Tag: church

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The Fifteenth Mark of a True Disciple of Jesus

True disciples of Jesus participate in the local church

participate in the local church

Is it possible to be a true disciple of Jesus and keep the church at arm’s length, or to be a genuine Christian and be indifferent to the church?

No, the Bible does not present church participation as optional. Jesus regards church involvement to be of primary importance.

Let’s trace this through the Bible.

1. The Bible specifically says it is God’s will that Christians attend church meetings.

Hebrews 10:24–25 says, “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

Failing to meet with the church of Jesus Christ is spiritual neglect. It is the omission of what is required by the Lord. It is a sin of omission.

2. The first Christians met together as the church constantly.

Acts 2:42–46 says that immediately after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, which brought about the conversion of thousands of souls, the new Christians “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers [this implies they were eating and praying together]. [43] And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. [44] And all who believed were together and had all things in common. [45] And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. [46] And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes [again, this implies eating together], they received their food with glad and generous hearts.”

If this were the only part of the New Testament you had, you would assume that participating deeply in the life of the church and its meetings was the norm for true Christians—and you would be right.

3. Jesus calls the church his and declares his unstoppable purpose is to build it.

After the apostle Peter confessed his faith that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, Jesus said, “I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).

The church matters infinitely to Jesus. This is his project!

What’s more, the unmistakable implication of Jesus’ determination to build his church is that we should participate. Anyone who is truly following him is on his construction team! He said, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters” (Luke 11:23).

Therefore whoever is not helping Jesus build his church is hindering the Lord’s building of his church. Whoever is not helping to gather the harvest of souls into the church is scattering the harvest of souls. According to Jesus, you cannot be neutral about the church.

4. Jesus specifically authorizes the church to do his work.

Immediately after the words above where Jesus says to Peter “I will build my church,” he goes on to tell Peter, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:19).

The church is the Lord’s strategy. Since Jesus has given his authority to the church, then he will exercise his authority through the church. We are not given the freedom to strategize human ways of doing Christ’s work. To be outside of the church is to be outside of his authority.

5. The church is the fullness of Jesus on earth.

Ephesians 1:22–23 says, “[God] put all things under [Jesus’] feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”

If we love Jesus, we want to be as near to him and his presence as possible. We want to experience his fullness. According to this verse, we experience that fullness in the church.

I say that with one important qualification. The church we are in must be a truly biblical, Holy-Spirit filled church. We are not going to feel the presence of the Lord in a gathering of people who do not believe or follow the Bible as they should, and do not love others as Christ commands, and who walk in the flesh rather than in the Holy Spirit (see Galatians 5:16–25). In that case we need to find another church where believers humbly follow the Word of God and the Holy Spirit.

Jesus said, “If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also” (John 12:26). Where is Jesus in this era? He is in his church.

6. The church is where God manifests his glory.

Ephesians 3:20–21 says, “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

That is a striking statement! According to this verse, there are two places where God especially wants to manifest his glory. One is in Christ Jesus, and he certainly did that. And the other is in the church, and he is in the process of doing that.

To God be the glory in the church! That is why true disciples participate deeply in the life of the church—in order that God may be glorified in it, which is where he states he wants to be glorified.

7. The universal church comprises organized, local churches.

Many people today say they do not want anything to do with the organized church. Instead they want to have individual spirituality.

But an unorganized, disconnected scattering of individual, independent Christians across the globe is not the church described in the New Testament (in particular, see Ephesians 4:11–16; 1 Corinthians 12–14; Romans 12:3–13; 1 Timothy 3:1–15; 4:6–16; 5:1–25; 2 Timothy 4:1–5; Titus 1:5–10).

The word of God calls Christians to become part of a group of believers who have approved, appointed leaders. These leaders must be tested to ensure they believe and teach correct doctrine and live godly lives. These approved leaders are called to teach the word of God and correct doctrine.

The local church not only teaches the Scriptures faithfully but also baptizes new believers in accordance with God’s will and regularly serves Communion in the way commanded and approved by Christ so that no one suffers judgment through it (see 1 Corinthians 11:17–34).

The local church also helps wayward Christians by admonishing them and if necessary eventually disciplining them when they are living in a way that will lead to their own destruction. See 1 Corinthians 5, Matthew 18:15–18.

8. The local organized church is how Jesus—the Good Shepherd—cares for his sheep.

In one of Christ’s appearances to his disciples after his resurrection from the dead, Jesus ate a breakfast of fish with them, and “When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ He said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’ He said to him a second time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ He said to him, ‘Tend my sheep.’ He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ and he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep.’” (John 21:15–17 ESV)

Jesus cares about each one of us, and the way he shepherds our souls is through the shepherds/pastors he has given to his churches and through his churches as  communities. Believers who separate themselves from the local church separate themselves also in some measure from the protection of the Good Shepherd.

9. Church is the bride of Christ.

Ephesians 5:31–32 says, “‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.”

No one who loves Jesus should disdain his bride, for that would insult the bride he loves.

Summary

I could marshal many other scriptures and reasons for why every believer in Jesus should participate fully in the life of a local church that faithfully follows the word of God and the Holy Spirit. The entire New Testament assumes and teaches the importance of the local church to those who call Jesus Lord. Therefore let us love one another as Jesus commands and do so within the local community of believers organized to bring him glory in the earth. That is how to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ.

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Members at Heart

Part 8 of 8 qualities of the heart that resists error

Church membership is like an umbrella in a downpour.
church membership

This is the concluding article in a series examining eight soul qualities that make us immune to false teaching.

8. Church membership

Jesus says you are a sheep who needs the protection of shepherds (see John 10:1–15 and John 21:15–17). If enfolded in the flock, you benefit from the spiritual covering of your church (see 1 Corinthians 5) and from human shepherds who watch over your soul (see Hebrews 13:17).

Wolves eat stray sheep. Jesus intends that church be the safe place.

Membership is a matter of the heart, not a formality. A member’s attitude is, “I belong; I am involved; I am submitted; I contribute.” It is the opposite of independence, anonymity, and consumerism. The church keeps you safe when you engage in meetings, build relationships, and submit to shepherds. Your attitude toward the church determines how well it can protect you.

The church protects because it is the body of Jesus Christ. He is its head, the one who ultimately cares for the members of his body through his body.

Jesus is the great Shepherd of the sheep, the chief Shepherd over the under-shepherds (see 1 Peter 5:1–2; John 21:15–17). It is he who ultimately keeps you from falling prey to wolves.

 Jesus is the truth. It is he who ultimately enables you to pass the test of error by giving a love and ear for truth.

Jesus is the Word. It is he who gives the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, and promises, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Luke 21:33).

And so it is Jesus Christ who faithfully helps you pass the test from false teaching and prove true to him. As you do your part to navigate through a world of errors, you can rest assured you are safe in the arms of Jesus.

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The Four Guides into Truth Must Agree

Truth is too important for us to neglect any of the guides God has provided.

guides into truth

For several months now, we have been digging into the idea that God leads us into essential truths about himself and salvation through four guides. They are (1) the Scriptures, (2) the Holy Spirit, (3) the church, and (4) prayer. If we follow these four guides with patience, faith, and wisdom, we can be assured of finding the truth—even if we are a new Christian! Through these four guides God will certainly lead us into the truth that assures us of eternal life.

Harmony

Just as a car needs all four wheels, you need all four guides working in harmony. Do not neglect or ignore any of them. Remember the Pharisees, who were radically religious yet profoundly wrong. Jesus corrected them: “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.” (John 5:39–40, ESV) They examined one of the four guides closely, yet they still went astray.

The Sadducees made the opposite error, failing to give adequate attention to Scripture. Jesus corrected them as well: “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?” (Mark 12:24, ESV)

So if we rely exclusively on one of these guides in contradiction with the others, or if we neglect, ignore, or reject one of the guides, we can stray into error.

Examples

For example, although objective Scripture is free of error, we might err when we interpret and apply it. False teachers usually appeal to the same Bible as orthodox Christians, but they misinterpret it. This is why we need the wider, historic church and the fruits of its two-thousand year history of interpreting the Bible together under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Over that period the church has thoroughly wrestled through disagreements about the key doctrines necessary for salvation, corrected the errors of particular eras, groups, leaders, and locales, and long ago reached general consensus on the essentials.

Similarly, with regard to the Holy Spirit leading us into all truth through the Scriptures, we may have subjective thoughts and feelings that are not from the Holy Spirit. They may come from personal convictions shaped by our upbringing, for example. This is why we need the objective correction that comes from both Scripture and historic church doctrine.

For instance, some people have grown up in heretical religions such as the Mormons or the Jehovah’s Witnesses that do not believe Jesus Christ is the eternal, uncreated, divine Son of God. As a result, their consciences may affirm that what they learned in “church” and from parents is true, even though objective Scripture and the wider, historic church emphatically deny this false teaching. A Mormon might think that his Mormon-shaped conscience is the Holy Spirit leading him.

God is faithful to lead us out of an unhealthy religious group if we commit ourselves to follow the truth even if it contradicts our traditions. Psalm 25:5 gives an essential Scriptural prayer that God will surely answer: “Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation.” The Holy Spirit will answer that prayer over time by illumining Scripture as we read. If we are in an unsound group, over time we will see how the Bible contradicts their teaching in significant ways. The Holy Spirit will disturb our conscience over what we hear. We can trust God to lead us into truth and a church marked by sound teaching.

Through prayerful agreement between the Bible, the Holy Spirit, and the true church, God reliably guides everyone who is committed to the truth at all costs and seeks it with prayer, trust, and persistence.

Next week

God is reliable, but we are not. What can make us susceptible to error is the state of our soul. Exhibit A is the Pharisees. So next week we begin an examination of eight soul qualities that make us immune to false teaching.

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Church and Truth

Who needs the church? Anyone who wants the truth about God!

church and truth

In previous posts we learned that God leads into truth even the newest believer through three divine guides: the inerrant Scriptures, the Holy Spirit, and the church. We now look more closely at the guidance given by the church.

3. The church

The apostle Paul described the church as “the pillar and support of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15, LSB).

Jesus commissioned his apostles, taught them the truth, and assured them that the Holy Spirit would further lead them into all truth (John 14:17, 15:26, 16:13). Then the apostles taught the church the essential doctrines of salvation and God’s nature.

These core teachings from the apostles became the cardinal doctrines summarized in the church’s early creeds: The Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Chalcedonian Creed.

With regard to God, he is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is the mystery of the Trinity: one God, three persons.

Jesus Christ is God’s eternal Son, uncreated, fully God, who became fully man. He died for our sins, rose from the dead in a resurrection body never to die again, and ascended to the right hand of God as Lord and Christ.

With regard to mankind, all people have sinned and stand under the just wrath of God, but can be saved from eternal condemnation because of the atoning, substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. We are saved not by relying on the merit of our own supposed righteousness but rather through faith in Jesus Christ, relying exclusively on the righteousness he credits to us as a gift.

The church that the apostles of Jesus founded, that is now worldwide, and that is two-thousand years old agrees on these essential truths of salvation as the teaching of the Bible and the leading of the Holy Spirit.

What about when we seek the truth on matters that are not of first order importance, matters on which orthodox churches disagree? I will have more to say about that in future posts.

Next week I will add one more crucial guide into truth, which I did not identify earlier and which will bring us to four guides into truth. This fourth guide is prayer. These four guides, used in harmony, enable even the newest believer to know the truth with confidence.