One Question Divides Us
Members of Churches of Christ often know their Bibles very well. They reject human creeds, baptize believers by immersion, refuse infant baptism, and let each congregation govern itself. Baptists share much of that. The line comes at one question: when is a sinner forgiven?
Churches of Christ teach that God forgives a penitent believer at the moment of immersion. We teach that He forgives the moment a sinner believes, and that baptism follows as the believer's first obedience. This reaches the first question we ask of any teaching: what must someone believe to be saved?
These churches are not all alike. Each congregation is independent, with no headquarters and no creed. Some members trust Christ alone in spite of what they were taught, and some congregations leave the unimmersed in God's hands. But those who teach that baptism saves and that all outside are lost have made one act of obedience the door of heaven. We call that hardline teaching a cult, in the sense this section uses the word: Christian words joined to another gospel (Galatians 1:6; see What Is a Cult?). It is a theological category, not an insult.
This study concerns the a cappella Churches of Christ of the Stone-Campbell movement. The United Church of Christ is a different body with a different history. The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the independent Christian Churches share these roots, and the International Churches of Christ are a separate movement that grew out of these churches.
Anyone trusting baptism or works to be saved is not saved, whatever church he attends. Anyone trusting Christ alone is saved, however poorly he was taught. We judge teaching, not hearts, so ask your friend what he is trusting.
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For Deeper Study
- Understanding Four Views on BaptismAmazon John H. Armstrong, ed.Baptist, Reformed, Lutheran, and Stone-Campbell writers make their cases and answer one another. Thomas J. Nettles presents believer's baptism by immersion.
- Campbellism ExaminedAmazon Jeremiah B. JeterA Baptist pastor's 1855 critique of the movement, written from inside the controversy.
- Reviving the Ancient Faith: The Story of Churches of Christ in AmericaAmazon Richard T. HughesThe standard history, by a historian from within the tradition. We differ on baptism and salvation.
- The Christian SystemAmazon Alexander CampbellThe primary source: Campbell's own summary of the movement's teaching.
- Foxe's Book of MartyrsAmazon John FoxeThe classic Protestant record of those who died for the faith, from the early church to the English Reformation.
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What Is a Cult?
A cult, as this section uses the word, is a group that uses Christian words while denying the Gospel or the God it reveals, preaching another Jesus, another spirit, or another gospel.
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