Is Official, Or Formal Church Membership In A Local Church According To Scripture? – Part 1 Series

IS OFFICIAL, OR FORMAL CHURCH MEMBERSHIP IN A LOCAL CHURCH ACCORDING TO SCRIPTURE? – PART 1

What is church membership? What does the New Testament teach about church membership? Is this a requirement for us in local churches or must we submit ourselves to a practice of man and denominational systems that want to impose their own membership on people? And are they correct to do that? We shall look at these issues and examine what the New Testament teaches about membership in the Body and the body.

BEFORE WE GO ANY FURTHER, THIS MUST BE SAID! The purpose of these four postings on membership is not to create trouble. It is the last thing I want. I love to explore church practices and consider them according to scripture. This time I am doing church membership but in past times I have done baptism and matters of eschatology. I would love to do modern “music” in churches and I know that is a really hot potato.

All I want is that we look honestly at scriptures and dig into the passages. The Bereans were commended for studying the scriptures and that is an excellent commendation for us to do as well. It is honourable to do so, and then let scripture speak to us, whatever outcome we will hold to.

When we carefully examine this matter, and if we can conclude that the New Testament has a definite stand on it, then would it not be very, very wrong for us to submit to an invention of man that is not from God; or to neglect something God requires? Has God given us enough light on this issue so that we can know definitively where we stand?

Just to make things very clear from the start, I find it most difficult to justify any position of official or formal membership of a local church from all the scriptural references I will do. Because I said that, don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. Be of an examining mind.

[1]. THE TWO CHURCH MEMBERSHIPS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT -

[[THE FIRST ONE]] – THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE BODY OF CHRIST

This membership is vitally important for connection with God; to be born anew; to become a child of God; to be saved by the blood of Christ. This is the official membership taught in the New Testament, and may I say, the only one you will find. Here are the critical verses –

{{1 Corinthians 12:12-14 “Even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ, for by one Spirit we were ALL BAPTISED INTO ONE BODY, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit, for the body is not one member, but many.”}}

Baptised by one Spirit into one Body, the Body of Christ, The Church. This is Spirit baptism, not water baptism. The Greek tense is conclusive. It is a once for all operation that is not repeated, and the only baptism of the Spirit known in scripture. Some claim there is another baptism of the Spirit but the Greek will never allow that. There is an operation of the Holy Spirit we know as the infilling, or being filled with the Spirit, and it is a continuous one in a Christian’s life.

Through that baptism we all have official membership IN the Body of Christ, members one of another and with our Lord Jesus Christ. The purpose of this baptism of the Spirit is to unite all believers into ONE BODY, and that is for unity, for the CHURCH is one; The BRIDE IS ONE; the HOUSEHOLD of God is one; the PEARL Christ bought at greatest price is one.

[[THE SECOND ONE]] – MEMBERS ONE OF ANOTHER IN FELLOWSHIP WITH ONE ANOTHER

Look at these verses – {{Ephesians 5:29-30 “for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, BECAUSE WE ARE MEMBERS OF HIS BODY.”}}

Being members of His Body makes us members one with another and may I add, members with my fellow Christians in Nigeria, Kenya, Tonga, United Kingdom, etc. Often in the New Testament it is this loose membership that is mentioned. There is nothing official about it we must therefore do, because the official part was done by the Holy Spirit when He baptised us into one Body.

[2]. THE EARLY CHURCH – ACTS 2:47

I intend going through all the significant passages mentioning members. I am sure before we end this study, we should see this issue more clearly.

To begin this analysis, by way of introduction, there is one verse we shall consider. {{Acts 2:47 “praising God, and having favour with all the people, and THE LORD WAS ADDING TO THEIR NUMBER DAY BY DAY, THOSE WHO WERE BEING SAVED.”}} Luke is very careful here in how he states this fact. In talking about the church at Jerusalem, Luke says that IT WAS THE LORD WHO WAS ADDING to their number day by day. The Lord added them in, not man, nor did they submit to any man-made regulation on church membership before they could enter, and have their names put on rolls, etc.