There have always been those among us who have advocated the idea that Christians can be found in every denomination.   In times past it was popular among more liberal-minded brethren to declare that the pious un-immersed, particularly those in various denominations, were saved.  In some circles that error is making a comeback.  Is there any truth to the notion that Christians can be found in denominational churches?  Such a conclusion is a misunderstanding of at least two facts.

It is first a misunderstanding of what the church is.  The church is made up of the saved, that is, those who have obeyed the gospel of Christ.  When one obeys the gospel, he is added to the church immediately (Acts 2:47).  Obedience to the gospel and church membership happens simultaneously.   The final step in obeying the gospel is being baptized into Christ for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38; Galatians 3:27, etc.).  Thus, the Bible teaches us that we are baptized into the body of Christ. 

1 Corinthians 12:13 (ESV)
¹³  For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

Baptism does not add one to a denominational church.  There were no denominational churches in the first century to which one could be added.  The question, then, is how does a person who has been a Christian become a member of a denominational church? The answer to that question, which we will discuss in the second fact that is misunderstood, will tell us whether or not there are Christians in denominational churches.

Let us get back to the church for a moment.  If a person is added to the church upon obedience to the gospel, there is only one place where Christians can be found and that, of course, is in the church.  In the New Testament, every single Christian was a member of the church of Christ.  Who would doubt the validity of that statement?

Just because men have come along and built their own churches, with their own names, doctrines, practices, and forms of worship, does not mean that true Christians can now be found in places other than the church of Christ.  Scriptural baptism places people in the same place it did nearly two thousand years ago, and that is in the church that Christ built.   One is not to look in a man-made, denominational church to find Christians; one is to look where God adds them, that is, the Lord’s church.

There is something else to consider about the place where Christians are found.  The church is the family of God.  How does one become a part of God’s family?  He does so by obeying the gospel, resulting in a new birth (John 3:3-5).  When a person obeys the gospel, he becomes a child of God.  Where can a child of God be found?  A child of God can be found in the house of God, which is the church you read about in the New Testament (I Timothy 3:15; Hebrews 3:6), not a denominational church established long after God’s family came into existence.

The second misunderstanding is what constitutes a Christian.   Some argue that obedience to the gospel results in a person being added to the church, but over the years, they say, some have left the church and have joined different denominations.  Thus, there are Christians in every denomination.  This is to misunderstand what a Christian is.  One cannot leave the church and still be a Christian.  A Christian is a follower of Christ.  Can one turn his back on the church that Christ built and still be a follower of Christ?  NO!  Can one join himself to a religious body that cannot be found in the scriptures, and that is practicing many things without the authority of Christ, and still be a follower of Christ?  NO!

While one might leave the church and still be a child of God, he cannot do so and maintain his fellowship with God.  There is such a thing as a child of God who is lost, but there is no such thing as a lost Christian.  The moment one stops following Christ, he ceases to be a Christian, and the moment a person leaves the church and joins a denomination, he stops following Christ.  Therefore, not only is the church the only place one can find a Christian, but consequently, one can never find a Christian in a denominational church, regardless of how pious he might be.  Let us all forsake man-man churches and associate ourselves with the Lord’s church.