1 John 3:1 "Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knows us not, because it knew him not."
1 John 3:2 "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is."
Hebrews 2:11
"For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren,"
1 Corinthians 1:26
"For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;"
1 Corinthians 1:10
"Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment."
2 Peter 1:10
"Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;"
1 Peter 5:9
"But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world."
God also referred to believers as "disciples of Christ."
Matthew 28:19-20
“ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Nowhere in the Scriptures do we see anyone being referred to as any of these phrases to describe followers of Jesus Christ:
Baptists: Founded on the belief that man is saved through Baptism
Calvinists: Those who follow Calvin, even quoting him more than Christ.
Pentecostals: Named after a one-time event in Scripture.
Presbyterian: Founded by Calvin focused on hierarchy
Methodist: Based on Methods of worship
Lutheran: Followers of Luther
Reformed: Followers of Calvin
Apostolic: foundedon the conversion experience of Samuel Heinrich Froehlich
Hussites: Followers of Jan Huss
Quakers: George Fox started the "Society of Friends" in England
These are terms assigned to people based on a particular belief system usually reactions to difficult times in the world and even the church.
Often down through the ages "Christians" would disagree on a particular doctrine within the church they would begin a new group naming that group after their favored preacher or doctrine.
There was never a need to begin new groups assigning a man's name or favored doctrine to the group. The best thing to do is to begin a Christian group without naming it after a doctrine or preachers, rather naming it as God did; "the church at Corinth", in other words calling us the "believers at Longview" or the "brethren in St. Lewis", whatever location where there were brethren.
The church is not divided as many of these groups might think. Authentic born-again believers do not divide up into groups based on preachers or doctrine, they remain faithful to the Bible and acknowledge all born-again believers as their brothers.
There are many unbelievers who think they are "Christians" but are not born again in all the denominations now. Because people identify with their group far more than they do Christ leaves us with strong evidence that the club mentality has overtaken the church.
Consider for a moment asking someone who attends church if they are born again. Most of the time the answer that comes back will be which church they attend. They will say; "I go to the baptist church down the street" or "I am Presbyterian." Rarely do they say I am a born-again follower of Christ because it is not the way they think.
Those who think in club terms will tell you which church they attend. Those who think in Spiritual terms will tell you they follow Jesus Christ.
I have heard people say; "I follow Calvin", or "I follow Luther", in direct violation of the scriptures that say this: Gods words not mine:
1 Corinthians 3:3-5 "…3 for you are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and dissension among you, are you not worldly? Are you not walking in the way of man? 4 For when one of you says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men? 5What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, as the Lord has assigned to each his role.…"
So now that we have seen how far we have fallen, perhaps we will resist becoming like this if we are not already and if we are already we can repent from it.
Now see how many people think in Spiritual terms, you will find few. This is a sign of the end times when most who attend churches have never been born again.
For many years in this country, we have experienced a cultural Christianity in which people attended church because; "it was the decent thing to do", not because they loved Jesus Christ and wanted to become holy. The cultural standard was better than an ugly life but it was not based on a relationship with Christ, therefore it was easily discarded when the rules relaxed.
We see now why we are in the mess we are in today. The Bible was not the standard even though parts of it were used to create the standard. The dedication was not to Christ but the standard.
We got here because we liked to feel safe and happy, not because we loved Christ with all our hearts.
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