I've just read this in the Bible and I would like to know your thoughts:
There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism Eph.4:5.
Does this mean there is one true denomination or "Church" that we must attend? Also how come none of the major Christian denominations are mentioned in the Bible?
1Co 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
1Co 1:10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
1Co 1:11 For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
1Co 1:12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
1Co 1:13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?
Eph 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Eph 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Eph 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.
There is only one way to interpret the Bible,and one truth,and God wants the saints to work together,to come to the unity of the faith,and truth.
For some will say this,and some will say,no that,and so forth.
Jesus rose,He did not rise.
The millennial reign is over,it is in the future.
All prophesy has been fulfilled,except the resurrection,all prophesy has not been fulfilled.
Baptize,Father,Son,Holy Spirit,baptize in Jesus' name.
Baptism is towards salvation,no it is not.
A refurbished earth,no this earth will pass away,and a new earth.
The saints will be on this earth forever,no they will be in heaven forever.
We are not saved by works,no we are saved by works.
Once saved,always saved,no it is not true.
And there are worse differences than that,which is amazing that they would all come up with these differences,with one book.
People usually go by their denomination,and fight for it,tooth and nail,and when you can show them they are wrong,through scriptures,they still fight for it,tooth and nail,and I wonder what is the explanation.
While there may be different reasons,a lot of people probably do not consider this.
They have a competitive spirit,and they delight in it.
The world has it,that competitive spirit,and I'll use the NBA,for example.
At the start of the season,when it is fresh,the teams love the thought that this is the year they might be able to be champions,and they like that competitive spirit,and delight in they might be able to be number 1,and if they win and are the champion,it pleases them much,and they think that of all the teams that were striving to be champion,we beat them all,we are number 1,and they delight in it.
It could be that some people that claim Christ,have that same attitude,and think,out of all the denominations saying they have the truth,and oh there is many,fighting,and arguing,over truth,and belittling,that we are the ones that have the truth,we are number 1,we are the winning team,and they delight in that.
So people with that attitude will fight tooth,and nail,for their denomination,ignoring everything presented to them,even if it can be proven,because they like that attitude,we are number 1,we are the winning team.
Also possibly another reason why they fight tooth,and nail,for their denomination,is because it's an ego defense,because they can't stand the fact that they might of been stupid enough to believe doctrines that were not true.
I am kind of kidding on that last one,but you never know,and people believe what they want to believe,even people in the truth,but it is a good thing that it happens to be the truth.