The vast majority of churches in America are NOT following the New Testament at all. Many who identify as Christian realize or are growing to realize that their churches are not following the Christianity we find in the Bible. Supporting homosexuality, letting women speak in the churches, refusing to endorse God’s command to wives to obey their husbands, supporting birth control and abortion, and refusing to denounce the wicked practices of masturbation and pornography are just a few of the errors that we can find in millions of churches today. Many churches have charismatic leaders like Joel Osteen, Creflo Dollar, Joyce Meyer, Benny Hinn, John Hagee, Kenneth Copeland, or a host of others leading them right into perdition. You will often find beautiful churches with ornate designs and manicured grounds, yet, inside, the members are Biblically and Spiritually ignorant and empty. Here are a few Christian teachings you should ensure are taught in your church. If they are not, and you are a man, you are recommended to start your own home church with your family and friends. If you are a married woman, you must pray about it and encourage your husband to start your own church. However, kindly do not imitate many other well-meaning women who tried to remedy problems by starting their churches. If you are a single woman, you are encouraged to find a Bible-believing church or try to find a man, married or single, who is Godly, who can start a church, and who is trustworthy.
1) Women are to obey their husbands and be silent in the churches. God gave mankind two institutions. Marriage and the church, and marriage came first. Without stable marriages with God’s order being reflected, where the man leads, and women obey, unless it’s a sin, there is chaos, and the church cannot function. This doesn’t mean husbands micro-manage, but it does mean they are responsible for whatever goes on in their homes and marriages, and so, they must have the final say. The scriptural support for women staying silent in the churches, besides singing songs and prayer requests, is here.
2) There must be church discipline for severe public sins. Sins such as fornication, adultery, homosexuality, drunkenness, or drug use are a reproach to the individual and the church, and they should be corrected. As in 1 Corinthians 5, there should be church discipline via withdrawal. This doesn’t have to be permanent and must be used with judgment, but it is intolerable to have members of a church engaging in severely sinful activities known by all and to have this permitted. For instance, if a member has been a Christian for a year and they get drunk, that is withdrawable. There is no excuse for it. When they repent, they can be welcomed back. Our society and America are in such a mess because marriages and judgment in the church are dysfunctional.
3) Severe sins like masturbation, pornography, birth control, abortion, homosexuality, and fornication ought to be taught publicly. These are sins that should be named in no Christian life. If a member is new, patience is required, but after a time, these sins shouldn’t be tolerated. There should never be a time that anyone in the church wonders what the Bible or church teaches about these evils. The Bible clearly denounces these wicked sins, and the church should also be. Public rebuke is called for if a sinner is defiant, but if they are penitent, a gentle and compassionate approach is called for.
4) There is no salvation except with water baptism. No, water baptism isn’t all that is required, and our obedience alone will not save us. However, disobedience definitely can damn us. Acts 2:38 (Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost) tells us that only with baptism do we receive the Holy Spirit. Romans 6:3-4 (Know ye not, that so many of us baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life) tells us that we enter the waters with sin, as Christ entered the tomb, and we arise free from our sins and alive, as Christ was resurrected from the tomb. The answers to the many objections to baptism being part of salvation are here. Not only is baptism required, but belief, faith, repentance, and confession as well.
5) The antinomian heresy must be rejected. Well over 90% of today’s Christian Churches in America teach this dangerous heresy, which has been around for centuries. It is outlined here and here. It is the easy believism; the Once Saved, Always saved. It says there is always grace and minimizes the truth that we must repent for our sins, which means we must be so sorry we don’t do it again. The churches that follow this antinomian heresy cannot bring themselves to admit what the Bible explicitly says, that if we die in sin that we don’t repent of, we won’t inherit heaven. By doing this, they encourage the spread of sin and evil. You can easily find out if your church teaches this by asking your leaders where someone goes if they die when they are drunk. The Bible is very clear, stating that drunkards go to hell multiple times. You must find a new church if your leader can’t tell you this or wavers. God doesn’t appreciate his truths being compromised by the lukewarm, who are even worse than die-hard sinners, because the die-hard sinners at least act with enthusiasm.
6) The New Testament church DID NOT have musical instruments. Musical instruments are a standard part of most Christian churches today. Yes, they were present in the Old Testament, but the New Testament tells us to raise our voices to God. It’s not uncommon to find that most churches that use musical instruments have quite a few other errors in their doctrine besides this relatively small one.
7) Churches meet on Sunday and partake of the Lord’s Supper. Acts 20:7 (And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight). They also take up a collection, as shown in 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 (Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come). There are also songs sung, prayers, and a sermon is preached.
8) Birth control is to be strictly avoided unless for serious medical issues. The culture has encouraged women, since they were girls, to prioritize school and careers over marriage and children, and as a result, the fertility rate of churches and the nation has reached all-time lows. God was very clear; the very first command in the Bible, before even the Ten Commandments, was given to Adam and Eve. Be fruitful and multiply. The arguments that climate change, a bad environment, or overpopulation are all reasons to avoid children are all specious, and when one studies them at length, which we don’t have the time for here, we find they are false. The earth can easily hold one quadrillion humans, and that’s not even counting the colonies under the ocean or in space, which will become a reality one day. It is no coincidence that we are at the highest level of technological achievement today when the human population is also at its zenith. Necessity is the mother of invention.
9) Women may teach in the church under the supervision of righteous male leaders. They can teach children’s and women’s classes but under male authority.
10) There must be a Biblical structure to ensure checks and balances. There must be Bishops, Elders, Deacons, Preachers, and Evangelists. Evangelists are traveling preachers, like the Apostle Paul, who travel so much for the church they cannot hold steady jobs. Paying preachers who are stationary and who don’t travel is not Biblical, as I can see. So many churches are in error because the congregation pays the preachers lots of money, and they don’t want to talk about the congregation’s sins because they don’t want to lose their money. It’s an incestuous relationship similar to what Martin Luther dealt with with the Catholic Church with indulgences. There, people paid money to get rid of their sins, which was absurd nonsense, as Luther well knew.