NONE— Nowhere in the New Testament can you read of men joining a church. The New Testament church is the spiritual family of God, and men are born into it (I Timothy 3:15; John 3:5).
THE LORD ADDS THE SAVED TO HIS CHURCH— “Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them” (Acts 2:41). “And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47; I Corinthians 12:18). Thus, it is impossible to become a Christian or be saved and stay out of the Lord's Church.
THE LORD HAS BUT ONE CHURCH— “...I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). Nowhere in the New Testament can we read of any church except the Lord's (Ephesians 5:23, 27).
THE CHURCH IS THE BODY OF CHRIST— “And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:22–23; Colossians 1:18).
THERE IS BUT ONE BODY— “There is one body, and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling” (Ephesians 4:4; I Corinthians 12:12, 20). This one body is the Lord's one Church which is the one spiritual family of God into which all men are born when they become Christians. No one should ever have any desire to be a member of any other church. Division is condemned in the Bible (I Corinthians 1:10, 13; John 17:20–21).
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