Bible Questions Answered:
“How can we know for sure just what
church to join and be apart of?...”
Kelly/ Pasadena, California U.S.A.
Bible Answer:
Bible Texts:
Do they hold to the major doctrines of
the nature and work of God, The Word, The Trinity, , The Holy
Scriptures, Fallen Mankind and Salvation Only in the Finished Work
of Christ. (Just to mention a few.)
Proverbs 4:1,2 KJV
1 Hear, ye children, the instruction
of A Father, and attend to know understanding.
2 For I give you good doctrine,
forsake ye not My law.
Proverbs 22:28 KJV
Remove not the ancient landmark,
which thy fathers have set.
II John 1:9 KJV
Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth
not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the
doctrine of Christ, he hath both The Father and The Son.
Is The Word Of God, their Standard?
Isaiah 8:20 KJV
To the law and to the testimony: if
they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no
Light in them.
Acts 17:10,11 KJV
10 And the brethren immediately sent
away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into
the synagogue of the Jews.
11 These were more noble than those
in Thessalonica, in that they received The Word with all readiness of
mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were
so.
What do they believe concerning the
(Incarnation and) deity of Jesus Christ? Do they believe in the death
and resurrection of The Lord?
Isaiah 7:14 KJV
Therefore The Lord Himself shall
give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear A Son, and
shall call His name Immanuel.
I Corinthians 15:3,4 KJV
3 For I delivered unto you first of
all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins
according to the scriptures;
4 And that He was buried, and that
He rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
Do they believe
Christ was eternal with The Father and Holy Spirit?
Isaiah 9:6 KJV
(Prophecy concerning Jesus Christ. Not, a created Savior!)
For unto us A Child is born,
unto us A Son is given: and the government shall be upon His
shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The
Mighty God, The Everlasting Father,
The Prince Of Peace.
Isaiah 63:16 KJV
"...O Lord, art our Father, our
Redeemer; thy name is from everlasting.
Micah 5:2 KJV
But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though
thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He
come forth unto Me that is to be Ruler in Israel; whose goings
forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
John 1:1,2,18
NLT
1 In the beginning The Word already
existed. The Word was with God, and The Word was God.
2 He existed in the beginning with
God.
18 No one has ever seen God. But the
unique One, who is Himself God, is near to The Father’s heart. He
has revealed God to us.
John 10:30 KJV
I and My Father are one.
I Timothy 1:17
KJV
Now unto The King Eternal,
Immortal, Invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever
and ever. Amen.
Hebrews 7:1-3
KJV (Isaiah 9:6 KJV)
1 For this Melchisedec, King Of
Salem, Priest Of The Most High God, who met Abraham returning from
the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;
2 To whom also Abraham gave a tenth
part of all; first being by interpretation King Of Righteousness,
and after that also King Of Salem, which is, King Of Peace;
3 Without father, without mother,
without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of
life; but made like unto The Son Of God; abideth A Priest
continually.
Do they instruct the body, with the
teachings of Christ?
Is their agenda, the spiritual growth
of each believer?
Isaiah 28:10 KJV
For precept must be upon precept,
precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little,
and there a little:
I Peter 2:2 KJV
As newborn babes, desire the sincere
milk of The Word, that ye may grow thereby:
Do they encourage each to take a active
place in the church?
I Corinthians 12:27-28 NLT
27 All of you together are Christ’s
body, and each of you is a part of it.
28 Here are some of the parts God
has appointed for the church:
first are apostles,
second are prophets,
third are teachers,
then those who do miracles,
those who have the gift of healing,
those who can help others,
those who have the gift of
leadership,
those who speak in unknown
languages.
Ephesians 4:11,12 KJV
11 And He gave some, apostles; and
some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and
teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints,
for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Is it a church that
seeks the salvation of souls?
Proverbs 11:30
KJV
The fruit of the righteous is a tree
of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.
Daniel 12:3 KJV
And they that be wise shall shine as
the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to
righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.
Matthew 4:19 KJV
And He saith unto them, Follow Me,
and I will make you fishers of men.
Is it a church that
believes in (erroneous) legalism, that is belief in Christ, but to be saved, one
must also do this....”
John 1:12,13 KJV
12 But as many as received Him, to
them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that
believe on His name:
13 Which were born, not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Romans 3:20-24
NLT
20 For no one can ever be made right
with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how
sinful we are.
21 But now God has shown us a way to
be made right with Him without keeping the requirements of the law,
as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago.
22 We are made right with God by
placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who
believes, no matter who we are.
23 For everyone has sinned; we all
fall short of God’s glorious standard.
24 Yet God freely and graciously
declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when
He freed us from the penalty for our sins.
Galatians 2:16
NLT
"... we know that a person is
made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law.
And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right
with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed
the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the
law.”
Galatians 3:3
NLT
Let me ask you this one question:
Did you receive The Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of
course not! You received The Spirit because you believed the message
you heard about Christ.
Galatians
4:10-12 NLT
10 You are trying to earn favor with
God by observing certain days or months or seasons or years.
11 I fear for you. Perhaps all my
hard work with you was for nothing.
12 Dear brothers and sisters, I
plead with you to live as I do in freedom from these things, for I
have become like you Gentiles—free from those laws..."
Galatians
5:1,4,5 KJV
1 So Christ has truly set us free.
Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in
slavery to the law.
4 "...if you are trying to make
yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off
from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.
5 But we who live by The Spirit
eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised
to us.
Ephesians 2:8,9
KJV
8 For by grace are ye saved through
faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should
boast.
Is it a missionary
church, encouraging believers to be witnesses of their faith?
Psalm 2:8 KJV
Ask of Me, and I shall give thee the
heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth
for thy possession.
Psalm 96:3 KJV
Declare His glory among the heathen,
His wonders among all people.
Matthew 24:14
KJV
And this gospel of the kingdom shall
be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then
shall the end come.
Matthew 28:19
KJV
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of The Father, and of The Son,
and of The Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all
things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you
always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Mark 16;15 KJV
And He said unto them, Go ye into
all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Is it a church of
dead ritualism, with no moving of The Spirit Of God?
Matthew 7:21-23
KJV
21 Not every one that saith unto Me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that
doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven. (Salvation
through, repentance and faith in The Lord.)
22 Many will say to me in that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have
cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto
them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.
John 6:63 KJV
It is The Spirit that quickeneth;
the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they
are Spirit, and they are Life.
II Corinthians
3:6 NLT
He has enabled us to be ministers of
his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of The
Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new
covenant, The Spirit gives life.
What do they
believe regarding hell, and eternal punishment?
Isaiah 66:24 KJV
"...their worm shall not die,
neither shall their fire be quenched..."
Matthew 3:12 KJV
"...He will burn up the chaff
with unquenchable fire.
Matthew 25:41
KJV
Then shall He say also unto them on
the left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire,
prepared for the devil and his angels:
Mark
9:43,44,45,46,47,48 KJV (As stated by Jesus Christ.)
43 "...hell, into the fire that
never shall be quenched:
44 Where their worm dieth not, and
the fire is not quenched.
45 "...hell, into the fire that
never shall be quenched:
46 Where their worm dieth not, and
the fire is not quenched.
47 "...hell fire:
48 Where their worm dieth not, and
the fire is not quenched.
Revelation
14:10,11 KJV
10 The same shall drink of the wine
of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup
of His indignation; and He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone
in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of The Lamb:
11 And the smoke of their torment
ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night
..."
Revelation
20:10,15 KJV
10 And the devil that deceived them
was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the
false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and
ever.
15 And whosoever was not found
written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
So very much more
could be said, but may this suffice as a beginning guide.
When searching for
a church that truly honors The Word Of God, be sure to pray!
Matthew 7:7,8
KJV
7 Ask, and it shall be given you;
seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
8 For every one that asketh
receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it
shall be opened.
