Growing up in the Christian Church — Non Denominational, which is closely associated with the Disciples of Christ and Churches of Christ – Instrumental and Noninstrumental, I was taught that God has always had a “remnant”, that throughout the centuries there has always been at least a small group of people who were true believers, who believed exactly right. Others might have parts of the Truth, but they didn’t know everything.
In that church it wasn’t taught that anyone who didn’t believe what my church taught would be lost, just that we had to be careful what we believed with all of the teachings out there… and that our church was the one that could trace back through the centuries, whose beliefs had always been miraculously protected because there’d always been a remnant. It wasn’t emphasized there, but when I heard it again in the United Pentecostal Church, it made sense. Surely with all the various doctrines, there would be one church that had the WHOLE truth. And the United Pentecostal Church claimed to have just that. They even have a book about this called After the Way Called Heresy, and also claim that people who’ve upheld “the one true faith” have been martyred through the centuries but God always maintained his Church (meaning of course in their perspective Oneness Pentecostals). I treasured that book. I even did an independent study course in my secular college based on one of the martyrs listed in it.
Recently I’ve learned that Nondenominational Christian and United Pentecostal churches were not the only ones who make those claims. Independent Fundamental Baptist groups have similar claims, though using completely different groups throughout history to make their remnant claims. Of course, the Catholic Church does as well, though somewhat differently, claiming to have Peter, who received the keys to the kingdom, as their first pope, and believing that each pope since has been the head of the true church.
And so I googled. Seventh Day Adventists and Latter Day Saints both have their own remnant teachings. There are other groups that teach this as well. There are entire websites that talk about how only those in a “remnant church” will be saved, and then itemizing their own ideas of what the teachings of that “remnant” will consist of. Interestingly, the lists generally include lots of rules. What do none that I read through include? Surprisingly, faith in Jesus!
In both Revelation and Romans there are a few verses that mention a remnant of believers. But which believers? Are God’s people limited to a few buildings or a denomination, or is a remnant those who believe, no matter where they are or where they go? The passages in Romans and Revelations relate to the Israelite concept of remnants — in Romans 11, the surrounding text is about the 7000 that hadn’t “bowed their knee to Baal” in the story of Elijah. These were not 7000 that attended the same church. There is no mention of church at all. They were believers – believers Elijah didn’t even know about, apparently. It stands to reason that the remnant mentioned in the New Testament isn’t about a denomination, then, but about believers. Not people who believe in speaking in tongues or a certain mode of baptism or a certain Bible translation, but who believe in Jesus.
So yes, there will be a remnant. That remnant will not be found in a building or denomination. We do not need to hunt for a church that is part of the remnant. And we do not need to fear not being a part of it. Jesus’ followers are the remnant, no matter who or where they are.
