I Am Not A Denomination, I Am A Son!

I am not CATHOLIC, although I do believe that the ‘Church’ simply refers to one, universal body of true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ from all across the world and all the ages.

I am not LUTHERAN, although I am devoted to sound doctrine and the fact that justification is by grace through faith alone, not by works.

I am neither PRESBYTERIAN nor REFORMED / CALVINIST, although I do believe in the sovereignty of God, the authority of the Scriptures and the priesthood of all believers.

I am neither METHODIST nor ARMINIAN, although I do believe that Christ died for all humanity and not just a limited group of people, and therefore my job as a Christian is to walk in love and bear a faithful witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ by sharing the Good News with all men through missionary work and social service.

I am neither ANGLICAN nor EPISCOPALIAN, although I do believe it is important for every true believer to participate in the two sacraments issued by Jesus himself, which are water baptism and the Eucharist, aka Holy Communion.

I am not BAPTIST, although I do believe that every believer should be baptized upon their confession of faith–(however, infant baptism is unscriptural)–and that all believers will be held personally accountable to God for their own faith.

I am not HOLINESS, although I do believe that holiness is still right! For it is written: “Be holy, for I the Lord your God, am holy.” And elsewhere: “Without holiness, no man shall see God.” I believe that sanctification is the next step of salvation after justification, and that it is essential for every believer to not be conformed to the patterns of this world; to set one’s self apart from sinful activity such as drunkenness, smoking, clubbing, fornication, dressing immodestly, abstaining from profane music, etc.

I am neither PENTECOSTAL nor CHARISMATIC, although I do believe that every believer in this age is able to have a pentecostal experience of receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit just like the apostles and disciples in the book of Acts, and that we can be being endowed with the gifts of the Spirit such as speaking in tongues, prophecy, healing, working miracles, and experiencing answered prayers.

I am not APOSTOLIC, although I do believe that there is no other doctrine (gospel) that is to be preached except that which was laid out for us by the original apostles in the book of Acts. I believe in teaching repentance, making known world-wide the forgiveness of sins through the atoning death of Christ, the baptism in water by immersion; and the baptism of the Holy Spirit with signs following. I believe in the 5-fold ministry of apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers and evangelists, and that Jesus is still assigning believers to these offices til this day in the Church age, “for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”

I am not C.O.G.I.C, although I am glad to be “saved, sanctified, and filled with the Holy Ghost”; I believe in being evangelical in mission and I don’t see anything wrong with a good ol’ foot washing.

I am not SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST, although I agree that the Sabbath day is on Saturday, not Sunday. And I agree that our bodies are our temple, so we should be intentional with taking care of our health and having a clean diet. And I agree that we should live life in perpetual readiness for the second advent, or second coming of Jesus Christ.

I am not FOURSQUARE GOSPEL, although I do believe that Jesus Christ, God’s Son, is the 1) Savior, 2) Healer, 3) Baptizer with the Holy Spirit and 4) coming King.

I am not NON-DENOMINATIONAL, (seeing that this has become a denomination in and of itself), although I do believe that what’s more important than a denominational affiliation is a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Although I can agree with the theology or doctrines of most Christian denominations to some degree, I do not subscribe to any one denomination in particular. I am simply a son of God and disciple of Jesus Christ, who follows the teachings of the Bible as God gives me spiritual understanding and revelation, and the grace to carry out my faith. The reason why I don’t religiously subscribe to, or affiliate with any one sect of Christianity is because the Spirit that I have received from God doesn’t testify with my spirit that I’ve been adopted into “denominationalism”, it testifies that I’ve been adopted into “sonship”.

I do understand that believing in the right doctrine is important. But none of us have the whole truth. Some of us have only partial-revelations. Some of us are legalistic, and put emphasis on certain scripture passages and create a whole new doctrine out of that one verse. We are all still learning and understanding. But denominationalism doesn’t help. It just brings discord and division amongst the body of Christ, as to where every denomination thinks that they are the only right ones, and every one else is wrong; everyone else is a heretic. The Catholics vs the Lutherans. The Presbyterians vs the Methodists. The Calvinists vs the Arminians. The Oneness vs the Trinitarians. The Gospel vs the CCM. The Baptists vs the Pentecostals. It’s gotten to the place where no one denomination can stomach to fellowship with another believer if they aren’t in their specific organization. However, from what I’ve read, Christ is not divided.

The Bible isn’t up to private interpretation. Man, trying to understand the Bible in his own carnal mind is what created all this division in the first place. But if we all had the Spirit of God dwelling in us, then he would lead us and guide us into all spiritual truths, so that we would be on one accord as far as theology and doctrine is concerned. When we as believers let go of our spiritual pride, our man-made traditions, and get to the place where we no longer identify ourselves as a specific sect, but simply as brothers and sisters in the Lord, then we will be truly united and can live as one body, in Christ, in love.