Many churches worship God and the Lord Jesus. However, there are many churches that also teach strange doctrines. Obviously, don’t go to a church that teaches bad doctrine.
The Bible warns us against going to a church that only has messages that entertain us. We should not go to church to get entertained. We go to church to worship God, learn from Him, and encourage and strengthen one another.
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4)
Go to a church that believes in the Bible as the inerrant word of God.
Here is what the church should believe in:
- Jesus is Lord. He is the Son of God who came to earth in the flesh to pay the penalty of our sins. Jesus died on the cross for all mankind in order to become our substitute before God. He took upon Himself our punishment for sins. Without what Jesus did, we would be eternally punished for bad deeds we have done. But because of Jesus, we can have eternal life if we believe in Him. Jesus rose bodily from death in victory, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father, interceding for believers (John 3:16-18).
- People everywhere should repent and believe in Jesus in order to be saved from sins and eternal punishment. Only Jesus’ blood paid our sin debt in full. If we believe in Jesus and repent, God gives us eternal life. “I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus” (Acts 20:21).
- After having believed, we should live a life in keeping with what we believe. We should not sin casually or deliberately. Christians should not use Jesus’ blood as a license to sin. “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries” (Hebrews 10:26-27). There are many other verses that say similar things: James 2:18-19, Galatians 5:19-21, Luke 13:6-9, etc.
- Christians could still sin after believing in Jesus, because of our human weaknesses. We need to ask for God’s forgiveness if we sin. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). And we need to work with God to overcome those sins. “…Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16).
- God is in three Persons (God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit). See Knowing God to learn more.
We should try to go to a church that holds to these doctrines, and does not contradict the Bible or minimize its authority.
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:23-25)
Read Colossians 1 in the Bible.
See other articles in Q&A for Christians.