Baptist Distinctives: A Converted Church Membership

Text: “And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:47)

Theme: Only persons who are old enough to make an intelligent choice, to realize and repent of sin, and to accept Christ as a definite and voluntary act of faith can become a member of a Baptist church.

From our earliest beginnings, Baptists have believed in a regenerate church membership. What do we mean by that? We mean that before we ever let someone join the church, they must have—at some time in their life—openly and publically professed their faith and trust in the Lord, Jesus Christ. In an ideal Baptist Church every single member has been born again.

Our spiritual forefathers looked at the Scriptures and concluded that the Catholic Church, the Lutheran Church, and the Church of England were all wrong when it came to the doctrine of salvation. Baptismal regeneration is simply not taught in the New Testament. The Church has no authority to dispense salvation through the “sacrament” of baptism. Why? Because, as they read the Scriptures, Baptists concluded that salvation was a purposeful act of the will that led to a conscience act of faith to accept Christ as Savior and then live the redemptive life. Or to put it as the Reformers did, We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone according to the Scriptures alone, to the glory of God alone.

This meant that baptizing babies—or even adults—as an act of conferring salvation upon the person’s soul was anti-Scriptural.

Baptists take a lot of heat for that. As a people called Baptist, we hold many doctrinal positions that are shared by numerous other Christian groups. The Doctrine of the Trinity, the incarnation of Christ, his virgin birth, justification by faith (we would add the word “alone”), the substitutionary death of Christ on the cross, and his second advent when he establishes God’s Kingdom are a few tenants of faith we share with all orthodox Christian groups. However, when Baptists begin to discuss the church, few other denominations match us in our unique but thoroughly biblical understanding of the nature and purpose of the church.

We believe in, and insist upon, a converted church membership. Only persons who are old enough to make an intelligent choice, to realize what sin is and repent of it, and to accept Christ as a definite and voluntary act of faith can become a member of a Baptist church. Why? Why is that so important to us?

I. A CONVERTED CHURCH MEMBERSHIP IS CONSISTENT WITH THE ORIGIN OF THE CHURCH

1. the church was supernaturally birthed on the Day of Pentecost

a. Pentecost originated as a Jewish Festival that celebrated the wheat harvest

b. it was a time when Jews from around the world gathered in Jerusalem to express gratitude to God for his goodness and grace

2. it was on this occasion that God poured out His Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Jesus and breathed life into His church

“When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:1–4, ESV)

a. before Pentecost the disciples were a frightened collection of leaderless people living in apprehension of discovery

b. after Pentecost they were a congregation of worshipers with a bold witness who changed the course of history

c. only the power of God can explain the difference

3. Baptists believe that only those who have had this kind of experience with the risen Lord Jesus Christ are candidates for church membership

ILLUS. There are those in other denominations who would question our demand for a regenerate church membership saying, “But is someone is a member of a church, doesn’t that mean that they must be a Christian?” And the Baptist would respond, “Nope!” When Baptist first appeared on the scene in the early 1600s, one became a church member in one of two ways, 1st, if you were born into a certain perish district, you automatically became a member of that local perish, 2nd, If you were baptized as an infant, you became a member of the church you were baptized into. You were assumed to be a Christian if you were a member of the Church.

a. Baptist, came along an taught that only those who have been born from above are are members of the Body of Christ

1) the way we testify to the world of that new birth experience is by being baptized into a local, New Testament Church

b. if we let anyone into our church fellowship without demanding that they first be born again, we will eventually cease to be the supernatural body of Christ

1) just as Jesus was God incarnate in this world while he was in it, so the Church is Christ incarnate until the end of the age

5. Baptists have used various terms to describe our concept of church, such as believer’s church, regenerate church, gathered church, voluntary church, born-again church and fellowship of the redeemed

... a Converted Church Membership Is Consistent with the Origin of the Church

II. A CONVERTED CHURCH MEMBERSHIP PROVIDES A COMMON GROUND FOR FELLOWSHIP

1. this is visible in two ways

a. on the one hand, regenerate church membership means that we can encourage one another through difficulty by pointing each other to the author and perfector of our shared faith (Heb 12:3)

1) such encouragement can be offered in confidence that our fellow member has, by faith, “been raised up with Christ”

b. on the other hand, regenerate church membership means that we can also lovingly correct and rebuke one another on common ground

1) “Brethren,” Paul writes, “even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one . . . Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal 6:1–2).

III. A CONVERTED CHURCH MEMBERSHIP IS ESSENTIAL TO THE POLITY OF THE CHURCH

1. polity is just a fancy word we use for the process of governing ourselves in the local church

a. when we talk about church polity we are talking about the way we make decisions and run the church

b. as Baptists we like to talk about the local church being a true democracy—the rule of the people

1) in a sense it is

2) we’ve always believed in one Baptist, one vote

c. in reality, the church is a theocracy—the rule of God

1) individual opinions are not important in the life of the church

2) the will of God is very important

2. as Baptists, we believe that Jesus Christ is the Founder and the Foundation of His Church

a. that means He is the Head of His Church

“And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.” (Colossians 1:17–18, ESV)

b. while witnessing to the Greeks in Athens, the Apostle Paul said of Christ: ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ (Acts 17:28) NIV

c. no human was ever meant to be head over the church

1) not a Pontiff, not a Patriarch, not a Priest, not a Pastor, not an Ecclesiastical Council

3. Christ continues to exercise his Headship through the authority of His Scriptures and His Holy Spirit who illuminates the minds of believers

a. it is through the Scriptures and the by the Holy Spirit that we discover and develop the mind of Christ

“Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.” (1 Corinthians 2:12, ESV)

3. if Christ exercises Lordship over each local church through the lives of individual church members then it is essential that each member of the church be a convert to Christ

4. if a church is autonomous (and it is), if a church governs itself (and it does), it a church wants to make wise, Christ-honoring decisions (and it should), then the only means of accomplishing that is to be full of true believers whose primary goal is to please God and glory God in the decisions we make for the church

a. we discern the Lord’s will for the local church by depending upon the Holy Spirit to work in the life of each individual member—not just one or two

b. we believe this because we believe that every Christian has direct access to God through Christ

“For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.” (Ephesians 2:18, ESV)

1) fundamentally, that means that God can equally reveal His will and give vision to a immature child or hormone-laced teenager who is a Christian as well as any spiritually mature adult believer

2) it means that at the Church business meeting the question we should never ask, is “All those in favor . . .” but rather, “How many of you sense that God clearly is directing us to proceed in this direction?”

c. but this kind of church polity can only take place when each member of the church is truly born again

5. a converted church membership is essential to the polity of the church

IV. A CONVERTED CHURCH MEMBERSHIP IS ESSENTIAL TO THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH

1. the mission of the church is just as supernatural as is the origin of the church

“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”” (Matthew 28:18–20, ESV)

2. God does not care what our agenda for the church is

a. our program for the church will always depend upon our ingenuity upon our strategy and our empowerment

1) that means we will only get what human ability permits

3. God’s desire is that we discover where He is working and get on board

a. God’s program for the local church is already defined for us in the Scriptures—it’s called the Great Commission

1) in it we see God’s empowerment—All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me

2) in it we see God’s ingenuity—Make disciples ... Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you

3) in it we see God’s strategy—all nations

4) in it we see God’s assurance—I am with you always

4. the church was birthed supernaturally and it grows and expands supernaturally

a. God chooses to use people like you and me as instruments of that expansion

“All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:18–20, ESV)

b. only those who know the grace of God, who love the Lord with all their heart, and who are willing to tell the good news of Jesus Christ to others can be used of the Holy Spirit to expand the Kingdom of God

5. a converted church members hip is essential to the mission of the church

V. IMPORTANT APPLICATIONS

1. Church Membership is Voluntary

a. no one is in the church because someone else decided for them

b. it is comprised of a group of people who have voluntarily entered into covenant together

c. if someone does not agree with the terms of the commitment, he or she is free not to join or to renounce it

2. Children, especially very young children and babies, are not to be baptized

a. the doctrine of a believer's church does not permit the baptizing of infants or very young children who have not, of their own free will, repented of sin, committed their life to Christ, and publically confessed Him as Savior

b. neither do we count them as members of the church

1) when we talk church membership you’ll frequently hear it said that there are 13.6 million Southern Baptists

a) this counts only those professing believers

2) if, like many denominations, Southern Baptists counted infants and children who are enrolled in Sunday School, but who are not church members, our ranks would swell considerably

c. to introduce you to another term—we are credobaptists and not paedobaptists

1) credobaptism is the baptism of only believers ... end of story

2) paedobaptism is the baptism of the infants of believers

ILLUS. Those who believe in paedobaptism view baptism as a New Testament version of Jewish circumcision. To baptize the infants or children of believers brings the child into a covenant relationship with the Body of Christ. It means that they are essentially believed to be a “Christian” until they are old enough to make the decision for themself. All paedobaptism does is bring unregenerate people into the Church and give them a false sense of security.

3. Acceptance of Members

a. in a Believer's Church, everyone is invited to come to Christ for salvation, but the church is responsible to discuss the matter with each person professing faith in Christ and to see that they indeed do understand the gospel and are willing to come to Christ on His terms

b. one of the earliest Baptist Confessions (1656) states: That in admitting of members into the church of Christ, it is the duty of the church and ministers whom it concerns, in faithfulness to God, that they be careful they receive none but such as do make forth evident demonstration of the new birth, and the work of faith with power.

From our earliest beginnings, Baptists have believed in a converted church membership. What do we mean by that? We mean that before we ever let someone join the church, they must have—at some time in their life—openly and publically professed their faith and trust in the Lord, Jesus Christ