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As long as we believe in Christ and him crucified and believe in the basics of the faith we all belong to the church universal, the body of Christ.

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ORIGINAL: cchsfcaleader

DENOMINATIONS ARE SIN!!! they devide the Body of Christ so they are sin. we need to get over our denominations and accept that just because someone in your church hasnt been given certain gifts doesnt mean they arent real. anything God used in the Bible God can use now. Prayer clothes are something that is one of the biggest desputes. the annointing on Peter had gave his clothes the ability to heal people. the annointing is what healed people not the clothes. Faith Healing is another one. the key thing about this one is the FAITH part, and unless God tells you a healing isnt in his will then the Healing is in his will. some will take more time then others because it is is God's time and not our's but the healing will still happen. we all are trying to reach people for Christ and in the Bible it says the disples were known by the sighns and wonders they preformed. that is how people will know we are Christians. Lets get over our hipocracy and be like Christ. that is what being a Christian is all about being Christ-like. that means healings, Going into palce where prostistutes, homosexuals, thiefs (or gangs) and preach to them and if we Get killed doing it someone can raise us fromt he dead just like Lazureth. We need to join together accept that God works outside of our denomination's doctrine. we are a body that means Babtist may be a foot and have one gift and Methodist may be hands and that is why God uses us in different ways. lets work together and fight as one body lead by God and not our denomination's doctrine

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ORIGINAL: HardKnox

Sometimes separations are necessary for unity as int he case of Paul and Barnabas. When I was a Baptist, I was constantly arguing over distinctive doctrines. Now, that I'm no longer Baptist, I get along great with Baptists.

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Sometimes separations are necessary for unity as int he case of Paul and Barnabas. When I was a Baptist, I was constantly arguing over distinctive doctrines. Now, that I'm no longer Baptist, I get along great with Baptists.

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ORIGINAL: OleFitzHi

What does the Lord have to say about denominations?

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ORIGINAL: His_will_i_am

1 Corinthians 11:17-19: Now in this I declare unto you, I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse. For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.

The word ‘heresy’ is translated from the Greek word ‘heiresis’, which means sect (religious party), or faction. In the days of Jesus’ earthly ministry, heresy took many forms. There were the sects of the Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, Herodians, Essenes, and a host of others. Today the term ‘heresy’ is no longer used to identify sects. In the Body of Christ, we literally have thousands of such divisions; Baptists, Catholics, Lutherans, Episcopalians, Four Square, Assemblies of God, Methodists, etc…

Galatians 5:19-21: Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness revellings, and such like; of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.

We are told in plain language that not only are those who do such things walking in the flesh, but also that those who do such things won’t inherit the Kingdom of God. This should be cause enough to separate one’s self from all such divisions. As a matter of fact, we are commanded to disfellowship with all those who promote heresy, divisions, or schisms within the Body.

Romans 16:17: Now I beseech you brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.

Furthermore, we are commanded not to form groups which set disciples apart from each other.

1 Corinthians 1:10-13: Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?

Clearly, not only are there supposed to be no divisions, but there is supposed to be one universal doctrine, the pure doctrine of Christ. The apostles clearly taught this.
Can we find any such divisions which were praised or even merely condoned in Scripture? The answer is no, we can’t. Are Catholics to be found in Scripture? Are Baptists named? How about Lutherans, Episcopalians, Methodists, etc…? The only such term to be found associated with the Disciples of Christ is that of ‘Christian’; which means one born of Christ. Isn’t this the only distinction that any disciple should allow one’s self to accept?
In addition there are more complaints and issues that our Lord has with our heresies. Any and all such divisions work directly against the Unity of Christ, purpose of Christ, and are proof of sin within the Body of Christ.

John 17:20-23: Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and they in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

John 10:16: And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.

Another thing to remember is that God isn't the author of confusion, which is exactly what denominations create. There are so many denominations, preaching so many different variations of the Christ that people who are truly seeking the truth don't know what to believe and end up getting sucked into error at best and at worse not even coming to saving faith in the one true Lord.

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if we both follow God then there will be no different way.

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The thing is, your idea of God's way, and my idea of God's way, might be different, and we both might be able to back up our views with Scripture. We can't just say "Do it God's way!" if there's disagreement over what God's way is.

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it should come down to God demonstrating the truth of a person's words, purity of a persons understanding, or the righteousness of a persons ways through means of His own. After all, He was always sure to demonstrate His approval of those who He truly sent before and He's the same God now as He was then, isn't He?

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ORIGINAL: MrFribbles

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if we both follow God then there will be no different way.

There might be, if God has called us to serve Him in different ways. I've heard many, many missionary speakers tell me that the only real way to serve God is to go overseas and preach the gospel. I've heard speakers tell me that if I don't speak in tongues, I can't really worship God. I've heard speakers tell me that if I don't raise up my hands in worship, I'm not really praising him.
I have no doubt that, in some way, these people were following God. But they tried to make me follow God in their way, which was not the way He has called me to follow Him. So, yes, there will be different ways.

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If these people state that this is what they believe the Scriptures tell them, then there is no need for division. We can always go back to the point we last agreed and have fellowship at that point. However, if one insists that what has been revealed to them is essential then there is no room for fellowship with those who do not agree. That is why, in my opinion, we need to be careful whenever we adopt dogma

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if we both follow God then there will be no different way.

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Nowhere in Scripture does it say that signs and wonders are the only way a view is shown to be correct - this is your understanding, your tradition, being proposed as the way to do things.