By: Therman Hodge God demands discrimination between the church of the New Testament and false churches (Ephesians 4:4). Christ said, “I am the true vine, and you are the branches…”(John 15:1). He spoke of His church (Matthew 16:18). All others are counterfeits and belong to the men who founded them and to which the members are faithful. There must be a way to tell the difference between the churches established by mankind versus the church Jesus built. We must discriminate by learning which church bears the marks of identity that the church of the New Testament bore. Who established the church of the Bible? What were the terms of entrance? How did it worship; how was it organized? What was the mission and work of the first century church? Jesus Christ is the Savior of only one body—His body, the church (Ephesians 5:23; Colossians 1:18). God demands discrimination between matters of faith and matters of opinion. How do we distinguish between faith and opinion? Matters of faith concern what the Bible explicitly or implicitly teaches. We learn from the New Testament that we must evangelize (Matthew 28:18–20); we must care for widows and orphans (James 1:27); and we must meet for worship and have the biblical components in the service. On the other hand, how can this be accomplished? This is where opinions or methods may be discussed and adopted. Maturity in the Word (Hebrews 5:13–14) is foundational to matters of faith and a help to adopting a method of

By: Therman Hodge (Genesis 18:23-33) Introduction: