In the Holy Scriptures the term “The Church (or Churches) of God” is used 10 times.  “The church” (singular) is used 98 times.  THE (one and only) church of which God is the Founder and Christ is the Head is identified over 100 times, leading no doubt that there is only ONE CHURCH that God and Christ call their own.  In one passage there is a reference to the churches of Christ, meaning those churches of which Christ is the Head.  These individual churches are collectively called the Church of God, which is not to be confused with the denomination which calls itself that name.  Nor is it to be confused with the religious organization calling itself “the Church of Christ.”  Like all other denominations, faiths, etc., these groups are in no way included in the Biblical organization which God calls His holy church–the Church of God.  We are to view these false organizations in the same way as we view the false (Sunday) Sabbath which God calls “My Holy Day” (Isa. 58:13).  The Lord calls only one day of the week HIS  HOLY, BLESSED AND SANCTIFIED DAY and only one church HIS HOLY, SANCTIFIED AND BLESSED CHURCH.

The same is true for the different gospels taught by the different religious groups.  There is only one true Gospel which the Lord titles “the Gospel of Christ (Rom. 1:16).  All other gospels are identified by the Apostle Paul as perverted versions of the one true Gospel (Gal. 1:6-9).  These divergent, conflicting, contrasting, contending gospels are the products of the various groups that have each embraced “another Jesus” as Paul warned about in 2 Corinthians 11:4.  The hundreds of Jesuses found in Catholicism/Protestantism are counterfeit deities which their parishioners blindly worship and serve.  It is from those various saviors that they received the various and sundry “truths” that comprise their respective “church doctrines.”

Another of those “truths” put forth by the counterfeit church and her counterfeit christs involves Satan’s substitution of his holidays for God’s Holy Days.  Read God’s Holy Days or Church Holidays?  Key word–Holidays for a thorough examination of this important subject.

Another such church “truth” involves what took place at the time of Christ’s death.  Read The Message of the Cross.  Key word–Message to see the life and death differences between church doctrine and God’s Word relative to the death of Jesus Christ.  There is much disinformation being spread throughout professing Christianity about exactly what took place on the hill called Golgotha some 2000 years ago.  Though this is a constant truth that has settled into my mind, at times the Lord knows that I need a reminder of the deadly effect of such church errors.

Every once in a while God arranges for me to be in a situation where He can speak to me through common, every day occurrences.  Normally, my t.v. watching consists primarily of daily news broadcasts, commentaries and documentaries.  However, I recently happened to be watching when two different preachers made their pitch for instant salvation.  After watching these two false prophets spew out their Satanic spiel the first time I determined that if I saw them again I would do mathematical calculations.  I recently wrote about their guarantee of instant salvation for anyone who would repeat the respective prayers they uttered.  The second time I went into stop-watch mode.  The prayers took 10 and 11 seconds respectively.  They both assured the television viewer that, no matter how vile and wicked he/she might be, he/she could “spend eternity with Jesus Christ” if he/she would simply repeat the prayers they put forth.  Their formulas for salvation did not involve so much as a hint concerning a change in life.  It was “come as you are, stay as you are” because “Jesus loves just the way you are.”  I suggest everyone read Psalm 5:5.  In each case it took less than a dozen seconds for the most vile sinner to be issued a ticket to heaven where, he/she was assured, Jesus now eagerly awaited his/her arrival.  Just believe and receive.  Where, one asks, does the “race” Paul wrote about come into play?  And what about the rules the runner must abide by while running the race?  And what is this business about only one winning the race?  Wasn’t everyone who prayed the prayer guaranteed a one-way ticket to paradise?

Though the various groups that make up the religious quagmire known as “the church” present many different and conflicting “Bible truths,” there are a number of heathen beliefs and customs with which they all agree.  Some of these so-called “truths” are listed in the Introduction to this website.  The false deity behind this mass deception is Satan–“the god of this world” (1 Cor. 4:4) who has “blinded the minds” of his followers to God’s Biblical Truths.  The various Jesuses put forth by the Institutional Church exist only in the minds of those trapped within her.  The “powers of the air” behind her doctrines, beliefs and practices are as numerous as they are powerful.  Billions of salvation seekers have been taken in by their “fiery darts.”  We have identified professing Christendom’s false believers.

So who are the true followers of the Biblical God and His Messiah?  Who are the people in the true Church of God who keep their spiritual armor in place through obedience to His Law?  Can they be identified?  Where are they found?  All of the apostles taught and wrote extensively about this subject.  Although all Bible writers other writers were eloquent in their descriptions of the true children of God, I have chosen 1 Corinthians 1:1-10 to identify them for this series.  First John chapter three also presents a true depiction of the true Bible Christian.  As the serious student of Scripture finds when studying God’s Word, all that glitters is not gold.  Such a student learns early on that there are two kinds of christians: Bible Christians and church christians.  They are as different as life and death.  If the Bible can be believed, Church Christians outnumber Bible Christians millions to one, exactly as Jesus prophesied would be the case in Matthew 7:13,14.  In the next posting we will highlight the stark differences between the two groups, each of which claims to be THE church.  One group is spiritually alive; one group is spiritually dead.  L.J.