A question often confronts us: "Do you have to be a member of the church of Christ to be saved?" Sometimes, the question is more innocuous: "How is the church of Christ different from other churches?" Actually, both questions are technically incorrect. We’ll see below that all of those who are saved are in the church of Christ, since the church of Christ is not a denomination but the universal body of believers in Christ. The second question is incorrect because the church of Christ is not a denomination among denomination. It is the fellowship of all the redeemed. It is more accurate to ask, "How does the church at _____ differ from denominations in town?"

Both the "universal" group and local groups are referred to as "the church of Christ" because church means "a called out group of people." It comes from the Greek word ekklesia (from ek, "out" and kaleo, "called") and it is Christ who does the "calling out." Paul addresses the Roman Christians as those who were "called as saints" (Romans 1:7; note that "saints" refers to living Christians, not dead ones as some believe). We are called by the gospel (II Th. 2:14) which is God’s "power of salvation" (Rom. 1:16). Christians have been "called out of darkness into His marvelous light" (I Pet. 2:9).

Only Christians (those who follow Christ: see John 14:6; Acts 11:26) are saved. All Christians are in the universal church, the "church of [belonging to] Christ." Therefore, everyone who is in the universal church of Christ is saved. Every knowledgeable member of a denomination would agree with us so far. A Lutheran, Methodist, Baptist, Episcopalian and even a Roman Catholic would defend their place as members of the "church of Christ," when the term is used in the wide, universal sense. If all Christians are in the universal church then the real question must be "who are "Christians"? We must answer that question before we move on to explore which local churches are acceptable to the Lord. If one is a Christian, the choice of a local church is crucial. But if he or she is not a Christian, it makes no difference what local church one joins, except that his choice will affect his chance of finding the truth.

So who are Christians? Who is in this "church of Christ" (universal)? We know that Christians are "believers in God" (I Pet. 1:21). But is that enough? James 2:19 says, "You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder." Clearly, not everyone who believes in God is going to be saved.

The most effective way to learn how to become a Christian is to find some examples in Scripture of people who wanted to become Christians – what were they told to do? If they did it, and became Christians, then why shouldn’t we do exactly the same thing? We can then put aside sectarian designations and labels and become Christians only. Not "Baptist-Christians; not Methodist-Christians; not Lutheran-Christians; for that matter, not "church of Christ-Christians" – just Christians! Let’s look at a few examples taken from the New Testament.

But were they members of a church yet? Yes! Membership in the universal church of Christ was concurrent with their baptism. Look at the sequence (I’ve added the emphasis): "So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls…praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved" (Acts 2:41, 47). The King James Version says "the Lord was adding to the church…" because "their number" and the church are the same group of people.

The Lord adds people who obey Him to the body of Christians known as "the church"; the church belongs to Christ (see Acts 20:28 where Paul says it was purchased by His own blood). As yet, there is no mention of a local church. In Acts 2, Christ is in total control of who is or who is not in His church. This is always true in the case of the universal church. Only those whom the Lord adds are in it. Since Paul says that Christ is the savior of the body (Eph. 5:23), only those in the body are saved (the "body" is the church: Eph. 1:22-23; Col. 1:18). Christians are the only ones in the body because the same thing that makes a Christian puts one into the body of Christ.

By referring to other passages we learn that one becomes a Christian only after he follows certain steps: he must believe in Christ (Mark 16:16); he must repent of his sins (Acts 2:38); he must confess Christ as the Son of God (Rom. 10:9, 10). And he must be baptized in water for remission of sins (Mt. 28:19-20; Mk. 16:16; Acts 2:38; 8:12, 36-38; 10:47; 16:15, 33; 18:8; 19:3-5; 22:16; Romans 6:3-4; Gal. 3:26-27; Col. 2:12; I Pet. 3:21). When these acts are completed, he is added to the church, as we saw in Acts 2:41-47. I Cor. 12:13 says, "for by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit" (1 Cor 12:13).

How then does "the church of Christ" differ from every other religious group? When we ask this question about the universal body of Christians described above, the answer is clear: the church of Christ is the body of the saved, the baptized body of believers that Christ purchased with His own blood. This body was never referred to by the name of a man (such as Martin Luther or Sun Myung Moon) or a form of the pursuit of holiness (Methodism) or a system of organization (Episcopalian – episkopos is the Greek word for "bishop"; Presbyterian – presbytyr is the Greek word for "elder"). An objective, honest evaluation of the evidence can lead to no other conclusion than that only those who have obeyed Christ and continue in His steps are in the "one body" (Eph. 4:4).

As a member of the universal church, a person is obliged to seek out others who have obeyed Christ and are living faithful lives. He is to meet, worship and work with these people in local churches. These churches, to be pleasing to God, must be following the pattern that Christ has given for local churches in organization, work and worship. For example, elders must be a plurality of men who are qualified according to Titus 1:5-9 and I Tim. 3:1-7. They are also called "pastors" – there is no passage in the New Testament that refers to a preacher as a "pastor."

The work of a local church is defined in Scripture and is limited by it. I Pet. 4:11 says that if any person speaks he is to speak "as the utterances of God" and if he ministers (serves) he is to minister "by the strength God supplies." Acts 6 is a passage that clearly shows what a church’s main work should be. As the early church began to grow in Jerusalem, a contention arose in the new community among the Hellenistic (Greek-speaking) Jews and the Palestinian Jews. The dispute arose because the Hellenistic Jews felt like their widows were being neglected. The importance of this for our purpose is to note how the apostles dealt with the problem. They appointed deacons to handle the situation because, "it is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables" (Acts 6:2). While issues of caring for others are important, a local church exists mainly for the purpose of spreading the gospel in the community and edifying the local church.

There are several things that usually distinguish a local church of Christ from the denominations in the community. Besides those things mentioned above (a focus on spiritual matters and a plurality of elders), the most noticeable difference is in the assembly itself. Compared to Catholicism and many denominations, the simplicity is striking. Generally, mainline denominations (such as Episcopalians and Lutherans) engage in a formal ceremony, often called a "liturgy." There is a specific order of service, conducted entirely by the "pastor," who wears a robe and other vestments; there is usually a robed choir and organ music. In some cases, there are candles and other ceremonial objects in the building. Typically in these churches, the Lord’s Supper (sometimes called the Eucharist) is taken infrequently, either twice or four times a year.

When one arrives at a service in the building of most churches of Christ, they will find no organ, no choir, and no ceremonial garb. Several men will be participating in the service, in leading prayer, leading the singing and leading the Lord’s Supper service. The Lord’s Supper is offered every first day of the week. The singing is congregational and without the aid of any instruments of music. The preacher will lead a study from the Bible.

These are the issues that people typically find different from the practices they find in a denomination. There may be others, depending on one’s experience. For example, many groups practice a much less formal "worship," featuring 5-10 piece bands, drama, comedy and "children’s church." Others may find little difference in the practice of a local church of Christ from what they are used to, though nearly all religious groups include some kind of instrumental music today.

How do we account for these differences? Are we just trying to be different? Is it a matter of preference or taste? The answer, again, is found in I Pet. 4:11: "if any man speaks, let him speak as the utterances of God." We strongly believe that the only way to please God is to follow the examples He has given us in these matters. We look at first century churches as described in Scripture, and seek to follow that example. We find the work of the church described there and seek to follow that example. We find no instrumental music, no robed "pastors," no men called "reverend," no choir, no drama. We do find people gathering at least once a week (in some cases, daily) to sing, pray, and teach (see Acts 2:41-47). We know that they took part in a communion service every first day of the week (Acts 20:7). We just want to do it the way they did it. It’s that simple.