June 15, 2025
The Biblical requirement of membership and participation in a local church
The blessings of membership and participation in a local church
Ephesians 2:17-22: And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
The invisible church includes all those through history that Christ has or will save by grace through faith in His work on the cross.
The visible church includes all the members of particular churches that profess faith in Jesus Christ, and their children.
“The whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man’s salvation, faith, and life, is either expressly set down in scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from scripture.” Westminster Confession of Faith
The Old Testament Church (nation Israel)
Evidence 1:
Nine of the 27 NT books are actual letters to specific churches in the first century (Romans, 1-2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1-2 Thessalonians).
There are six additional letters to particular churches in Revelation 2-3.
(Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea).
Within those letters you will find references to additional particular churches: {Alexandria, Antioch (Pisidia), Antioch (Syria), Athens, Babylon, Berea, Capernaum, Caesarea, Cenchrea, Crete, Cyprus, Cyrene, Damascus, Derbe, Hierapolis, Iconium, Jerusalem, Joppa, Lydda, Lystra and several in Macedonia}.
Evidence 2:
The Scriptures show distinct church leaders and distinct congregations (Acts 6, Acts 14:21-23, Titus 1, 1 Timothy 3).
Hebrews 13:7, 17: Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith….Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
Two Questions arise from Hebrews 13:
If there is no distinct local church leadership, then who are these believers to submit to and obey?
If there is no distinct church membership, who are the leaders to lead?
Acts 20:28:Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God,[a] which he obtained with his own blood.
1 Peter 5:1-4: So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
Church membership and participation is the way for which you can most experience the blessings God intends for His people on this earth (1 Cor 12, Eph 4, Rom 12)
Romans 12:4-6a: For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them.
The church is the one and only institution that the Lord Jesus Christ bought and established with His own blood (1 Peter 1:19; Acts 20:28)
The church is the institution loved most by Jesus Christ (Eph. 5:25-33)
The church is the institution through which God has chosen to identify and interact with His corporate people.
John Calvin said, “Revolt from the church is denial of God and Christ.”
Do you resolve and promise, in humble reliance upon the grace of the Holy Spirit, that you will endeavor to live as becomes the followers of Christ?
Do you promise to support the Church in its worship and work to the best of your ability?
Do you submit yourselves to the government and discipline of the Church, and promise to study its purity and peace?
Do you acknowledge yourselves to be sinners in the sight of God, justly deserving His displeasure, and without hope save in His sovereign mercy?
Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and Savior of sinners, and do you receive and rest upon Him alone for salvation as He is offered in the Gospel?