There Is No Other Choice

How often do we hear denominations say, “Join the church of your choice?” It is also said that one has a right to the faith of their choice, the baptism of their choice, the name of their choice and to worship the way they please. These statements are based upon the belief that one church is as good as another, and that it makes no difference which one we choose, but is this true? Do we really have a choice, and still be saved?

It is true that our Constitution grants religious freedom to the citizens of America. We have the legal right to worship the one true God or an idol. We may legally trust in Christ, Mohammed or Buddha as our Savior. We have the legal right to reject all and embrace atheism. We can legally call God a myth and Christ a fake. We may pray in the name of the Devil, legally speaking. We have the right to follow Christ and His apostles, or a false prophet, but we need to understand that one can be scripturally wrong, yet within his legal rights here on earth. Our Constitutional freedom of religion does not guarantee acceptance with God. We shall be judged by the Bible, not by the Constitution! (John 12:48)

Man does not have a scriptural right to choose something contrary to God’s revealed will in the Bible. When God reveals His choice in any matter, man only has the right to accept God’s choice; he has no right to choose something different. God revealed His choice in the following matters as His Holy Spirit guided the apostle Paul to say: “There is ONE body, and ONE Spirit, even as you are called in ONE hope of your calling; ONE Lord, ONE faith, ONE baptism, ONE God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” (Eph. 4: 4-6). Can we choose between ONE? Notice what Paul said:

1. “There is ONE GOD.” Is one god as good as another god? Do we have a choice of gods?

2. “There is ONE LORD.” Do we have a choice of Lords (Saviors)? Can one scripturally choose Mohammed or Buddha as his Savior? It’s legal, but is it scriptural? Can one be saved if he chooses a Lord other than Christ Jesus? (Acts 4:12)

3. “There is ONE SPIRIT.” Do we have a right to follow the spirit of our choice? Is one spirit as good as another spirit? Would it be just as well to believe an evil spirit of the devil as God’s Holy Spirit?

4. “There is ONE HOPE.” Is the Jewish hope of heaven as good as the Christian’s hope? Would you as soon have a hope based upon a rejection of Christ as Savior as the hope based upon acceptance of Christ?

5. “There is ONE BODY” . . . which is the church (Eph. 1:22-23). Is one church as good as another? Do we have a choice of churches? Since God has chosen ONE, do we have a right to choose another?

6. “There is ONE FAITH.”  Do we really have a choice of faiths, such as Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, etc.?  IT DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE! (John 8:24 ff; Mark 16:16; 2 John 9-11; 2 Thess. 2:10-12)

7. “There is ONE BAPTISM.”  Are sprinkling and pouring as good as Bible baptism (Immersion), which is a burial? (Rom. 6:4; Col. 2:12)
Be not deceived by good words and fair speeches of men (Rom. 16:18), who say “choose your way” in religion. Unless we choose God’s way, we shall be eternally lost. There is no choice of Gods, Saviors, Spirits, hopes, churches, faiths or baptisms for those who want to escape the horrors of hell, because there is only ONE of each accepted by the one true God.

Jesus is the One Way, One truth, One life, and no man gets to the Father any other way (Jn 14:6). This is the one reason I earnestly plead with members of denominational churches to leave them before they are uprooted by God, and to become members of the one body, the church of God’s choice which Christ built, the church of Christ (Mat. 16:18 f; Rom 16:16). Jesus bled and died for it (Acts 20:28), reigns as its head with all power (Eph. 1:22-23 f; Mat. 28:18), of which He is the Lord and Savior (Eph. 5:23). If you intend to go to heaven after you die here on earth, you have no other choice than the one hope of eternal life promised before the world began (Tit 1:2). Obey the One Gospel which was preached to every person under the sun, be added by the Lord to His One church, live faithfully unto death, and you will receive your crown of life (Col 1:23 ff; Acts 2:47; Rev 2:10). There is no other choice and still be saved!