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For anyone who believes that only “their” Church is the One, True, Only.

Yes, the Holy Spirit DOES protect the body of Christ (those who belong to him) from error and the way God has provided direction is through His Holy Revealed Word - the Scriptures, the Holy Bible. That is our authority and no one can mislead one who is grounded in the word of God. The Holy Spirit will, of course, not mislead someone but it is ironic to claim what was taught in the first century is somehow different than what was being taught in the 16th. What is being referred to is the Reformation and what the reformers were trying to do is bring the church of Christ BACK to the correct doctrines from which they had been corrupted by false teachers. Do they think the idea of the Scriptures being the sole authority for the faith was a new concept? Hardly!

Do they want to say that salvation by grace through faith alone in Christ alone was a new invention? No way! Read the Bible! The JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH goes all the way back to the Old Testament and was repeated in Paul’s epistle to the Romans. The doctrine of Purgatory was invented and contradicts clear Scriptural teaching that those who are saved are washed in the blood of Christ from all sin and do not need a “spiritual car wash” before entering Heaven at death. So many doctrines they bring up are invented outside of the Bible and most really do smash up against the truth in it. So how do they justify that this “One True Church” they identify with stumbled and fell into such error over and over again?

They should consider for one moment that perhaps Jesus was not speaking of an organized religious body based in Rome as his “church”. Why could he not have been speaking of his true universal body that was a spiritual organ and encompassed ALL believers in him from all time, his remnant that he preserved from error? That’s why they will not have much luck pinning down what “organized religion” most of us follow because it isn’t a religion at all. It is The Faith, The Way and it started all the way back with Adam and Eve when they first sinned and were cast out of the garden. God made skins to cover them - an animal’s skin - and they were the first to know of a promised redeemer who would be the final sacrifice for sin. It is the same faith that carried Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that sustained Noah and Moses and Jonah and Job. That strengthened Isaiah and Nehemiah and Jeremiah and Daniel. That all the saints past, present and future cling to. It doesn’t need a human title or label so that any should brag and boast of belonging to, it is all of the Lord - Father, Son and Spirit - all God.