One Faith - Many Churches . . . Why?

In New Testament times, believers were united. They held "One Faith", rejoiced in the "One Hope", worshipped "One God", served "One Lord" and each had been partaker of "One Baptism" (Eph. 4:1-6). But obviously, such unity does not exist in the many Christian churches today. This is not surprising because the Bible actual prophesied about a great falling away from the truth. Consider the following passages:

(2 Peter 2:1-2) "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. {2} And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of."

(1 Timothy 4:1-2) "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; {2} Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;"

(2 Timothy 4:3-4) "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; {4} And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."

In 2 Thessalonians 2, the apostle uses even bolder language and foretells a time when there would be the falling away (v. 3), and out of this, a system of belief would develop whose head would be called "the man of sin", "the son of perdition" (v. 3). This "mystery of iniquity" (v. 7) had already begun to work at the time the Apostle was writing.

This wicked one would develop until the time of Jesus' second coming, at which time he would be consumed with the brightness of the Lord's coming (v. 8). But not himself alone would receive such a damnation but also many others would be deceived because they did not maintain the love of TRUTH (v. 10), and for this cause God would send them a strong delusion, that they should believe a LIE. That they might ALL be damned who believe not the TRUTH (v. 11).

With these strong words before us, we should not be surprised in these last days to see many churches about us.

But can we pull ourselves from the mass confusion to which such a multitude of conflicting ideas bring us? The answer is YES! But first we must have a desire to place TRUTH above anyone or anything else.

We notice from the preceding quotations that it is basically doctrine or teachings that distinguish the true church from the false church. Notice the language again, "doctrines of demons" (1 Tim. 4:1), "damnable heresies" (2 Peter 2:1), "fables" (2 Tim. 4:3), "lies" (1 Tim. 4:2).

Therefore we must search out which "church" holds to the original doctrines of Jesus and his apostles. The only way this can be done is to search the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ and of the apostles. This search can only be done within the pages of the Bible, because later claims of direct messages from Jesus may be the very lies that the scriptures predicted would come.

So we have a touchstone, the Bible. to which we can bring all our arguments, for God said in Isaiah 8:20,

"To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them."

Now there is one Christian church that claims continuity from the time of the apostles in the first century down through our time. This is the Catholic Church with its long line of popes.

Is it the true church? Or is it the apostate (fallen away) Church?

Certainly the Roman Catholic Church remained the "Universal Church" for the many centuries since the apostles, overshadowing all other Christian movements. But since Martin Luther in 1522, many Christian movements have become very visible. Most of these are termed Protestant churches because of their schism with the "mother Catholic Church" had to do with a protest against some of her doctrines and practices.

But have the Protestant churches made a clean sweep of Catholic doctrines and gone to the scriptures for true apostolic teachings?

Consider the following chart showing many of the mainstream teachings of the Roman Catholic church and her daughters (the Protestants). On the right column you will see a list of teachings with scriptural references to the true Bible teachings as held by the Christadelphians. At the end of the chart is a list of many Christian denominations and sects with numbers corresponding with the doctrines held be these churches.

	Popular Christian Teachings	A Christadelphian Summary of the Truth
1	The Holy Bible is not the only true authority for today - but "spiritual" leaders and man-made "governing bodies" have the real and final authority!	The Holy Bible is God's only revelation today. The dreams, visions, and professed Holy Spirit possession add nothing to the Bible message but only contradict its teaching (2 Timothy 3:15-17; Acts 20:29-32; 1 Corinthians 13:8-10; James 1:25; Acts 17:10-12; Revelation 22:6,7,18,19).
2	The Holy Spirit operates directly upon a person's mind and reveals to him or her what the Bible teaches.	The Bible is sufficient to inform us of the Truth, if we humble ourselves and let God's Word instruct us by comparing Scripture with Scripture (Isaiah 66:2; John 6:63; Acts 20:32; 1 Corinthians 2:13).
3	The Trinity of a triply-compounded God.	There is one God, Yahweh, the self-existent Father who dwells in unapproachable light in the heavens (1 Cor. 8:6; Ephesians 4:6; 1 Timothy 6:16).
4	The personal preexistence of Jesus Christ as a spirit creature.	Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the Son of God, only preexisted in God's plan. Therefore contrary to Antichrist teaching, Jesus came "in the flesh", even the flesh of sin common to all humanity. He saved himself from death by the blood of the eternal covenant as well as his brethren (1 Peter 1:20; 2 John 7; Romans 8:3; Hebrews 2:14; 13:20).
5	The Holy Spirit is a Person.	The Holy Spirit is the power of Yahweh directed to the fulfillment of His purpose and the revealing of His character (Luke 1:35, John 1:32; Acts 1:8; 2 Peter 1:21).
6	The existence of a supernatural fallen archangel devil who is mankind's tempter.	The devil is a symbol of sin and human lusts manifested in various ways individual, social, political and ecclesiastical (Hebrews 2:14 cf. 9:26; 1 Peter 5:8,9 cf. Revelation 2:9,10,13; James 1:13-15)
7	Satan is the wicked supernatural source of moral and physical evil in the world.	Satan is a Hebrew word which means "adversary" and may be either good or evil in the Hebrew Old Testament Scriptures. Mankind is responsible for the wickedness in the world, and Yahweh is the source of physical evil or woe (Numbers 22:22; 1 Chronicles 21:1 cf. 2 Samuel 24:1; Romans 5:12; Mark 7:20-23; Jeremiah 17:9; Isaiah 45:5-7).
8	The demons are Satan's angels who are responsible for most mental and bodily afflictions of the human race.	Demons are the mythical gods of pagan idolatry and have no living existence. Greek philosophical influence in the first century was evident as many diseases and disabilities were attributed to being possessed by these mythical spirits. This is why in the Hebrew Old Testament Scriptures such language of demon possession is completely absent (Psalm 106:37,38; Deuteronomy 32:17,21; Matthew 12:22 cf. Exodus 4:11; Matthew 17:15,16,18; Judges 9:23; 1 Samuel 16:14,23; 18:10; 19:9; 1 Kings 22:23).
9	The immortality of the human soul which provides consciousness in death.	The Bible never uses the words "immortal soul." All the dead are utterly unconscious, and immortality is God's free gift which will be clothed upon the faithful at the judgment seat of Christ (Psalm 6:5; Ecclesiastes 9:5; Romans 2:6,7,16; 2 Corinthians 5:4,9,10).
10	Hell is the place of fiery torment reserved for the wicked when they die.	Hell is the grave where both the righteous and the wicked sleep in death. In the New Testament Scriptures sometimes a different Greek word, "Gehenna", is translated "hell" , but "Gehenna" was a valley outside the city of Jerusalem where rubbish was consumed by fire and worms. This term forcefully illustrated the complete destruction of the faithless (Isaiah 38:17-19; Daniel 12:2; Mark 9:43-48; Matthew 10:28).
11	Heaven is the eternal home of the righteous.	God never promised heaven to the righteous, but they will inherit the Kingdom of God which is also called the "Kingdom of the heavens." This Kingdom will soon be established on the earth from its capital city of Jerusalem in Israel, to fulfill God's Covenant promises to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David (Matthew 6:10; 8:11; Jeremiah 3:14-18).
12	The destruction of the planet earth.	This planet earth is the everlasting inheritance of the faithful. Here they will rule with Christ Jesus as kings and priests initially for a thousand years, after appearing before the judgment seat of their Lord (Psalm 37:11,22,29,34; Matthew 5:5; Revelation 5:10; 20:6).
13	The Kingdom of God is the "Church".	The Kingdom of God is the Kingdom of Israel reestablished on this earth (1 Chronicles 28:5; 29:23, Amos 9:8, 11-15; Acts 1:3,6,11,12; Zechariah 14:1-5,9,16).
14	Jesus Christ now sits on David's throne in heaven.	The throne of David was at Jerusalem in Israel, where Jesus Christ will personally reign as "the great King" (Psalm 132:11,13,17; 1 Chronicles 17:11-14; Isaiah 9:6,7; Luke 1:31-33; 21:24,27; Psalm 48:1-14; Matthew 5:35; Acts 2:29-36; Jeremiah 33:7-26).
15	Jesus the Nazarene died as a substitute to appease God the Father.	Jesus the Nazarene died as our representative to declare God's righteousness in inflicting death upon humanity (Hebrews 2:14-18; 5:1,5-10; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 3:25,26).
16	The Holy Spirit gifts or anointing are available for the faithful today.	The Holy Spirit gifts were given through the laying on of the Apostle's hands. These gifts ceased when the Bible was completed or perfected at the end of the first century, and when the generation of the Apostles passed away (Acts 8:14-18; 19:6; 2 Timothy 1:6; Ephesians 4:11-14; 1 Corinthians 13:8-13).
17	The sprinkling or pouring of water upon infants is the one baptism of the New Testament Scriptures.	The "one baptism" is total immersion in water for the forgiveness of all the past sins of true believers. After this initial step of obedience, forgiveness is obtainable by confession to God through the one mediator and advocate, Jesus Christ (Ephesians 4:5, Colossians 2:12; Romans 6:3-5; Acts 8:12, 35-40; 22:16; 1 Peter 3:21; Galatians 3:27,29; 1 John 1:9; 2:1; 1 Timothy 2:5).
18	The breaking of bread and drinking of wine ("communion") are not required for all true believers.	All the baptized believers are to partake of the bread and wine on the first day of the week, in memory of Jesus' sacrifice, until he returns (1 Corinthians 10:16,17; 11:23-26; Acts 20:6-7).
19	The Sabbath commandment must be kept on a specific day.	The Sabbath was done away by Jesus' death on the stake or "tree" (Colossians 2:16-18; Galatians 3:13; 4:9,10; 2 Corinthians 3:6-17 cf. Deuteronomy 4:13; 9:9,11; Romans 14:5-6).
20	The return of the Jews to the land of Palestine and the establishment of the nation of Israel cannot be regarded as fulfilling Bible prophecies today.	The return of the Jews to Israel is essential for the purpose of Yahweh to be fulfilled (Isaiah 11:11-14; Jeremiah 30:3-11,21,24; Ezekiel 36:22-24, 33-38; 37:21-23; Amos 9:11-15; Romans 11:1,2,11-29).
21	A "future Antichrist" will soon reveal himself in Jerusalem as a world ruler. He will build a temple there on Mount Moriah after destroying the Russian hosts who will attack Israel.	The Antichrist family today is "Christendom" and their Pope. Millions now living will mistake Jesus Christ for their "future Antichrist" or some incarnation of their mythical Satan. However, Jesus the Nazarene with his resurrected and immortalized brethren will vanquish the Russian forces at Jerusalem, and proclaim himself to be the world ruler - King of kings and Lord of lords (Zechariah 14:1-5,9; Psalm 2:1-11; Ezekiel 38:14-23; 39:1-16; Joel 2:18-20; 3:9-21; Revelation 19:11-16).

By this method of comparison you can come out of the mass of confusion that surrounds modern Christianity and place your confidence in the ONE HOPE that inspired the first century believers. Jude sees the beginning of this "FALLING AWAY" and urgently exhorts the true believers to "contend earnestly for THE FAITH which was once delivered to the saints" (Jude 3). The Christadelphians are endeavoring to contend earnestly for that ONE FAITH and we wish to help you in your search for TRUTH. Please take the time to carefully read this site and e-mail me with your questions.