From Jack Cottrell
On another Facebook post, someone asked whether we in the Restoration Movement still believe that "We are not the only Christians, but we are Christians only." Here is how I responded to that question: " A Christian is anyone who has obeyed the gospel commands (to believe in Jesus as Savior and Lord, to repent of sins, to confess our faith, and to be baptized into Christ for salvation), and who continues to maintain this faith in Jesus. All such people are forgiven (justified) and are a part of the body of Jesus Christ (often called the invisible church). This is all true no matter what visible church they happen to belong to. The point about the original Restoration Movement is that we believe that most "visible" church groups (denominations) are NOT the visible church described in the New Testament. We believe (or used to believe) that the form of the visible church is important and Biblical, and that the one we support in Christian Churches and churches of Christ is the closest to that Biblical form. What church group one belongs to is not directly related to our justification, but it is indeed a matter of our sanctification to belong to a Biblical congregation.
See jackcottrell.com/notes/the-visible-and-the-invisible-church/
