Are You "in" the Church?

During the Feast of Tabernacles, for those who may not know, it is typical that hundreds of people, even thousands in some places, will be staying in the same hotel or resort for the duration of the 8 days of God's festivals. Some of these feast sites are located in the midst of a city (such as Daytona or Panama City Beach), but many are held in more secluded towns or at all-inclusive resorts. For feast sites that are more tightly knit, such as the resort that I stayed at in Jamaica last week, it is common to ask yourself a certain question whenever you see someone that you think you recognize: is that person in the church?

This turns out to be a profound question with a diverse range of interpretations and answers. First of all, let's establish what the church of God is.

Do You Obey God Rather Than Men?

Christianity as a whole in today’s world has a diverse range of beliefs. It seems that some of them are so drastically far-removed from each other that the only thing that they have in common is that they claim to follow the same book. Is it really possible that all of these denominations are right? Is it okay for everyone to have his own interpretation of the bible? Not only do I believe that this is not okay – I can show you from the bible that it’s not okay:

1 Peter 1:20-21

No prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

There was no such thing as a denomination in the day of the Apostles. There were groups of churches that were close enough together to keep correspondence and visit with one another, but they were all considered part of the “church of God” and they all held to the same doctrines. But which doctrines did they have? And how did they get them? Just as Peter stated in the above scripture, there is only one correct interpretation of the bible: God’s interpretation.