Why Church Membership?
Selected Passages
Kingdom Principle: When we receive the benefits of Christ through our spiritual baptism, we belong to the body of Christ. This is seen in our identifying with that body through baptism and the Lord’s Supper. In the one (Baptism) we declare that we have entered into the benefits of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. In the other (Lord’s Supper) we declare that we need to continually partake of the means of grace that Christ has given in the church.
The church is a gathering of the called out ones, distinguished from the world by their relationship to God and who live in light of all the consequences of the fulfillment of the New Covenant promises in Jesus Christ.
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The ________-ificance of Baptism
The external act of baptism is pointing to the internal work of the baptism of the Holy Spirit in the soul of man.
Matthew 16:13–17 (ESV) — 13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
Three Markers that one has participated in the blessings of the New Covenant and therefore is a member of the New Testament church:
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Believing in the Jesus as the Son of God (Matt. 16:13-17)
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Desiring to do the will of God (2Cor. 3:4-6)
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Loving those who have been born of God (1John 3, 4, 5)
1 John 3:10 (ESV) — 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.
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The ________-ificance of the Lord’s Supper
1 Corinthians 11:23–26 (ESV) — 23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
The reason Jesus uses bread and cup at the Lord’s Supper is to remind us that just as we need food to sustain our physical bodies, so we need spiritual food to sustain our spiritual bodies.
The believer starves without the body of Christ and the body of Christ suffers without the believers that make it up.
Three Means that the Lord has given us in the church to sustain our spiritual vitality:
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The Preaching, Praying, Speaking, and Seeing of God’s Word (Rom. 12:2)
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Regular Prayer and Fellowship with God’s People (Acts 2:42)
Romans 12:4–5 (ESV) — 4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
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Biblical Confrontation and Church Discipline (Matt. 18:15-20)
Questions to Consider
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Have you been baptized in the Lord? Why or why not? Is the blessing of the New Covenant clearly seen in your life and do other’s recognize it?
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How might you earnestly consider the spiritual realities of what the Lord Supper represents? Do you continually partake of the means that God has supplied to sustain your walk with Christ? What are you missing? Why?
