FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS WITH THE LORD’S CHURCH

The Bible teaches that there is one God (Deuteronomy 6:4) who is spirit (John 4:24) who cannot be seen or approached by man, for the salvation of man God manifested in human flesh (body),revealed in his union nature calling himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Colossians 2:9) “For in Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily”. God called himself as FATHER because he is the Creator of everything and everyone. (Isaiah 26:4 & I Corinthians 10:4) The same God called himself as SON because he is the Saviour of mankind, manifested in flesh (1 Timothy 3:16) i.e., born a man by a virgin birth and was crucified, buried and resurrected, purchased and established his church (Acts 20:28) and that he will return again for judgment when his Father determines the time for history to end. God calls all people to follow him and accept the teaching that Jesus Christ is the one mediator between God and mankind. (Matthew 28:20) The same God called himself as HOLY SPIRIT because in his Resurrected body he is in Heaven now and in his Spirit he is in earth now, he is the guiding Spirit of the Church to grow spiritually. Believers are redeemed from judgment when they accept this teaching and follow the guidelines for holy living as explained in the Bible.


Bible teaches that there were three types of ages of the world namely 1. Patriarchal age beginning from Genesis. 2. Mosaic age beginning from Exodus to Death of Christ. 3. Christ age beginning from Christ resurrection to his second coming. The Believers of Patriarchal age called the one true God as “God Almighty” Exodus 6:3. The Believers of Mosaic age called the one true God as “YHWH” Exodus 6:3. The Believers of Christ age called the one true God as “JESUS CHRIST” Isaiah 9:6; Romans 9:5; Titus 2:13; I John 5:20. You Christian please understand that you belong only to the Christ age, then without doubt call your God by name – Lord Jesus Christ (I Corinthians 1:2).


(John 1:12) As many as received Jesus Christ, to them he gave the right to become Children of God, to those who believe in his NAME i.e., JESUS CHRIST. (John 20:31) The purpose of the New Testament was written ONLY to the Children of God and nobody else because they may believe that Jesus is the Christ and believing they may have Eternal life in the NAME of Jesus Christ.


(Acts 11:26) The disciples were called Christians. Then the question will arise that who were the disciples. Disciples were believers of the Lord’s Church (Matthew 16:18) established on 50th day of resurrection of Jesus Christ, in 33 A.D. in Jerusalem by the Apostles of Jesus Christ who the only were authorised to baptize and make disciples of Jesus Christ. First disciples about 3000 were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Lord added them to the Church (Acts 2:38, 41, 47). This is the only original pattern of discipleship was followed in entire New Testament church history (Acts 4:4; 5:14; 6:7; 8:12-17; 10:47, 48; 11:24; 18:8-10) and many more. The Epistles of the New Testament were written only to disciples who were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. For example Church at Romans 6:3; Church at 1 Corinthians 1:13; Church at Galatians 3:27; Church at Ephesians (Acts 19:1-5); Church at Philippians 2:10, 11 (Acts 16:15; 16:33); Church at Colossians 3:17 and many more. Above shown disciples were called Christians and if you are bold enough to follow the only original pattern of discipleship of baptism (Ephesians 4:5) then you will be blessed to be called as Christians.


We consider ourselves non-denominational. All congregations of The Lord’s Church are autonomous, but they are connected to one another by agreement on matters of doctrine and practice. However, The Lord’s Church has no central headquarters which regulates the practice of individual churches. The Lord Jesus Christ is the founder & head of this Church.


For the greater part of Christian history especially in the early centuries singing was done without accompanying instruments. Singing without instruments seems novel to many people but is in fact common throughout Christian history. Although the Old Testament prescribes various instruments for Temple services, such is not the case in the New Testament. It is surprising to many people when they are encouraged by the human voice’s ability to inspire. The New Testament exhorts us to sing with Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (Colossians 3:16; Ephesians 5:19). We do not make use of mechanical instruments of music because we find no example of the early Christians doing so. We also find no instruction for the early Christians to use them. We want to honour God in worship in accordance to the manner in which Christians were instructed to do so from the beginning.


By becoming a Christian or by already being one. We don’t speak about joining the church as much as we speak of becoming a Christian. If a person follows the New Testament pattern for becoming a Christian he is by virtue of his conversion already a member of The Lord’s Church. The pattern for becoming a Christian is a simply matter of expressing faith in Christ, making a statement of confession, and being baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38 & 4:12).


In New Testament terms this is redundant. If a person is a Christian he is born again and visa-versa. Being born again comes from Jesus’ discussion with one of Israel’s teachers in John 3:1-5. Simply put Jesus says that one must be born of water and the Spirit in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Being born again refers to the process whereby the Holy Spirit acts within a person’s soul to bring about a changed life. Some groups attach significance to a particular emotional experience which they believe demonstrate their conversion, but in the Bible the experience of being born again is not always accompanied by a great rush of emotion or an experience beyond normal experiences. It is God working in a person’s heart to bring about repentance and faith which naturally leads to a changed way of life. By process of Spiritually Formative Hearing, Spiritually Formative Believing, Spiritually Formative Repenting, Spiritually Formative Confessing, Spiritually Formative Baptism, Spiritually Formative Faithful Living.


Becoming a Christian begins with believing in the Gospel of Christ: the Son of God was born a human being, put to death for our sins, and resurrected to provide us with a new life. Along with a number of other important teachings, this is the starting point. Each person is asked to respond to this belief by obeying the command to repent: he must change the sinful habits in his life and live according to the morals prescribed by Christ’s teachings. One is also expected to obey the command of the Apostles to be baptized for the remission of their sins (Acts 2:38 contains both the command to repent and to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ). In the act of baptism we have illustrated the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Once a person has submitted to these steps, he has become a Christian although his life is now really just beginning. Conversion to the Christian faith begins a new life with new ideals and ideas about right living.


We believe that the Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16); in other words by his Spirit God directed various individuals to write what he spoke. The Bible has always been the authoritative voice for the Christian church’s teachings and practices. The church in the first three centuries recognized the authority of these writings over many other writings of the time. Since that time, the Bible has been seen as the definitive voice of normative Christianity. It is apostolic in that it contains the teachings of the apostles. The Lord’s Church accepts the Bible as the Word of God. We read it as if God were speaking to us today, and we believe that it was meant to be read by all Christians for their learning and spiritual growth. No other book provides the church with an authoritative voice for what God demands.


We believe that the Bible provides the creed for the Christian Church. Early creeds like the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed were distillations of biblical teachings. They developed for several reasons: first, most Christians did not have ready access to a copy of the writings of the Bible (copies were kept in churches and read aloud, but the process of copying manuscripts made it unlikely that anyone could own a copy), second, this lead to the need to present the teachings of the church in shortened form so that everyone could remember and repeat it, and third, heresies forced the early church to clarify exactly what they believed in order to differentiate its teachings from false teachings. Although The Lord’s Church believe that the Bible is our creed, the early creeds are a good representation of what the church has always believed and what the Bible teaches. Because so many different creeds have arisen throughout history and because we believe the Bible is the creed of the church, we encourage Christians to use it as our primary source of Christian teaching. Certainly more work needs to be done in order to clarify differences in understanding, but the Bible must be the starting point because it carries the weight of apostolic authority.


1. Ephesians 4:4-7. Is it important to believe that there is one Lord? What about one God? The one Spirit? The first thing in the list, however, is “There is one body”. a. This is one of the major obstacles which many have, because of the religious division with which we are surrounded. b. Matthew 16:18. Jesus promised to build His church. Acts 20:28: He purchased the church with His blood. c. Seed of the kingdom is the word of God, Luke 8:11. An immutable law of God is that the seed reproduces after its kind. If we believe and obey what inspired men taught in the New Testament, it will make of us Christians, and we will be added to the church of the Lord. 2. There were in New Testament time’s man-made religious organizations, religious beliefs and practices which were of human origin. Matt. 15. These did not have the Lord’s approval. 3. Regarding which one is right, etc. We know that there is a way which is right and cannot be wrong. That is the Lord’s way. The problem comes when we want our way. a. Read the book of Acts. To become members, what did they do and in what name they were baptized? b. To what church were they added? c. Where were the headquarters; how were they organized? d. Did they have women preachers, etc.? May God bless you in your search for truth (Acts 17:11). May you have the courage to do what you learn is the Lord’s will. The Bible is the source of the Christian’s authority (2 Timothy 3:16); therefore, the Bible is the source of the church’s authority. You should look for a church that is Bible saturated. The Bible should actually be read in worship; the preacher should actually preach a message taken from a text of Scripture. This is why at High Point we are committed to expositional preaching. An expositional preacher brings forth a message from a particular text of Scripture, tells the congregation what that text originally meant and how it applies to life today. In other words, expositional preaching exposes and applies the Word of God to the people of God.


In Acts 2:42, the Bible notes that those who responded to the gospel message in faith devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching. Though many people fear the word doctrine, it simply means teaching. A church committed to sound doctrine will tell the people what the Bible “teaches” about a particular subject – in a humble manner. We further believe that a church committed to sound doctrine will also distinguish between the core doctrines of Christianity and those which are not essential. In other words, it will not hold all doctrines at the same level. For example, a church should fight for and defend the doctrine of the deity of Christ, but it should be gracious and generous when it comes to an individual’s views concerning the timing of the return of Christ (i.e. millennial views). For this reason, at High Point we distinguish between Core Beliefs (the essential doctrines of the Christian faith), Characteristic Beliefs (the doctrines that characterize our fellowship – i.e., believer’s baptism by immersion), and Charity Beliefs (those beliefs with which Christians within our fellowship are free to differ).


A gospel church must be driven by the gospel message, for the Bible reminds us in Romans 1:16, that we are not to be ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation. This simple summary allows us to see essence of the gospel: God (God created all things for His glory); Man (rebelled against God’s rule); Christ (came to redeem a rebellious humanity); Response (this gospel requires a faith response. (James 2:26). This very gospel is weaved throughout the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation; therefore, it should be evident throughout the church’s proclamation and present in its mission and methods.


The church’s mission is stated in all four gospels (Mark 16:15; Matthew 28:19-20; Luke 24:46-47; John 20:31) and Acts 1:8. If the gospel is the power of God for salvation, then a church that is gospel-driven, will seek to take this gospel to the ends of the earth in order that salvation may come to the all nations. The lack of desire to reach unbelievers with the gospel is a direct violation of the Lord’s command to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20).


If the leaders of a church are not themselves transformed by the gospel they proclaim, then there is little hope for its members. As the leaders go, so goes the church. 1 Timothy 3, the Bible lists qualifications for its leaders (elders and deacons). It is interesting to note that the primary emphasis is on character. A church’s leadership should be characterized by personal holiness, family leadership, sound doctrine, and love for those whom they lead, just to name a few characteristics. Church leaders are not required to be perfect, but they are required to be humble men who are growing in the grace, knowledge and love of Christ.


Churches may be driven by a variety of factors: purpose, programs, tradition, etc. A gospel-driven church, however, will be driven by the gospel, God’s Word. Yet, something else must be said. As the Bible reminds us in James 1:22, we must be doers of the Word and not hearers only, lest we deceive ourselves. The Bible should be transforming God’s people, and God’s people should desire to be transformed by God’s Word. This transformation will be evident in all areas of the life of both individual Christians and the church.


Consider the fact that we were created for relationship (Genesis 2:18-25); we were never meant to live in isolation. It is the same with the Christian life; it is not good that we be alone. The Christian life is a life lived in relationship. When we look at Acts 2, we notice that the believers in the early church were devoted to one another. They shared their abundance with those who had needs. They even sold their possessions and gave from the proceeds to those who lacked. Further, consider all of the “one-another” passages in Scripture. A church should have a place where the one-another passages are being lived out.


One of the clear messages of Scripture is that life is not about us. Our devotion to Christ inevitably leads to a devotion to others in Christian love. Jesus Himself did not come to be served but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28). Christians have been gifted by the Holy Spirit of God for the common good (1 Corinthians 12:7). Therefore, as each of us has a gift, we should use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace (1 Peter 4:10).


This question may alarm some at first; however, when we consider the fact that the church represents Christ to our world, then we begin to understand some of the implications of an unholy church. After all, Christ Himself is purifying the church (Ephesians 5:26-27). Consequently, if we were to allow ungodliness to be rampant in the church, the witness of the gospel in that church would lose its power. For this and various other reasons, the Bible gives Christians guidance on how to confront sin both individually (Matthew 18) and corporately (I Corinthians 5).


You don’t join a church to “fix it.” This would be the ultimate display of arrogance. You join a church in order to covenant with a local body of believers to accomplish the mission Christ has given it – to see all peoples become whole-hearted followers of Christ.