“Are you a Christian?” enquired a thoughtful friend. “Why, yes, I’m a Christian,” replied the other. “I joined the church when I was a teen-ager!”Have you heard this reply to that important question? Perhaps you have even offered a similar answer at one time or another. I did! I also recall a friend living near me joyfully exclaiming, “We’re so glad you joined the church last night!” after I, as a teen-ager, also joined a large Protestant church in our neighborhood.
It is indeed a good thing to unite with a local church which believes and preaches the Bible as the Word of God and exalts God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Every true believer in Christ should be involved in that kind of a local church!
“But where in the Bible do you find anything about joining the church?” someone asks. It does say that we are not to be “forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25).
The Bible speaks of local churches. It reveals much about the spiritual Church, the Body of Christ. However, there is no direct instruction on official church membership or the act of joining a church.
Does this mean that true believers in Christ should not “join” a church? Let us do some prayerful thinking about this important theme.
There are two central lines of truth about the church in the New Testament in the letters of the Apostle Paul. One line deals with the Church, which is Christ’s Body. The other deals with local churches or “local assemblies” of God’s people—the people which go together to form His spiritual Body.
I.THE CHURCH WHICH IS CHRIST’S BODY
“And He [Christ] is the head of the body, the church; who is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in all things He’ might have the pre-eminence”(Colossians 1:18). A similar reference to this is Ephesians 1:22-23 where the Father is said to have “put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fulness of Him that fill-eth all in all.” We learn two things from these passages and others in Paul’s Epistles. We learn Christ is presently the Head of a Church, and this Church is His Body.
What does the word “church” mean? It means “a called-out assembly.” (See The Church-What Is It?” by Timothy Conklin.) It is not a building, nor is it a given denomination (such as “Methodist,” “Baptist,” “Roman Catholic,” and the like). Rather, it is composed of people—redeemed sinners anywhere who hear the Gospel and personally receive the Lord Jesus Christ into their hearts by faith, and are thereby saved. Note that the Apostle Paul calls this Church “the body of Christ.” This means that just as in the human body there is a head and many members all joined together in a living unit, so the Lord Jesus Christ is the living Head of a living Body of individuals whom He has saved and joined to Himself. This is why Paul wrote: “For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones” (Ephesians 5:30). How does an individual become a member of this wonderful Church?
A New Creation
“Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature [creation]; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (II Corinthians 5:17). To the believers in Christ in Galatia, Paul also wrote” “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nouncircumcision, but a new creature [creation]” (Galatians 6:15). What is this “new creation”?
God the Father is the Author of this “new creation.” The Apostle goes on to tell us in II Corinthians 5:18, “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ . . . .” He has two creations, according to His Word. The first is the material and immaterial creation which we are familiar with. The second is “the church, which is His [Christ’s] body.”
This “new creation” is also called “one new man” in Ephesians 2:15). The next verse equates this “one new man” with the “one body”-the Church. “And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby” (Ephesians 2:16). Thus, every person who becomes a member of this blessed Church is “a new creation”! This is why Paul could declare, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). Think of it! Each believer in this Church is part of the Father’s personal handiwork! Truly, every true believer in Christ is a miracle of God!
A New Operation
Not until, we come to Paul’s Epistles do we learn of a Divine baptism by which individuals become members of Christ’s Body, the Church. Paul speaks of this supernatural operation of the Holy Spirit in five places: Romans 6:3-5, I Corinthians 12:12-14, Galatians 3:26-27, Ephesians 4:3-6, and Colossians 2:9-12. The most elucidating of these is I Corinthians 12:13: “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Greeks, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.”
The word “baptize” means “to dip or to submerge.” It means “to introduce an object into an element which will change the character of that object.” Thus, the baptism which God the Holy Spirit performs places the believing sinner into vital union with Christ, thereby changing his character more and more until “the day of redemption.” This is why Paul could tell the believers in Corinth, “But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit” (I Corinthians 6:17). Here is the way one “joins the church” today! God joins him to Christ the very moment he receives Christ as his Saviour and Lord! One may “join” any number of local churches, but unless he has been truly baptized into Christ by the operation of the Holy Spirit through faith,he is in no way a member of “the church which is His body”!
This is why Paul tells all believers to “endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3). Why? Because there is “one. body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” (Ephesians 4:4-6). Based on this blessed sevenfold unity of the Spirit, one has well written:
“What could be more conducive to removing the interminable strife, the sectarian divisions, the doctrinal schisms, the petty jealousies, and the factional antagonisms so rife among Christian people today than for the church to catch a clear vision of the Spirit’s baptizing work organically uniting all believers to Christ and to one another in one Body? This would immediately remove the widespread evil of substituting ritualism for reality and church membership for a salvation experience.”
The Church is Christ’s own body,
The Father’s dwelling place,
The gathering of the called ones,
God blended with man’s race;
Elect before creation,
Redeemed by Calv’ry’s death,
Her character and standing
Of heaven, not of earth.
New man of new creation,
Born through her risen Lord,
Baptized by God the Spirit,
Made holy by His Word;
Christ is her life and content,
Himself her glorious Head;
She has with Him ascended
O’er all her foes to tread.”
A New Man
Simultaneous with the Holy Spirit’s baptizing the individual into Christ is the impartation of “the new man” in the heart of the believing sinner. Paul refers to this marvelous transaction when he tells us: “That ye put off concerning the former manner of life the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” He further states that this “new man” is being “renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him” (Colos-sians 3:10). This “new man” is the new nature which God creates in every one who receives Christ as Saviour and Lord. It is the very nature of Christ (Romans 8:9,15). It becomes the basis of all of the inward workings of God in the lives of God’s true children: “… work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13). This “new man” is the pledge of the Father of coming glory for the members of the Body of Christ. By this, all true believers in Christ Jesus are “sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, who is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:13-14). Thus, the believer can triumphantly exult: “For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39). What a glorious salvation God has provided in Christ—”eternal salvation” (Hebrews
5:9)!
A New Destiny
What does membership in “the church which is His body” lead to? Glory! Everlasting glory! We read that, “When Christ, our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:4). We also read: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He also called; and whom He called, them He also justified; and whom
He justified, them He also glorified” (Romans 8:28-30). The glorious destiny of “the church which is His body” is to be manifested with the Lord Jesus Christ in His glory. Then the redeemed members of that completed Church will be on display to all the created intelligentsia of the universe as trophies of God’s mar-velous grace: “That in the ages to come He might show [put on display] the exceeding riches of His grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7). What a day that will be! Yet it will surely come to pass because God has spoken it! Are you, my dear friend, a member of this wonderful Body, His Church? You can be today if you will turn from your sins and your problems, and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour and Lord!
II. THE CHURCH LOCAL
God has ordained in this present economy of His grace that members of the Body of Christ meet together in local assemblies. This is why we read in Paul’s Epistles of various churches in various places. For example in his epistle to the saints in Colossae, he says:
“And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans.” Then in the preceding verse, he exhorts: “Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house” (Colossians 4:15,16).
What It Is
What are these local churches (assemblies)? According to Philippians 1:1, they are said to consist of “the saints in Christ Jesus” (in a given locality, such as Philippi), “with the bishops [overseers] as deacons.” These local assemblies met together at least once a week (see Acts 20:7) to fellowship together, hear the Word of God expounded and preached, pray, and take up collections for the promotion- of the Gospel (see I Corinthians 16:1-2). Unsaved people could come in to such an assembly (as in I Corinthians 14:23-25 seems to indicate), but these meetings were primarily for the spiritual adjusting and edifying of believers in Christ to the end that they might be able to more effectively engage in “the work of ministering” (Ephesians 4:1 2, lit. trans.)
What Is Important?
In our present day situation many pressures are coming to bear on church membership! There are scores of churches, all differing on one or more points. Some churches do not require “joining” in order to fellowship with them. On the other hand, most churches do require submission to water baptism or an acceptance of other forms for becoming one with them. It is almost necessary to officially “join” the average church to show allegiance to its teachings or methods.
Officially joining a church for the sake of fellowship may not be explicitly wrong, nor is it necessarily required according to the Scriptures. The Bible is silent about that subject. It is, however, clearly the responsibility of every true child of God, who is a member of the “church which is His body,” to act according to his enlightened understanding of the Word of God. Thus, regardless if a person chooses to “join” or chooses not to “join,” the Bible does instruct him to keep in mind and keep intact the unity of the Spirit in the one Body of Christ.
The Christian may have the freedom to live and work alone, yet he must understand and assume his duty as a member of the Body of Christ and function in a living spiritual relationship with other members of that Body. Growing up together in Christ and doing the work of the ministry are often best accomplished through the assembly of God’s people.
Then, how wonderful it would be if we could see ourselves and our local chutch as one part of that whole spiritual organism! Instead of being concerned almost totally with “my church” and “my denomination,” we will become more concerned and exercised about believers in Christ everywhere, and the Lord’s work everywhere. With that viewpoint, the believer will begin to pray more for “the saints in Christ Jesus” in his whole area, yea, throughout the whole world, not merely in his own local assembly. This would help precipitate genuine spiritual revival!
This also would promote the truth which God. would have all believers in Christ to “see”-”what is the dispensation [or, administration] of the mystery [secret]” (Ephesians 3:9). Once the individual child of God is gripped by this great truth, he can no longer be content to be a mere “denominationalist.” His interest rises to include the whole “household of God” (Ephesians 2:19).
What Must Be Remembered?
One final thing needs to be stressed. It is brought out quite graphically in Ephesians 4:15-16: “But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love” (New American Standard Bible). Note how “each individual part” in this “body of Christ” has a specific function. Just as each internal and external part of our physical bodies has a specific function, so each child of God in the “body of Christ” has a ministry and a function! Read Ephesians 4:7-16 and also Romans 12:1-8 on this subject. You will notice that while Paul stresses the unity of the Body of Christ, he also teaches the diversity in the Body of Christ. One believer has this ministry, another has that, and still another has another ministry. All are to work together “in the Lord” in harmony unto the ultimate building up and completing of the Body of Christ. Therefore, Paul exhorted two women who were at odds in the local assembly in Philippi, and he said: “I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord” (Philippians 4:2). Our over-all goal is to serve the Lord (Colossians 3:24b);
and like David, to serve our generation “by the will of God” (Acts 13:36). To be faithful to the Lord in this manner will be well worth it all on “that day” when “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (II Corinthians 5:10)!
In Conclusion
There is really only one Church today! It is “the body of Christ.” No one can “join” this living organism! Only God through the work of the Holy Spirit can “join” those who believe on Christ Jesus as Saviour and Lord to this wonderful Body. Then the believer may elect to “join” a given local assembly which preaches and seeks to practice the Word of God, especially in the light of Paul’s Epistles. Such ones who are gripped with the precious truth of the unity as well as the diversity in the Body of Christ can well sing with Sabine Baring-Gould:
“Like a mighty army
Moves the Church of God;
Brothers, we are treading
Where the saints have trod;
We are not divided;
All one Body we,
One in hope and doctrine,
One in charity.”
“To Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.”
Poated By - Cecil and Connie Spivey
