As Christians, we believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, and is the only spiritual authority in our lives. Creeds and doctrines written by man are outside the realm of scripture, and are of no authority, because we know that God has already given us everything we need in His own Word. II Pet. 1:3
Since we follow only the Bible, we wear no other name but His, Christian. We do not use any denominational names, which are not found in the Bible, only Christian and church of Christ. Acts 11:36, Acts 26:28, Rom. 16:16
Salvation can only come through faith in and obedience to Jesus Christ, the Savior of mankind. You must:
Hear God's word Rom. 10:17
Believe in God's Word Mark 16:16, Acts 2:36, 27
Repent of your sins. Repentence means to "turn away" from sin, not just to be sorry about it. You
must leave behind the sins you have committed and walk in the other direction, toward God. Luke 13:3, Acts 2:38
Confess the name of Jesus as the son of God before others. Rom. 10:9,10, Acts 8:37
Be baptized. Baptize literally means "immersion". You must be baptized into water, fully immersed, as a symbol of Christ's burial in the earth. Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38
After salvation, you must continue to live a life of obedience to the Father. Sin will occur in our lives, but we have an avenue of prayer that will grant the repentant heart forgiveness once again. Acts 8:22
Other things:
The church of Christ differs from other churches in many other areas as well. For instance:
We believe in only a capella music only. Singing is the only form of musical worship mentioned in the New Testament. Eph. 5:19 Even though instruments were used in the Old Testament, and even commanded in some instances, Christ's blood wiped away the old covenant, and we are now only bound by the new. Heb. 8:7-13
We believe in "giving of our means" every first day of the week, but we do not "tithe". Tithe literally means "a tenth" and we are no longer commanded to give a specific percentage of our income. We are to give as God has prospered and blessed us. I. Cor. 16:2 As some have pointed out, though, we are now more blessed than under the old covenant, so perhaps we should be giving more, too.
We believe in taking the Lord's communion every first day of the week, not just on selected "special" days. The command speaks to "the" first day of the week, not "a" first day of the week. Acts 20:7
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