article is Romans 14. Some of the most important
legislation on the Christian conscience and for freedom of
belief was penned by the apostle Paul in Romans 14. Unlike
his letter to the Galatians, where he sort of pounded on Messianic
Jewish Christians of the Ebionite sect for their efforts to
try to get Galatian Gentile Christians to conform to the Law
of Moses--in his letter to the Romans he was more balanced
and addressing a different problem. There were two distinct
groups of Christians meeting in one church in Rome, which
can be very divisive of and by itself. These two groups were
made up of Gentile Christians of pagan Roman background and
Jewish Christians, who by all appearance where Torah observant.
And the two groups were going at each other. In Romans 14
Paul was telling the Gentile group to lay-off of beating up
their Jewish brothers in Christ, and vice versa. Some 300
years later this same group of Jewish Christians were chased
out of Rome into southern France by the Greco-Roman church
at Rome. But in telling the Gentile Christians to lay-off
beating up their Jewish brethren in the congregation, Paul
laid out the foundational legislation that guarantees freedom
of Christian conscience in the secondary areas of ones Christian
belief system. This legislation lays the Bible foundation
for all true Christian churches and denominations, and for
their right of existence within the body of Christ-both on
the Sabbatarian side of the Christian fence and the Gentile
evangelical side of the fence. All Christians should believe
in the major doctrines or teachings dealing with Salvation
through Jesus Christ. At the end of this article I will list
a generic listing of those beliefs from a tiny African fellowship
that has gotten it right. I don’t want to highlight some
definition given by a major denomination, but instead some
obscure one, so no one will feel obligated to steer in any
particular direction in choosing a denomination by my using
their statement-for it will be hard for most of you to go
all the way to Africa just because you like their statement
of primary beliefs. Now back to the subject. In the Church
of God in Rome, the Gentile Christians were beating up on
the Jewish part of their congregation. They as Gentiles probably
wanted to worship on Sunday, and knowing the terms of the
new covenant, knew that they didn’t have to worship on
the Jewish Sabbath, Saturday, or observe any Mosaic Holy Days
or dietary laws, as the Jerusalem headquarters church probably
still did. Christianity can be very adaptive to the culture
it finds itself in because of the terms of the new covenant,
regardless of what days or customs one wants to observe or
not observe in that worship, just so those customs don’t
go against the basic law of God, expressed in the law of Christ.
But now let’s get into Romans 14. Romans 14:1-4,
“Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment
on disputable matters. One man’s faith allows him to
eat everything [and this would be referring to the Gentile
diet of anything and everything coming into that cosmopolitan
city of Rome], but another man, whose faith is weak, eats
only vegetables. [Why vegetables? Well, under Jewish Mosaic
law, most of the meat in Rome was probably not prepared right,
even if it was taken from “clean” animals, probably
wasn’t bled correctly. For such a distinction to be made,
meant these were definitely Torah observant Jewish Christians,
the way I see it.] The man who eats everything [i.e. the Gentile
Christian] must not look down upon him who does not, and the
man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who
does, for God has accepted him. [i.e. the acceptance of God
goes onto Christians of both persuasions-that’s the most
important point here. Paul goes on to continue the thought.
These powerful words should ring out across the centuries
and speak to us in these latter times.] Who are you to judge
someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or
falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him
stand…” So I think we have established
that the Jewish Christians here are either Torah observant
or somewhat Torah observant, for they are observing the Mosaic
food laws. How often I have heard a denomination or some ‘Cult-watch
group’ condemning some Sabbatarian group because of their
dietary practice and belief. Or more significantly, for their
belief in the old covenant paradigm of viewing God’s
law. As we shall see, this is totally contrary to what the
apostle Paul has penned here. Let’s read on.
(verses 5-6), “One man considers one day more
sacred than another; another man considers every day alike.
Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who
regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats
meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he
who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God…”
The only ones concerned with days of worship here
would be the Jewish Christians, the Judeo-Christian part of
this congregation. They would believe in keeping the Holy
Days and Sabbath as commanded in the Ten Commandments and
Leviticus 23, part of the Torah. Paul is saying they have
this right of preference on days of worship, just as the Gentiles-should
they wish to work seven days a week, or worship God on another
day (Sunday). Now lets skip to the end of the chapter where
Paul gives the clincher for this legislation. And these next
set of verses show the importance of being part of a group
of Christians that believe as you do in the secondary areas
of belief-which is just what Paul has been addressing here
in this chapter. (Food and days of worship are definitely
not primary areas of doctrinal belief, which we should all
be somewhat agreed upon.) (Verses 22-23, “So
whatever you believe about these things keep between you and
yourself and God [spoken to Christians who held differing
secondary beliefs within the same congregation. That’s
why Paul said to keep them to yourself. Obviously, if you’re
agreed on all these secondary items, you can openly discuss
these beliefs with the others in your congregation.]. Blessed
is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves.
But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because
his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not
come from faith is sin.” Now here is one of
the most important principles found in the Bible, the core
of the Christian conscience. If you believe something, some
stated rule or principle found in the Bible is God’s
will for you-and you’d better be careful here to put
certain passages in context here and not go out “practicing
an ‘eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’-then
you’d better follow that rule or teaching or belief.
Now as a Christian, you should believe in the major primary
beliefs that make you a Christian. But in these secondary
areas, chose wisely. If your Christian conscience and careful
study of God’s Word lead you to believe that the 10 Commandments,
Sabbath and Holy Days, dietary laws, etc are still in force-interpreting
Matthew 5:17-19 in that way-then you had better find a Christian
fellowship within the major Sabbatarian branch of Christianity
that practices the secondary beliefs you agree with from your
study of God’s Word. If you have come to understand the
freedoms and terms of the new covenant, and the law of Christ,
and you can see in Hebrews how the Sabbath has truly been
transformed by the Holy Spirit who dwells within Christians,
granting us the “Sabbath rest” of peace and rest
through the indwelling Holy Spirit, then you belong on the
new covenant evangelical side of Christianity. [If you would
like to review Paul’s teaching on the New Testament Sabbath,
and what it is, CLICK
HERE and read this sermon.]
If you are Jewish and have come to see Jesus of Nazareth is
the true Messiah, and you do understand the new covenant,
and that the Sabbath/Holy Days are voluntary, but you still
desire to keep them because of your ethnic background, new
covenant Christianity is totally adaptive to ethnic background.
There are Messianic Jewish groups out there that are not Torah
observant. Find one of those groups and they will more than
spiritually meet your needs. One caution about a lot of the
Torah observant Messianic Jewish groups, they don’t believe
that Jesus, as Messiah, is Divine, part of the Triune God.
Even the Worldwide Church of God under Mr. Armstrong, and
many of the other Sabbatarian Churches properly believed in
the Divinity of Jesus Christ. For Paul stated, “All have
sinned and come short of the law.”-all except the Messiah,
Jesus Christ. There is no way Jesus could be a total atonement
for all the sins of mankind unless he were sinless himself.
And no human who ever lived has been sinless, except God in
the flesh, Jesus Christ. If Jesus were merely human, some
prophet or something, he wouldn’t have been sinless,
and his death could never have been a proper atonement for
all the sins of mankind. He could never be that perfect Passover
Lamb, whose blood covers our sins and saves us from the second
death.
It seems strange, but from what we have seen in the previous
article about early church history, the Greco-Roman church
really didn’t believe in practicing the principles laid
out by the one they revered, the apostle Paul, for had they,
they would never have persecuted the Judeo-Christian part
of Christianity nearly out of existence. Just an observation.
Getting away from the secondary beliefs between Judeo-Christians,
Messianic Jewish Christians and Gentile evangelical Christians,
I would like to point out a secondary area of belief that
has a number of differing interpretations that could bother
your Christian conscience if you are in the “wrong”
group. There are many differing interpretations on what the
Bible teaches on hell, who goes there, if it’s ever-burning,
or just starts up and burns till all is consumed. On this
website is a section that addresses some of those differing
beliefs, but not who believes what-that’s for you to
find out. I know for a fact that being a part of one evangelical
denomination, as spiritually nourishing as it was, always
grated on my Christian conscience, because I didn’t agree
with their interpretation on heaven and hell, i.e. eternal
rewards and punishments. Some Sabbatarian, Judeo-Christian
groups believe that the unsaved dead have the opportunity
to receive Christ and grow in the grace and knowledge of the
Lord, just like we do, and they receive this opportunity at
the resurrection of the Great White Throne judgment talked
of in Revelation 20. This belief comes from a combining of
Revelation 20 with Ezekiel 37:1-14. I only mention this in
passing, to show the importance of choosing a church to attend
that doesn’t offend what you believe the Bible says,
upon your careful study of it. Look up the various links offered
and email your doctrinal questions to the various denominations
out there. Visit local congregations and ask their pastors
the tough questions you have about God’s Word, and what
they believe it says in the secondary areas. You want to be
looking for a good combination of Scriptural accuracy, coupled
to guidance from the Holy Spirit within the congregation you’re
looking to become a part of. Some churches may have all the
proper doctrinal beliefs, but be as spiritually dead as they
come. You don’t want that. You want to be with a group
of Christians that are vibrantly alive with God’s Holy
Spirit, is Scripturally accurate in the primaries of salvation
and one that comes close to your secondary beliefs and ethnic
background. Jews coming to a belief in Jesus of Nazareth would
feel totally out of place in a Gentile evangelical Christian
church, just as a normal American, Canadian, or Indian, Pakistani
or Frenchman would find he or she was totally out of place
in a non-Torah observant Messianic Jewish congregation. So
choose wisely. The Messianic Jewish groups and some of the
Sabbatarian groups have adapted the Holy Days and Sabbath
observance to be very Christ-centered, even as Gentile evangelicals
have made Christmas and Easter Christ-centered, adapting days
that had previous pagan meanings, and adapted them to Christ.
The new covenant has allowed this awesome flexibility so that
the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ could go around
the world unhindered by the ethnic backgrounds it encountered
as it spread worldwide. The Lord’s not dumb. He took
that restriction out of the way for that very reason. When
Jesus returns, as some are aware, he will institute a new
set of days and laws for the whole world, probably based on
a combination of the new covenant law of Christ and the Torah
(cf. Zechariah 14:16-19). But don’t worry about that
for now. Just worry about being a growing Christian within
the body of Christ, and finding that part of the body of Christ
where you belong-where you fit and can effectively grow spiritually
to become all the Lord wants you to become.
Now I will give the list of primary beliefs that Christians
should have in order to be Christians. There is one area,
hotly contested, which the Lord doesn’t seem to make
a distinction in, because he’s bestowed his Holy Spirit
on groups that believe either way. So put your stones down
if you’ve been throwing them at the other group. This
is the area of defining the Holy Spirit. Some if not most
Sabbatarian groups believe the Holy Spirit is the power of
God, and they don’t believe he is the third person of
a Triune God. This belief, or error in belief according to
some, has not stopped God from bestowing his Holy Spirit on
groups that believe the Holy Spirit is the power of God. So
you cult-watching rock-throwers, put those rocks away, before
the Lord hurls a big one at you.
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