MEMBERSHIP IN THE CHURCH
By Timothy Glover
The very idea of denominations suggests a division. My questions in this article are, “Can’t we be members of Christ’s church that we can read about in the N.T. and not be a member of a denomination?” Can’t we stick to simple New Testament Christianity by organizing and working just as the local “churches of Christ” (Rom. 16:16) did in the first century? Is not that what Jesus prayed for in John 17 when he prayed that all believers may be one that the world might believe that Jesus is God’s Son sent into the world?
I propose that this is possible but highly unlikely because no one wants to change deeply rooted tradition. When we speak of membership in the church, we do not have in mind a denomination. Denominations have their origin among men and the terms of membership are prescribed by men. Yet membership in the Lord’s church is determined by Him through the revelation of his will in the Bible. It is true that men “joined” a local church with whom they agreed to work and worship. Yet, one does not join the church, a body of saved people. The Lord adds you to it (Acts 2:47). If we are added to the church by the Lord, it is because we have obeyed the King of our lives and have the remission of sins through him (Acts 2:38, 41).
To understand membership in the church, we must ask, “What is the church of Christ? Consider the following chart. It is made up of individuals who are:
- the saved (Eph.5:23
- purchased by Christ’s blood (Acts 20:28)
- those reconciled to God (Eph. 2:14-16)
- those translated out of the power of darkness (Col. 1:13)
- those baptized by one Spirit into one body (1 Cor. 12:12-13)
- the sanctified (1 Cor. 1:2)
- those called out of bondage to sin (Gal.5:13)
- those who are slaves to righteousness (Rm.6:17)
The church is saved people who are all reconciled to God in one body (Eph. 2:16). That body is the church (Eph. 1:22-). There is no reconciliation outside the body.
Since the church is the saved, then there can be no salvation outside it. This does not mean that the church saves us. It only means the salvation can never exist on the outside. The realm inside describes the saved while the condition outside describes the lost. Therefore, if one is not a member of the Lord’s church, he is not a saved individual. This is why membership in the Lord’s church is important. To claim that the church is insignificant is to admit that the saved are insignificant. Seeing that only the saved will go to heaven, we must conclude that the saved, which comprise the church, and the requirements for pardon are very significant!
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