Expert: Onaga Thomas - 4/10/2007

Question
Here are some issues that have "troubled" me regarding the COC.  Some may be inaccurate.  Please help in addressing them and if they are true, backing them with scripture.
1.  COC are the only ones going to Heaven
2.  If a member has sinned in the past and hasn't made it public to the COC that they belong to......and doesn't do so, they are excamunicated. Now, if a member knowingly lives in continued sin state, they should be confronted in Christian love and if they continually reject God's law, they should not remain in the church (in my opinion). Past sins are forgotten "as far as the East is from the West" per the Bible once a believer has confessed his sin to the Lord and they shouldn't be held against him by a church if God Almighty has forgiven him.
I was raised Methodist and now am Baptist.  I fully believe in immersion and believe that once you've been saved you cannot be "snatched from God's hand".  That is by no means a free ticket to sin.....if one believes that, he/she is not truly saved and has no intentions of living for Christ! I appreciate your answers.

Answer
thankyou for your question Carolyn

I will answer your questions in order, members of the Church of Christ believe only in the Bible, so as far as the "ones going to Heaven" what does the Word have to say about it? The bible says the saved will get to heaven, but who will be saved those who "believe and are baptized will be saved, those who do not believe will be condemned" is what Jesus told the apostles (the Great Commission) and he told them to preach to the world, meaning the way of salvation would be the same for all those who heard the word.  So as a COC member I believe that those saved the way the bible tells them to will be in Heaven, they have obeyed God.

2.  It is not so much a sin in the past that would get a member excommunicated from, it is a sin against another believer that is not resolved.  A Godly example, if I sin against you and you are offended and you come to me and tell me what I did against you, I am supposed to repent of that sin and ask your forgivness.  If I don't respond to you, you are supposed to bring two or three witnesses with you the next time so every word can be established with the witnesses.  If I still don't repent and respond to you, you are to bring it before the entire congregation.  If it still don't respond, you have a God-given right to treat me as an outsider.  But any sin you do (not in particular, as against another believer) so as long as you repent and confess before God, it is truly forgiven.