“What is the Restoration movement?”……The Restoration Movement, part of the broader movement called "restorationism" began in the early 19th Century when a conglomeration of members from different Christian groups and denominations decided they had gotten away from the basics of Christianity.

Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, and others abandoned their formal denominations with hopes of establishing a church based solely on the Christianity taught in the New Testament. With their belief in Jesus as the only model and the Bible as the only sacred book, they endeavored to re-establish Christ’s church as it had been during Jesus’ time. Because the different organized denominations had constructed rules and practices that did not come explicitly from the Bible, those with new ideas felt the divisions must be dissolved. Their goal was for everyone to abandon their dividing religions and become united as one church under God’s rule alone.……Among the most influential leaders of this movement were Alexander Campbell and Barton W. Stone. Although the fundamental views remained, in 1906 this group split. The followers of Campbell and Stone divided into two sects, called the Church of Christ (Non-Instrumental) and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Over time many additional schisms have formed from these core groups as well. Currently there are three major and several minor groups who trace their roots back to the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement: the Christian Churches/Disciples of Christ, Churches of Christ, IndependentChristianChurches, Churches of Christ in Australia, AssociatedChurches of Christ (New Zealand), United Reformed Church (UK), and others.……Among the key principles of the Restoration Movement are:……~Recognition of the New Testament pattern of the church. Overall, the people of this movement try to pattern their practices and rituals as closely as possible to those of the New Testament. Of particular importance to them is the weekly celebration of the Lord's Supper, although there is nothing in Scripture to indicate this was a weekly function.

In fact, Acts 2:46 indicates it might have been a daily ritual: They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord's Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity(emphasis added).

In addition, Acts 2:44-45 states "And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need.

The New Testament church also "sell their possessions and goods, and divide them among all, as anyone have need." This is not a practice of the New Testament church that those in the Restoration Movement have felt led to adopt.……~Names, creeds, and ecclesiastical traditions divide believers from one another; therefore these things are renounced, doing away with creeds and human authority. While the desire for there to be nothing dividing believers is a noble one, there is no evidence that attending a Baptist or Presbyterian church divides its members from those of other churches any more than attending a Disciples of Christ church divides its members from those of other church within the Restoration Movement. The spirit of unity or disunity is a heart issue, not a matter of church affiliation. Although a key principle of the Restoration Movement is concern for Christian unity, the history of the movement is itself riddled with numerous splits, re-splits and schisms. ……~Names of human origin divide, therefore they name only the name of Christ. They decry the use of denominational names, claiming to be "Christians only," believing this approach to be the only true scriptural one. The adherents to the Restoration Movement are careful to have no other name but Christ in their church titles, believing this to be the true to the New Testament. They deny, for instance, that the name "Presbyterians" has any biblical validity, even though the name is derived from the Greek word for elder, presbytos. Thus, the name reflects its method of governance, completely in accordance with New Testament church structure. Using the name of Christ in a church title may or may not be an indication of a church's doctrinal stand. As with any group or organization claiming to represent Christ and His church, what they believe, and how it lines up with the Bible, is of paramount importance.……When examining the Restoration Movement, of particular concern is their doctrine of salvation. According to a Christian Restoration Association publication, "What You Must Do to Become a Christian" involves four things:

You must believe, repent of sin, confess Christ, and be baptized for the remission of sins.

One must admit his or her sinfulness and need for forgiveness, then repent and accept Jesus as Lord of his or her life.

One must then be baptized by full body immersion for the remission of sins. At this point, it is believed that one begins a new life, and is reborn.

This directly contradicts the biblical doctrine of salvation by grace through faith alone, without the added condition of works.

Ephesians 2:8-9God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God.Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

Baptism is not a requirement for salvation, but is rather evidence of it. The new believer is baptized in obedience to God's command to do so, not as a prerequisite for salvation.……Equally disturbing is the Restoration Movement belief that in order to remain a Christian, one must do four things, again according to the Christian Reformation Association:

1.Pray 2.Study the Bible 3.Worship and 4. Remain faithful.

If these are requirements to maintain salvation, it stands to reason according to this line of thinking, that anyone who does not continue in these four disciplines is in danger of losing his/her salvation. The Bible, however, is clear that the true believer cannot lose his/her salvation because we are saved by God

Romans 8:30,And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.

Sealed by the Holy Spirit Ephesians 1:13-14And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago.The Spirit is God's guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.

Kept by God until the day of redemptionEphesians 4:30. And do not bring sorrow to God's Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.

Just as once we are born, we cannot be made unborn, we have been made new creatures in Christ and we cannot be made old again by any means. 2 Corinthians 5:17This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

On the positive side, the Restoration Movement has maintained belief in the deity of Christ, unlike the rest of those in the restorationist movement. Great care must be taken, however, to avoid the exclusivist mindset which says "we alone have the right way." Such thinking leads to pride, the ultimate cause of disunity in the church, the very thing those in the Movement seek to rectify.

“What is Restorationism?”……Restorationism refers to a group of unaffiliated 19th century movements from within Christianity based upon the premise that the true faith and practice of the church had been lost due to apostasy and that the church needed to be restored to its New Testament model. Restorationist organizations include Jehovah's Witness, Mormons, and Seventh-day Adventists, as well as the adherents to the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement, which consists today in three main groups: Christian Churches (Disciples of Christ), Churches of Christ, and Independent Christian Churches/Churches of Christ.……While all these groups teach widely divergent theologies, they have in common the notion that true Christianity had died out many years ago and it needed to be restored to its original New Testament form. Some of these groups believe they alone are the embodiment of true Christianity, some going so far as to teach that all other groups, including mainline Protestant denominations, are not really Christians at all, having lost their way over the centuries to complete apostasy. They are convinced that the drift from Christian principles is so extreme as to render the church irredeemable and therefore it must be completely rebuilt. Denying that past historical patterns have any validity at all, they are free to embrace what they understand to be pure biblical truth as revealed to the Apostles.……Certainly there have been abuses and misuses of the Word of God down through the years by churches claiming to speak for Christ. One has only to look at the Roman Catholic doctrines of purgatory, prayer to Mary, and the veneration of saints-all of which are completely unscriptural-to agree that in some cases at least, church tradition has superseded the Bible as authority. However, in the spirit of throwing the baby out with the bath water, some of the restorationists have also jettisoned such biblical doctrines as the Trinity, hell, and salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Of course parts of the church have apostatized, but there has always been a remnant of the faithful preserved by God for His purposes. ……At least two disastrous consequences can be expected to result from a zealous embrace of restorationist philosophy. First, it easily leads to a spirit exclusivism and arrogance, not to mention error. The natural outcome of believing one's own group has the corner on the truth is the despising of all others who claim the name of Christ, seeing them as apostates, or worse, tools of the devil. No spirit of Christian unity can survive such a mindset. One has only to look at the diverse beliefs that exist among the restorationists themselves, and the resulting animosity that accompanies them, to see the inevitable result of adopting such a belief system. Exclusivism leads to pride, a sin especially abhorred by God .

Proverbs 16:5 The Lord detests the proud;… they will surely be punished.

James 4:6But he gives us even more grace to stand against such evil desires. As the Scriptures say, "God opposes the proud but favors the humble."

In addition, exclusivism can provoke delusions of grandeur in its leaders, making possible all manner of erroneous interpretations, not to mention rewriting, of Scripture designed to fit it to the paradigm of the group, without regard for clear and concise biblical scholarship and exegesis. …Jude 3Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people.

…The second, and far more destructive, result of restorationist philosophy is that it denies God's ability, or willingness, to preserve the faith "once delivered to the saints" rejects His sovereignty over His people, and disavows His plan to bring to pass His will without fail, despite attempts by Satan and his minions to derail it. God did not send His Son to die on the cross for the sins of His people only to allow those same people to lapse into apostasy and languish there for 1800 years. Such a notion is not only absurd, but it defines God as a ruthless and capricious entity, not the loving and merciful Father God we know Him to be. Those who believe God abandoned mankind for centuries because of their unbelief and sin need only to read Romans 3, which makes it clear that even though men are unfaithful, this does not nullify God's faithfulness. The Holy Spirit is, and always has been, active in the world "convict[ing] the world concerning sin, and concerning righteousness, and concerning judgment"

John 16:8And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God's righteousness, and of the coming judgment., drawing God's people from every race, tribe, nation and language to the Savior.

In every era, the redeemed of God have responded to His Spirit because that is God's plan, and it will continue unabated to the day of Christ's return. Until then, we have the assurance of Jesus Himself that He will be with us

Matthew 28:20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."