Christianity has about as much to do with Christ as Marxism has with Marx.
Why should any person deny themselves salvation because those who presume to follow Jesus are confused? If Christianity were about Christians (sinners who have been saved by the generosity of God) then who could be saved? Christianity is about Jesus, and when this fact is overlooked because of Christians (whether they are true Christians or not ) you are allowing themselves to be disqualified from salvation because of the very reason salvation is offered to everyone! Do not let yourself be disqualified.
Does your father share this opinion? I know many Christians do not. And, what are your views on baptism and communion?
No, he doesn't. My father was free-methodist as a pastor, now he goes to a non-denominational church.
I don't want to sound conceited, but I don't consider this an opinion, I know it to be true. The church is people... we call it the body of Christ, because Christ is no longer on earth in the flesh. Jesus' spirit, the Holy Spirit, was left behind, and lives on in the 'body' of Christ, the church. What the true church has in common is the spirit of Christ, and there is only one God and therefore one spirit. How could it be divided in order to be classified by denomination? Although, I am not entirely against denominations... they each have a unique style of worship and teaching. However, where the denominations disagree on theology, I cannot support that, because there is only one spirit of the living God, and He cannot disagree with Himself. In fact, when God makes a promise, He swears by Himself. Hopefully this makes sense.
Baptism is a direct result of God's direction to baptize people by water. First, water, then the Holy Spirit, which is following Jesus... Jesus was baptized by John the baptist, and when He came up out of the water, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him 'like a dove'. At the end times, God says He will baptize everyone by fire, and the faith of the person in Jesus Christ will be tested.
Reference for the above:
1 Corinthians 3
The Church and Its Leaders
1 Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,†and another, “I follow Apollos,†are you not mere human beings?
5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.
10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.
Communion signifies breaking of Jesus' body and the pouring out of Jesus' blood in the new covenant between God and man. It's something the church body should do regularly to humble and refocus ourselves on the new covenant, without which we could not live again.
