Church Membership?

Acts 2:37-41

What is Church Membership?

1.  It is not simply putting your name on a list

2.  It is not being born into a Christian family

3.  Two ways of understanding the ‘Church’ in the New Testament:

• • Universal Church – the Church as God sees it
    1. We become members of the Universal Church through Spiritual re-birth
    2. Every member of the Universal Church enjoys wonderful spiritual benefits

• • Local Church – the Church as we experience it
    1. We are ‘added’ to the local church after we repent of sin and are baptized in water
    2. The New Testament assumes that every born-again, baptized believer will join a local church

Is Church Membership Biblical?

1.  Acts 2:41 describes membership in a Local Church

• • The Baptism in verse 41 is water Baptism

    1. We enter the Universal Church through Spirit Baptism (ie. The permanently indwelling Holy Spirit)
    2. We join the Local Church after the ordinance of Water Baptism
    3. The activities described in verses 42-47 demonstrate beyond question that the 3000 Pentecost converts were “added” to the Local Church in Jerusalem

2.  Biblical images used to describe the Local Church require the concept of formal Church Membership

• Flock – Church elders cannot “shepherd the flock of God” if they are uncertain which sheep belong to the fold (1 Peter 5: 1-5)
• Body – A functioning body composed of many parts implies ongoing, formal commitment from all the members (1 Corinthians 12)

3.  Church Discipline cannot be put into practice apart from formal Church Membership

• Matthew 12 and 1 Corinthians 5 both speak of putting an unrepentant person out of the Church and considering him as an unbeliever.
• Since unbelievers were welcome to attend worship, “removal” must indicate the suspension of a distinct formal association (ie. Church Membership)

Why Should I Be a Member of a Local Church?

1.  The idea of a ‘Lone-Ranger’ Christian who does not formally associate with a local body of believers is utterly foreign to New Testament Christianity.

2.  Critical Importance of Church Membership

• The Church is not a mall for consumers – avoid the temptation to ‘shop and hop’ by committing to one Church family!
• We are commanded by the Lord to meet regularly with other believers (Heb 10:24-25)
• God wants us to be accountable to Church leaders and to other believers and this can only happen in a covenanted community!