The Scriptures
The Bible is God's written Word. Its 40 authors, writing over 2,000 years of history, were inspired by the Holy Spirit, and in the same way the Holy Spirit inspires us today as we read it. The Bible is God's true authoritative Word and is our only authority for faith and conduct.
God
There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual and personal being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence and obedience.
The eternal God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence or being. God as Father reigns with providential care of His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all-powerful, all loving and all wise. God is Father to all those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus of Nazareth, He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, taking upon Himself the demands and necessities of human nature and identifying Himself completely with humankind, yet without sin. In His death on the cross He won the forgiveness of sin for all that believe. He was raised from the dead and appeared to His disciples. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is Lord of all, the One and only Mediator between God and people. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and consummate His redemptive mission. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever-present Lord.
The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination, He enables us today to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. He calls people to the Savior and effects regeneration. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. His presence in the Christian is the assurance of God to bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism and service.
Humanity
Humankind was created by the special act of God, in His own image, and is the crowning work of His creation. In the beginning we were innocent of sin and were endowed by our Creator with freedom of choice. By our free choice we sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Through the temptation of Satan, the first man and woman transgressed the command of God and fell from their original innocence. Their posterity now inherits a nature and an environment inclined toward sin. Only the grace of God can bring a person into His holy fellowship and enable him or her to fulfill the creative purpose of God. The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created us, from conception, in His own image and that Christ died for us; therefore, every human being possesses dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.
The Church
The Church is the body of Christ, and as such all the redeemed in all the world, throughout every decade of history, are members. Jesus Christ lives in the world through the church, directing us to do His bidding as the head directs the body.
A local church such as ours is a body of baptized believers who are joined together by our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We observe the two sacraments of Christ, are committed to His teachings, exercise the gifts given by the Holy Spirit, and seek to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth.
This church is an autonomous body, operating through democratic processes under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. In such a congregation, every member equally participates in the ministry by using the gifts given them by the Holy Spirit. We are led by the Pastor and elect Deacons as lay spiritual leaders.
Salvation
Salvation means being in right relationship to God. It is freely given to all who have faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
One gains salvation by agreeing with God about his or her own sinful nature, repenting of it, and receiving from Jesus forgiveness, cleansing and new life. Salvation comes not by human achievement but by God's grace.
Salvation, in human experience, involves three facets of God's work throughout our lives.
- Justification - A one-time act. This is God's gracious, once-for-all forgiveness of the sin of every person who repents and believes in Christ. This brings the believer into a state of peace and favor with God.
- Sanctification - God's present activity, in which the believer is brought ever closer to the likeness of the character of Jesus Christ. This is the primary work of the Holy Spirit as one cooperates with Him. Growth in godliness continues throughout all of life.
- Glorification - God's future activity. This is the culmination of salvation, and is the final and eternal state of the redeemed, when they shall dwell with their Lord and all other believers in Heaven.
If you are unsure of your right standing with God, here is a simple prayer you can use. Read it and then make it your prayer.
Dear God,
I've been living my own way. Now I want to live your way. I need you and I am now willing to have you take control of my life. I receive your Son, Jesus Christ, as my Savior and Lord. I believe He died for my sins and has risen from the dead. I surrender to Him and ask you to make me your child.
Baptism and The Lord's Supper
Baptism and the Lord's Supper are the two sacraments Jesus instructed His followers to keep.
Baptism is the initiation rite into the Christian Faith. For an adult, it must follow a confession of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. For an infant, it is an expression on the part of the parents and the church that the child is received into the community of believers, and will be nurtured in the faith until the time when the child decides for him or herself to become a disciple of Christ. Further discussion of infant baptism is presented in a separate brochure.
The Lord's Supper, or Communion, is a vivid reminder of the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ with the bread and cup representing his flesh and blood. In taking it, we completely identify ourselves with him, and look forward to His second coming when we will see Him face to face.
The New Testament Case for Membership in the Local Church
"It is more like a hall out of which doors open into several rooms. If I can bring anyone into that hall I shall have done what I attempted. But it is in the rooms, not in the hall, that there are fires and chairs and meals."
This paper briefly summarizes the evidence found in the New Testament for formal membership in a local church. There is a current of thought in Christianity today that membership is never taught in Scripture, and that informal association with a church, including worship attendance, participation in the ordinances, and service, is sufficient. In fact, several church groups, including the Calvary Chapel movement, have done away with formal membership entirely. This is an unfortunate trend which I believe weakens the church by taking it away from Biblical faithfulness, so this paper presents, in brief, the Biblical support for church membership.
There are five strands of evidence in the New Testament for church membership. Each of these refers to something which would be minimized or rendered meaningless if there were no such thing as church membership.
1. Discipline. The local church is supposed to discipline its members. Matthew 18.15-17 tells us that “the church” is the final court of appeal in matters of dispute. If you find a brother in sin, the instructions are to go to him first privately and try to point out his fault. If that fails, take one or two others with you, and failing that, “tell it to the church.” If there is no church membership, then how does one define the group that will take up this sensitive and weighty matter and render a judgment? You must know who you mean when you “take it to the church.”
2. Excommunication. Excommunication exists in the church for the most egregious and unrepentant of sinners. In I Cor. 5.12-13 Paul deals with the necessity of putting someone out of the church. He says “what do I have to do with judging others? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. Purge the evil person from among you.” There are two implications here. One is that there are those “in the church” and the other is that there are those “outside the church.” Being in the church is a definable matter, otherwise there would be no possibility of formal removal. The church in the New Testament knew who was an accountable part of the body and who was not.
3. Submission to Leaders. Christians are required to submit to their leaders. “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give account.” (Heb. 13.17). “We ask you brothers to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and esteem them very highly in love because of their work.” (I Thess. 5.12-13). “Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.” (I Tim. 5.17). This leadership and submission does not work unless there is a membership defining who has made the commitment to be led and who has been chosen to lead. If we downplay the importance of membership, it is difficult to see how we could take the commands to submit and to lead seriously.
4. Shepherds are required to care for their flock. Paul tells the elders in Acts 20.28 to “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, which He obtained with His own blood.” Church membership is implied here in that the elders knew who was in their particular flock. In I Peter 5.2-3 the author speaks to Pastors about their responsibilities to “those in your charge.” This phrase implies that the Pastors knew whom they were responsible for. This is another way of talking about membership. If a person does not want to be held accountable by a group of elders, they will resist the idea of membership, but in so doing will also resist the way God has appointed them to live and be sustained in their faith.
5. The metaphor of the body. Church membership is implied in the metaphor of the body in I Corinthians 12.12-31. In fact, the entire argument fails if there is no such thing as church membership. The Bible says that just as the body is a unit and has individual “members,” such as the eye or the hand, so it is with Christ. There is an organic relationship among all who are in the body of Christ. They are connected in one unit. There is something unnatural about a Christian attaching himself to a body of believers and not being a member of the body.
Additional circumstantial evidence in the New Testament is that all through the book of Acts, numbers of people are given as the church grows. “About 3000 were added to their number that day. (2.41).” Someone was keeping track. This is consistent with the Old Testament practice of keeping a count of who was in the community and who was not, which is what the book of Numbers is all about. The fact is that of the 110 times the word “church” is used in the NT, 97 of them refer to the local, visible church, and only a small percentage to the universal church. The clear expectation is that believers who enter the church universal will place themselves in accountable relationships with others in the body of Christ.
In sum, the Biblical mandates for everyone are these.
1. Join the universal church. This is done by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Jesus died and rose again for the forgiveness of your sins and to receive you into His body. Confess in faith that He is Lord and you will be saved.
2. Profess that faith in baptism. This is in obedience to the Lord’s command, “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
3. Formally join a local church. God does not intend for us to live the Christian life on our own. The Christian life is one of commitment and accountability to other believers. Find a church and formally join it.
4. Live out the meaning of church membership. Membership is a covenantal bond with a body of believers, to whom you are bound, with whom you worship and serve God, and to whom you are accountable.
