Which church is the true church?

It’s a big question: Which church is the “right” one? If you're searching here's some key deets...

The True Church

The “true church” isn’t a building or denomination. It’s all believers in Jesus across history and nations—the “Church Invisible.” It includes people of faith before Jesus (like jews and non jews who had faith in Yahweh) as well as people who are now saved by God’s grace, confessing Jesus as Lord, trusting the God of the Bible. This true 'universal' Church was elected by God and 'fixed' before the creation of the world and will be in heaven praising him for all eternity.

The Local Church

We experience the true church through local churches—groups of believers gathering in a place (like City North Church, Glenorchy) to worship, learn from the Bible, pray, and love one another. Healthy churches show faith in Jesus, love for people, and worship of the one true God. We don't call the local Church the true Church in the same way as we do above. There will be people in the local Church who are part of the true Church and there will be people in the local church who never follow God, or have walked away from him. Nevertheless true believers will always be a part of that local Church.

Denominations

Different denominations are usually just different expressions of the local Church. They will tend to emphasise “second-order” issues such as:

• Baptism: infants of Christian families vs. only believers.

• Tradition vs. contemporary: some love liturgy, others keep it simple.These differences don’t make a church “true” or “false.”
  

False Churches

A false church twists or replaces the gospel. Cults (like Jehovah’s Witnesses or Mormons) deny key truths about Jesus and the Trinity. Others drift by putting human ideas above God’s Word.

How to Tell

• Check their statement of faith—do they hold to Jesus, the gospel, and Scripture?

• Listen to their teaching—most have podcasts or YouTube.

• Watch their life together—is it marked by love and Christ-centredness?

At City North, we’ve made our faith and teaching public through our website, podcast, and YouTube channel. Feel free to check us out here or here or here