How sad some brethren are guilty today of the same false doctrine and practice that is contributing to the dividing of the body of Christ. Their statement is not implying that there are individuals who have been baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and have joined a denominational organization and are welcomed into their fellowship; rather, it is teaching that regardless as to ‘how you were saved’, we extend to you the ‘right hand of fellowship’.
We have to go to the New Testament to learn how people were saved by God’s grace and the blood of His Son. It is the Lord and not man who determines who is saved. There are several examples in the book of Acts that mention the conversion of individuals but we shall study only one presently.
In the second chapter we have recorded the beginning of the church of our Lord which He promised to build as recorded in Matthew 16:18. This occurred on the first Pentecost Day following the resurrection of Jesus. The apostle Peter preached relative to the rejection of Jesus as being the Son of God by His own people, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Peter also placed the blame for the crucifixion of Jesus on the Jews. When some among the thousands present asked, “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (NKJV, 2:37, 38). In verse 41 we read, “Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.” It is very important that we observe the teaching found in verse 47 regarding those whom the Lord added to His church: “(P)raising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”
The question must be raised and that is, what scriptural authority do these brethren have to receive the ‘pious unimmersed’ into their fellowship? The Word of God is too plain to be misunderstood. The Lord, who saves, adds only the ones who have believed the facts and have obeyed the commands of the gospel to His body, which is the church (Colossians 1:18). Jesus referred to the same entity in Matthew 16:18, 19 when he mentioned the church and kingdom. The brethren in Colosse were members of the kingdom/church (1:13:3:15). They were saved and became members when they were “buried with Him in baptism” (2:12). Jesus said “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). Paul wrote in Titus 3:4, 5: “But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.” These two passages teach what Peter instructed the believers on Pentecost to do and that was to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of their sins and they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The church of the Lord is not just a “portion” of the kingdom, it is the kingdom!
Because of my love for these brethren, I pray that the elders will reconsider their teaching on this important biblical subject and instruct the members of the congregation more perfectly in the way of the Lord regarding the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, the king of king and Lord of Lords.
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