South End Church of Christ :: Article: The First Century Church

South End Church of Christ 4001 Taylor Blvd Louisville, KY 40215

	The First Century Church Aaron Erhardt The Lord Jesus promised to establish a church in Matthew 16:18. He said “on this rock,” that is, the truth of Peter’s confession that He was the Son of God (v. 16), His church would be built and the “gates of Hades,” that is, the power of death, would not prevail against it. His promise came to pass on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. The Lord’s church was founded in the first century. We can read about its establishment and expansion in the New Testament. Any church founded by someone else at some other time is without authority and, by its very nature, rivals the church built by Jesus. This writer firmly believes that the church built by Jesus is still in existence, though it is often overshadowed by the churches of men. To find it, one must look at the various marks of identification set forth in Scripture (name, work, worship, organization, plan of salvation, etc). This task is made much easier when churches admit that they were the product of mere men long after the time of Christ. For instance, consider some quotes from notable Baptist sources. “The history of Baptist churches cannot be carried, by the scientific method, farther back than the year 1611, when the first Anabaptist church consisting wholly of Englishmen was founded in Amsterdam by John Smyth, the Se-Baptist. This was not, strictly speaking, a Baptist Church, but it was the direct progenitor of churches in England that a few years later became Baptist, and therefore the history begins there” (A Short History of the Baptists, p. 4). “The word Baptists, as a descriptive name of a body of Christians, was first used in English literature, so far as is known, in the year 1644… There had been no such churches before, and hence there was no need of the name” (Ibid., p. 3). “The earliest instance in which this name occurs as a denominational designation, so far as my information goes, befell in the year 1644… The name Baptist was in 1644 first claimed by our people. They have claimed it ever since” (A Question in Baptist History, pp. 92-93). The Baptist Church admits that it was established by mere men long after the time of Christ. It began in the 1600’s with John Smyth. This fact alone should keep one from Baptist association. We want to be in the Lord’s church of the first century, not John Smyth’s church of the seventeenth century! Other churches admit to being man-made as well. Perhaps the most obvious example is the Lutheran Church, which wears the name of its founder, Martin Luther. What makes this even more astounding is the fact that Luther had said, “I ask that men make no reference to my name, and call themselves not Lutherans, but Christians” (A Compend of Luther’s Theology, p. 135). If we truly love the Lord, we will want to be a member of the church He established in the first century. Regardless of past history or family tradition, we will find and associate ourselves with the church that is divinely purposed (Ephesians 3:9-11) and purchased (Acts 20:28). Churches that admit to being man-made should be immediately marked off the list. Churches that wear names that were not worn in the New Testament, like Methodist or Presbyterian, should be excluded as well. As we continue looking at the various marks of identification set forth in Scripture, we will finally be left with what we were looking for all along, the first century church (of Christ)!