Q&A 0386 – One true church?

Is there really only one true church? What does the Bible say?

Ephesians 1:22-23 teaches that the church is the body of Christ. It is not an institution. No one has monopolized it. Yes, Ephesians 4:4 says there is one body. Jesus is the head, we are the body. There can only be one church. The answer to your question, then, is Yes.

But one may ask, Who is in this church? Rather than ask "Who's right?", I believe it is more important to ask, "What's right?" After all, God is the judge and his word contain the criteria. A good place to begin would be Ephesians 4:3-6, a passage which contains "the seven unities" -- non-negotiable essentials of the faith. So what are these fundamentals?
* One body -- one universal body of Christ, to which all true Christians belong (Ephesians 2:16, 3:6, 4:4, 4:25; Colossians 3:15).
* One Spirit -- the Holy Spirit. Can the spirit prevailing in our church(es) rightly be called "holy"?
* One hope -- the hope the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come, so often attested to in scripture (e.g. Acts 23:6).
* One Lord -- Jesus Christ, allegiance to whom is imperative (Luke 6:46), and who will brook no rivals (Luke 16:13).
* One faith -- the pure faith of the original gospel message (Jude 3).
* One baptism -- the immersion preached ever since the beginning of the church (Acts 2:38).
* One God and Father. And throughout scripture, he has made it crystal-clear that polytheism and idolatry prevent us from ever knowing him (e.g. Galatians 5:21).

Moving from the what to the who, there are indeed a handful of church groups holding firmly to these unities. We may be in a very small minority, but we are not alone. Why not resurrect the Restoration slogan: "Christians only, but not the only Christians"?

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