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Tate, Benjamin W.

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Abilene Christian UniversityDigital Commons @ ACUStone-Campbell Books Stone-Campbell Resources1950Why I Am a Member of the Church of ChristBenjamin W. TateFollow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/crs_booksPart of the Biblical Studies Commons, Christian Denominations and Sects Commons, and theChristianity CommonsThis Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Stone-Campbell Resources at Digital Commons @ ACU. It has been accepted for inclusionin Stone-Campbell Books by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ ACU.Recommended CitationTate, Benjamin W., "Why I Am a Member of the Church of Christ" (1950). Stone-Campbell Books. 517.https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/crs_books/517Why I Am a Member of the Church of Christ [By BEN]. W. TATE The New Testament Tract Society Box 39 , Station N, Cincinn ati , 0. WHY I AM A MEMBER OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST By BENJ. W. TATE M EN take little or no time to investigate, and rush through life as member s of denominational church es without any Bible reason for membership in man-made insti-tutions. We should always be ready and able to give a reason for th e hope we have in Christ. If one chur ch is as good as another , why 12 kinds of Presbyt erians, 15 kinds of Methodi sts , 16 kinds of Baptists and 164 denominations masquerading under the name of Christianity 1 There are human institutions galore, each pres enting its claims as to efficiency and leadership . There are competitive building programs and plans of service in all our citi es and rural com-muniti es commanding th e support of life, tal ent and money . The Bible speaks of but one church-the church of Chri st-and has but one program of building and servic e. I have no apology to offer for claiming membership in the chur ch of Christ. There are many reasons why I endeavor to get men to a!lpire to be members of the church of Christ, but I shall endeav or to present 3 only eight r easons why I am a member of the church of Christ . TH E FO UND ATION. The r eal valu e of buildin gs and institu-tion s depends upon th e type and construc-tion of th e foundation. Master build ers in the material world give much tim e and con-siderat ion to th e constru ction of foundations upon which buildings are to r est . Our cities make certain demands as to foundation of buildings. And while th e Bibl e speaks firm-ly as to the foundation upon which the chur ch of Christ is build ed, men ru sh on and give no heed to the found ation u pon which they build . spiritually. If th e building of our life , . or r eligiou s institution to which we belong, goes no deeper than man for its foundation , it is of th e sandy type, and will fall in th e testing period . The rain and the storm of doubt and fear will fall upon the foundation s upon which we build , and they will fail un less we build upqn the rock, Christ th e Lord. Our great mast er builder declared H e would build Hi s church upon a rock, and that th e .gate s of hell shall not pr evail against it (Matt. 16 : 18) . Paul tells us that we are builded upon the one founda-~ion of the apostl es and proph ets, Christ Him self being the chief corner-ston e. Christ is the corner -stone of our salvation , th e rock of our defense, th e one foundation for the chur ch. The church of Christ pr esents to the soul of man the divine , efficient foundation. ' ' Other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid , which is Christ J esus" (l _Cor. 3: 11) . Others may build upon the f.(?und~tious of men, but my pr eference ·and ' 4 . -loyalty shall ever be to the church with the divine foundation, upon which we are builded into the eternal program and in-stitution of God. If I build upon Sweden, borg, Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius, Luther, Calvin, Wesley, Campbell, Joe Smith or Mrs. Eddy, I establish myself against the divine foundation , and :find that I am out of harmony with the Bible plan. Human foundations foster discord, and are the allies of man-made plans that divide the people of God. May the day soon come when all human foundations shall become consumed as hay and stubble by the true :fires of r evelation. THE CREED. Denominational creeds must tumble, and be laid to rest in the scrapyard of denomi-national names and issues. Human creeds cause divisions in Christendom. We never can unite upon a human creed. Some one has said: '' The creeds of men have their day and cease to be.'' The divine creed is the same yesterday , to-day and forever. I am glad to be a member of the church of Christ, because it has no creed but the living Christ, the one upon which all can unite , the one revealed from heaven. '' This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; bear ye him." P eter, to whom this statement was made at the transfiguration , in response to the question, "Whom say ye that I am 1" replied: '' Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.'' He was present when Heaven proclaimed the deity of Jesus, and expressed th e Christian's creed in that pro-found confession . This is the one creed that needs no revision. Human creeds have 5 been revised from time to time to fit into the changing opinions of men. · The result of creed-writing has been disastrous and sinful, resulting in division . It will continue to hold the people of God apart. Man must give up written creeds and dogmas and accept the divine creed before there can be unity of life in Christ. Let us turn from men and give Christ the pre-eminence. If one group or company of men has a right to write a creed, other groups have a right to write creeds, and in the making of creeds there would be no end, and soon the world itself could not contain them. The church of Christ accepts no creed but the one authorized by the Bible: ''J esus is the Christ.'' · I believe in repentance, because of my faith in Jesus, who said: "Except ye re-pent, ye shall all likewise perish.'' I be-lieve in baptism, because I believe in Jesus, who authorized and commanded it. I be-lieve in the prayer life, because I believe in Jesus, who spent whole nights in prayer. I believe in the growth of Christian life and experience, because I believe in Jesus, who '' increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man." I believe in missionary activity , because I believe in Jesus, who said: '' Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be condemned.'' I believe that I must do what the apostles commanded men to do to be saved, because I believe in Jesus, who said: "Whosesoever sins ye remit , they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained" (John 20 : 23). 6 • J ' l THE HEAD. The foundation, the creed and the head are fundamentals, and all center in Christ. The Pope is not the head of the church of Christ, neither can bishops or minis ters be the head of the church. I have heard mem-bers of the church speak of the minister as the head of the church. He is only the servant of the church in spiritual leadership. Paul t ells us in the Epistle to the Ephesians that Christ is the head of the church , and the chur ch should be subject to His will. There is no authority above this supreme head , for "all authority, both in heaven and on earth,'' is within His hands. My hand moves out and down and up because it is controlled by the mind in the head. I walk, move, think and act because I have will-power, the seat of which is in the head. The church of Christ must act as a body of believers-go, grow and serve-because we are directed so to do by the divine will. I am a member of His body, and I am willing to be a foot to go where He wants me to go, a hand to do what He wants me to do, a mouth to speak what He wants me to speak, an eye to see the oppor-tunities of service, an ear to hear the call of duty, a finger-tip to touch some soul and bring it a bit closer to God. It is ours to serve as members of the body over which Jesus reigns as the divine head. We must not lose the fact that Jesus is the head. Our local and missionary socie-ties must recognize the divine head and speak where He speaks, and be silent where He is silent, and go as He would go, and preach as He would preach were He here in 7 person. God has one method of saving the world, and that method is through th e body of Christ, which is subject to the supreme head . · THE DI SCIPLINE. The church of Christ has a discipline. It is not a book writt en by men in conven-tion , but the never-changing word of God. If th e discipline of your chur ch contains more than th e Bible , it contains too much, and add s to th e word of God ; if it contains less, it tak es away from th e Bibl e, and if it contain s the same, th en it is not necessary. Disciplin e of men should be annihilated at once. It is more essential that th ere should be hast e in th e blotting out of disciplin es than it is that nations should disarm. Wh en Chri stendom unit es on the divine discipline, th e Bibl e, thi s old world will soon be con-quered by the sword of th e Spirit , and then war will be no more and peace and ri ghteous-ness will cover the ear th as th e wat er covers the sea. · The Bibl e is the never-changing disci -plin e upon which all can unit e. Others may be writt en and changed from tim e to tim e, but not so with th e Bibl e-i t is th e same to-day , to-morrow and for ever. I have a ri ght to r ej ect wha t a group of men may try to make bindin g on Christ endom, but I have no right to r ej ect what God makes binding throu gh Christ . Cardinals , popes , bishops , councils and elder s may continu e to legislate and divide th e chur ch, but not with my approval. The word of God, plus noth-ing, minu s nothin g, is sufficient for me. Paul , in his Epi stle to th e Galatians ( 1 : 2), proclaims a curs e upon those who ·speak 8 another gospel: "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.'' The New Testament contains the only authority as to the rule of faith and life. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John cluster around the personal life and cross of Jesus. "These were written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ" (John 20: 31). They established us in the faith of Christ, the Son of God. The Book of Acts tells us how the apostles received men into fellow-ship, and forever settles the open-member-ship question. We make no mistake when we follow the teaching of the apostles, who spoke by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The .Epistles that follow the Book of Acts tell us how to discipline our lives in the church of God. They tell us how to grow and develop the prayer life and become efficient in the use of the strong spiritual food. The Book of Revelation tells us of the things past, present and future in the experience of the church of Christ on earth. The educated and the uneducated, the rich and the poor, the high and the low can find common ground upon which to stand in the Bible. All should submit to the authority of the divine disciplinarian , as revealed in the word of God, and reject man-made disciplines. THE NAME. I am a member of the church of Christ because it recognizes Bible names for Bible things. We are informed that the cl).~rch is His ~ody; therefore w~ shoul!f wear _His name. - We -do --an - injustifre to · the church ·9· when we assume other names than those re-vealed in the Bible. We overstep our privileges in Christ when we claim to be members of '' The Disciple Church.'' '' There ain't no such animal'' in our midst. I am a disciple of the Lord, a Christian, a servant; but, as to church membership, I am a mem-ber of the church of Christ, plus nothing, minus nothing. God promised, through Isaiah, to call His people by a new name, and that name was given at Antioch (Acts 11: 26). Peter did not say: '' If any one suffer as a Meth-odist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Catholic, Campbellite, or any other kind of an ite, let him not be ashamed.'' He did say: '' If any one suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed." We can never unite upon human names. Before the union of God's people all names, save Bible names, must be dis-carded. Great groups of men will not con-sent to the name ''Methodist;'' others will not wear the names "Lutheran" or "Presby-terian;" but all can agree on the Bible name, the name of all names, "Christian." I am a member of the church of Christ be-cause it has no handle as a prefix to the name "Christian." SCRIPTURAL BAPTISM. There is no Scripture suggesting that Christ or the apostles ever commanded water to be sprinkled on a person to unite that soul to Christ. Baptism commanded in the New Testament suggests : ( 1) A form of birth (John 3: 3-5) ; (2) much water (John 3 : 23) ; ( 3) a human administrator (Matt. 28: 19); (4) a going into the water (Acts 8: 38); (5) a coming up out of the 10 water (Acts 8: 39); (6) representation of death, burial and resurrection (Rom. 6: 3, 4) ; (7) a planting (Rom. 6: 5) . Just how any one can claim all these requirements supplied in sprinkling is beyond the power of finite mind to reason. Others may substi-tute, but nothing but that which meets all these Bible requirements will suffice for me. I can not be a member of an institution claiming to be a church that accepts any-thjng but Scriptural baptism. I am a member of the church of Christ because it believes and teaches that immer-sion in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is Christian baptism. All are satis-fied that when thus immersP.d they have been baptized into Christ. Authority for sprink-ling goes back to the Pope in 1311, while authority for immersion goes back to Chr ist and the apostles. I feel satisfied when I go beyond the authority of man to the author-ity of the divine. Some men say that sprinkling and pouring will do, but what does the Bible say 1 We can never unite until we accept the Bible on baptism. THE LORD 's SuPPER. The Lord's Supper is a divine i_nstitution. We have no authority to invite nor debar, for it is the Lord's. It belongs to His people, and the only examination mentioned is self-examination. The early discipl es met together upon the first day of the week to break bread ( Acts 20 : 7) . When God said, "Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy," His people understood that it meant every Sabbath day. I know I am safe if I use the same judgment and keep the Lord's memorial institution every first day of the ]l week. The burden of proof rests upon those "who claim that once each week is too often. The church of Christ claims that it should be observed every Lord 's Day as a part of the r egular worship. I am glad to be a member of the church that follows the example of the early disciples as to th e com-munion service. The primary object of the coming togeth er of th e disciples was to com-mune with the Lord. THE UNION OF Goo's PEOPLE. Nothing is said in the Bible as to the uniting of churches of various creeds, for such churches ·were not known in Bible times. F ederation was not the method , and it has fail ed. The Interchurch Movement was not of God, and has passed away, and is stranded on the wr ecks of tim e. The unity of th e faith; accept ing Christ as th e founda-tion, creed and head of the church; th e Bibl e as the disciplin e, Bibl e names for Bibl e things, Scriptural baptism , the Lord's Sup-per observed as in apostolic tim es-is the only plea and prin cipl e upon which God 's peopl e can unite. The great Restoration movement, ' ' Back to Christ,'' is of God, and is destined to bring us to the divine goal in unity. I am a member of the church of Christ that fosters no plan that will divide the chur ch of God. Our plea, '' In faith, unity; in opinion [ when faith and truth are not ignor ed], liberty , '' is broad enough for all who recogni ze the authority of the Bible. "\V ATERLOO, la. 12 1 

Why I Am a Member of the Church of Christ

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Why I Am a Member of the Church of Christ

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