“For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another” (Romans 12:3-5).
Contrary to the lie Satan has successfully spread far and wide, the one church Jesus built is not made up of many denominations. There does not exist a single shred of New Testament evidence for this doctrine.
In John 15:5—where Jesus declares in the upper room: “I am the vine, you are the branches”—Christ is not addressing denominations nor the representatives of any denomination. The Lord is speaking to the twelve apostles (Luke 22:15) minus Judas (John 13:30) when He states, “He who abides in Me and I in him bears much fruit” (John 15:5, emphasis added).
In Romans 12, the “many” members of Christ’s one body, the church, are humans, not man-made denominations. Note the explicitly stated individuality—“than he ought” (v. 3), “he who teaches” (v. 7), “he who exhorts” (v. 8), “he who gives” (v. 8), “he who leads” (v. 8), “he who shows mercy” (v. 8).
The body (church) is one and has many members; all the members of that one body are still parts of only one body (1 Corinthians 12:12).
Jesus saves individuals (Mark 16:16) and adds each to His one church (Acts 2:47). The many members of Christ’s body are all in one body. Therefore, many (people, not denominations) are one in Christ and His body.
