Wilt Thou Serve the Denomination, Or the Lord? #4

Thursday, December 6, 2012

“And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ” (Colossians 3:23,24 KJV).

Beloved, we have a choice—we can serve a theological system (which is worthless), or we can serve the Lord (which is priceless).

If we desire to know the Lord’s will for our lives, should we consult manmade “articles of confession” and “catechisms” published by denominations? No! It is only logical to find God’s will for our lives by reading the Book God wrote!

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable, for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:16,17). Everything we will ever need to know about God’s plan for us is found in the Holy Bible. Found therein is everything that He has done for us, and everything that He purposes to do with us! When we grasp that information, we progress in spiritual maturity, and by faith, we “labour together with God” (1 Corinthians 3:9).

Satan knows God’s Word is effectual, that it accomplishes what God intends (Isaiah 55:11). So, to the devil’s delight, sinful man corrupted God’s Word by fabricating perverted Bible manuscripts, creating elaborate organizations instead of preaching the Gospel of Grace to perishing mankind, wrongly dividing the word of truth, and thus splintering into 38,000-plus denominations. These activities still distract lost people (and even Christians) from discovering God’s will and the clarity of His Word.

The Bible warns us: “Beware lest any man spoil [rob, cheat] you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” (Colossians 2:8). Doubtless, this refers to empty religious tradition, denominational doctrine which is “not after Christ.”

Let us walk by faith in an intelligent understanding of what God is doing today, Paul’s epistles Romans through Philemon, and not what some denomination is doing. After all, dear saints, serving a denomination will profit us nothing in eternity….