Denominations

Should the Church have denominations? Are denominations mentioned in the Bible? Is Roman Catholicism a denomination? Do all denominations lead to heaven?

See 1 Corinthians chapters 1 and 3.
the sections where it mentions "I follow Paul, I follow apolos…. etc" seem to be denominations but are mentioned in a sense that they are not right. We go to a non denominational church that follow the pattern in Acts.

Me too!

To answer your questions, I think denominations are okay. Different people have different takes on how Scripture can be interpreted, so it's not wrong to assemble with those who more closely hold to your beliefs.

I don't think that denominations are in the Bible, but the Bible was only written about 60 years into the early years of the church, so there wasn't much chance for disagreements and denominations yet. (Although there was some.)

No, Roman Catholicism is not a denomination. It is a cult. It denies a fundamental premis of the Christian faith–justification by faith alone.

No, I don't think any denomination leads to heaven. Only Jesus leads to heaven. If individual churches teach the true Jesus, then yes, those denominations have the potential to be used by God to bring people to heaven. But I do think there are some not so good denominations out there…

Good answer!

Good answer Christian, I agree with what you said completely.

I just wanted to expand on what you said in the first paragraph: "Different people have different takes on how Scripture can be interpreted, so it's not wrong to assemble with those who more closely hold to your beliefs." Completely true. On the other hand, it is also not wrong to have close friendship with others who don't believe exactly what you do. We are all a part of the church of Christ if we "confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead" (Romans 10:9). Although we are members of a Seventh-Day church, we sometimes attend Sunday services where other homeschooling friends go to. Many of my close friends are members of different denominations, and I think that's okay.

I can't say I'm close friends with people in other denominations, but our family is good friends with Presbyterians and Apostolics and Free Will Baptists, even though we may disagree with some of them quite a bit on certain issues. We're still good friends. But all of my best friends are at my Reformed Baptist church. ;)

Yes, I'd have to agree with all of you here! The foundation is Jesus. And of course we're to obey Him, but it is by His grace that we're saved, not our works
I have met a few Catholics that I would consider Christians.
Denominations are okay, as long as we don't focus on them. Also, they are not global; they are Western. One of many examples would be a chat I had about a year ago with an Asian friend of mine. I casually mentioned a denomination - and she had no clue what I was talking about. When I started to explain denominations to her, I found that it wasn't a miscommunication: It was quite literally a foreign concept!
No, it's not wrong to have a close relationship with someone you don't agree with; it can be really hard if you focus on your differences. My best friend and I disagree on almost all the little things. (Fasion, music, entertainment, basically all the stuff most girls base friendships on…) But our friendship is built on God, and He has used her countless times to draw me closer to Him. When you focus on Jesus, you're not Baptists and Pentacostals and Catholics and Mennonites and non-denominationals and whatever else. You're brothers and sisters in Christ.

On the part of the Bible that says, "I follow Paul, I follow Apollos, I follow Cephas, I follow Christ": This doesn't sound like denominations to me (though it could be)… I think, if anything, it's more like a bunch of big non-denominational churches boasting in their pastors… That passage has implications for both denominational and non-denominational churches.

Ok new questions, guys, What do we have to believe to get into Heaven? Can certain denominations beliefs lead us to Hell?

@Soul Winner, interesting question. I'm not sure how to answer this, but I'll do my best and leave the rest up to the Lord.

As to your first question about what we have to believe to get into heaven, I think the process is twofold. The first phase requires an acknowledgement of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, which is found in Romans 10:9. The second phase is repenting of your sins and living in that repentance. I am inferring this from Peter's statement in Acts 2:38. Now I am not saying that baptism is necessary for salvation, but that repentance is. This is because we have new leadership as Christians, so the old leadership has to be done away along with anything that does not comport with the new leadership.

As to the answer to your second question, I believe the answer is yes. There are likely denominations that teach things that are Scripturally wrong. One such thing is the doctrine of eternal security, which I believe is Biblically unsound. The reason is, we must repent of our sins, and we can stop doing that. In Hebrews 6:4-6 it says, "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the power of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame." Based on this passage, I think that it is possible for people to lose their salvation after they have gained it. In fact, II Peter 2:21 says that if any one does so, it would have been better for them to not even have known the way of righteousness than to have turned from it after they have known it!

Although I may not specifically know of any entire denominations that would believe this way, I have read online that Calvinists would believe this way. (If there are any other Calvinists out there who disagree with what I am writing, please let me know!) There may be other groups here and there who would hold to this belief.

This is just one area, but there are probably others. There may be some who consider Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian Scientists and Mormons to be Christian denominations as well. If so, I would believe that following their teachings would lead a person astray. Again, please feel free to correct me for anything wrong that I write.

To God be the glory!

I'm a Calvinist and I disagree with what you're writing! ;)

You're saying I misrepresented your position?

Oh! Now I understand what you were saying. I thought you were saying that your description of the "losing salvation" position was supposed to be consistent with Calvinism. But that's not what you were saying. I see now.

Sorry for the misunderstanding. I was trying to demonstrate that the doctrine of eternal sanctification (some call it eternal security) is consistent with Calvinism.