Every week that goes by another church is set up on another corner in town. The strip malls have churches renting space, and the names on these churches are more and more varied. Without appearing to be judgmental, it is important for all of us to know what God says about the church, and to realize that it does matter what church we are a part of.

Jesus said He would build His church. Matthew 16:18 states, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” (NKJV) Jesus said He would build His church. It is His church and any church built by a man that seeks to take the place of His church is not a church that we need to be a part of.

This reminds us that the church is Jesus’, not ours. We have no right to dictate any law or rule in His church.

In Ephesians 1:22–23 Paul wrote, “And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” (NKJV). Here the Bible says that the church is His body. In Ephesians 4:4 the Bible says that there is one body, hence, if the church is His body (Colossians 1:18 proves it is) then there is one church. So again, we have to make sure that we are a part of that one church which Jesus Himself set up on the day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2.

Can you imagine a body that has one head, and 1200 different bodies? Would that not be bizarre and grotesque? Yet, that is what some want us to believe when they say that not only are denominations acceptable, but necessary. We need these, according to some, so that man can find what they want as they try to come to God. Yet, would the one head (Christ) give 1200 different ideas from Himself? Some of these “bodies” are contradictory in their teaching—would Jesus Christ, the Head of His church, be “OK,” not only with different bodies, but with contradictory teaching? Yet again, this is what God has done with His church!

In an effort to provide some sort of Scriptural truth for this idea many appeal to John 15, where Jesus talks about Himself being the vine, and we are the branches. Many argue that the branches are different churches, and Jesus is the vine. However, we ask, would it make sense to have a grape vine, a muscadine vine and a blackberry vine all on one vine? Further, could we honestly have over 1200 different kinds of branches from one vine?

The simplest explanation is that individual Christians are the branches, and we gain our sustenance and our very lives from the vine. John 15 is not talking about denominations.

According to the Bible, there is only one church. Are we a part of that church?