Dub Mowery
At the time of creation, God set the natural laws into existence. This included the law of procreation—each species of life having the ability to reproduce after its own kind. The scripture reveals that,
God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good (Gen. 1:11-12).
What was true of plant life was also true of all other species of life. All other types of life were fully developed with the ability to reproduce their own kind, including humans (Gen. 1:20-28). Each species of life did not come from any other species of life. Therefore, this rules out the unfounded theory of evolution. Since mankind is of one blood, this proves that the entire human race has a common heritage (Acts 17:26). Humans are not even the same kind of flesh as other species of life. The inspired Word informs us of this fact in the following words: “All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds” (1 Cor. 15:39).
This same principle of seed reproducing after its kind in the physical realm is also true in the spiritual realm. When a person obeys the gospel of Christ, that individual is born into the spiritual kingdom of the Lord (John 3:5; Rom. 6:17-18). The inspired Word of God is the seed in this process. The Apostle Peter reveals this truth as follows: “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever” (1 Pet. 1:23). This same truth is taught in James 1:18. Also, in the parable of the sower, we learn that the seed of the kingdom is the Word of God (Luke 8:11). Since the spiritual kingdom is the church, if we use the same seed that produced the church in the first century, then we will get the same results. There will not be a single denomination produced by the pure seed of the inspired Word. It takes something other than, or in addition to, the New Testament to produce a particular denomination. The doctrines of men, whether those doctrines are in the form of catechisms, church manuals, prayer books, or informally upheld, are vain (Matt. 15:9).
If a clay bowl filled with wheat grains that were 2,000 years old was found in a pyramid of Egypt, what would those grains be capable of producing if the germ of life remained within them? We know that those grains of wheat would not produce watermelons, cucumbers, or any other thing than wheat. In the spiritual realm, this same principle is just as valid. Those individuals who go past the creeds of men and their preconceived concepts to the pure and unadulterated Word of God found in the New Testament can learn how to become a Christian and how to live in harmony with the principles found therein. To do less or more than that is to produce a denomination, not the New Testament church.
