Regenerate Membership

Introduction

The most important stuff we believe and the most important stuff we do as a church is that stuff we share in common with all other true churches. I look forward to the day when I will be able to praise God in glory alongside other Christians who were never members of this church… Christians like Athanasius, Augustine, and Chrysostom… Martin and Katerina Luther, John and Idelette Calvin… Thomas Cranmer, Lady Jane Grey, Huge Latimer and Nicolas Ridley… Charles Wesley, George Whitefield, and Jonathan and Sarah Edwards… J. Gresham Machen, R.C. and Vesta Sproul, J.I. Packer… and many others.

All of the people I’ve just mentioned were faithful Christians who played a big role in preserving and handing down the faith from one generation to the next, and all of them spent a great deal of effort to do so. But none of them are Baptists.

I’m so thankful for faithful Christians (of the past and present) whether they are Baptist or not. I am glad for truechurches (near and far) that believe the same gospel and worship and serve the same Lord Jesus Christ as we do. And it doesn’t bother me in the least to see a faithful Presbyterian or Anglican church growing. I’m happy to see the kingdom of Christ expand and flourish!

But this does not mean that I don’t care what a person believes about Christian baptism, about local church structure or function, or about what it ought to look like for an individual Christian to engage with the world around him or her.

As a matter of fact, I care very much about all of this… because I believe the Bible is not silent on these subjects… And I believe that we all ought to aim toward an increasing understanding and obedience of God’s word.

But good Christians can disagree about these and other questions. And yet that doesn’t mean that we have to be mad at each other. It might mean that we cannot be members of the same church together… it might mean that we don’t cooperate to plant churches together… and it might mean that we respectfully and lovingly argue against one another… for the purpose of clarity… and for the purpose of genuine unity among our distinct churches.

What we believe will affect how we liveand how we church, and real unity among Christians will nevercome by way of ignoring our differences. Some churches and Christians seem to think that the best way to seek unity is by avoiding distinctions or even by avoiding doctrine entirely. So long as no one ever asks a question, as long as you never have to make a hard decision about anything, and as long as you never have to endure seasons of suffering, doubt, or loss… well, then nebulous and superficial Christianity will work just fine for everyone.

But we all know that the real world is full of dangers, toils, and snares… and we want to know why we believe the things we do, so that when difficult questions arise, when suffering comes, when doubts cloud our minds, when the pain of loss seems ready to overwhelm us… we will be able to feel solid ground beneath our feet, and we will be capable of experiencing stability, clarity, and even joy again.

Throughout this year (2024), our monthly topical sermon series is going to cover “Baptist Distinctives.” The elders have planned for us to walk through various features of Baptist doctrine and practice, so that we all might better understand why we believe and behave the way we do. We will consider how Baptists have argued from the Bible in order to advance their views of baptism, the Lord’s Supper, religious freedom, the role of government, social and political action, personal evangelism, and voluntary cooperation among Baptist churches for the sake of cross-cultural missions.

Christians have not all spoken with the same voice on these topics, and even Baptists have sometimes disagreed with each other… but I will aim to represent a biblically faithful, historically grounded, and consistently Baptist view. Where we touch on matters that are essential to Christianity, I will speak with authority and certainty (and argue directly from the Bible, as per our usual arrangement). Where we touch on matters that are essential to our church (things we must believe together in order to be united as a local body), I will again speak with authority and boldness (arguing my case from the Bible). Where we touch on matters that even Baptists have disagreed about, I will aim to give you what I believe to be an accurate and consistent echo of those Baptists that have argued from the Bible and most closely aligned with our present confession of faith.

I trust in all of this that you will continue to hear my pastoral heart, which desires (first and foremost) the conversion of sinners and the edification of our church members… and also desires to persuade those in error, teach those who are ignorant, and grow and learn myself alongside everyone.

Today, we are going to begin our study of Baptist distinctives by considering the concept of regenerate church membership. We might say that this is the heart of what it means to be a Baptist. Stanton Norman, in his book The Baptist Way, lists Regenerate Church Membership as the third Baptist distinctive (after Biblical Authority and The Lordship of Christ). He says that regenerate church membership is a “logical and natural conclusion of the Baptist commitment to biblical authority.”[i] And that’s why he began with the Bible.

Baptists do believe that the Bible teaches regenerate church membership. However, historically grounded Baptists do not have a higher or starkly different view of the Bible than historic Presbyterians or historic Methodists or historic Anglicans. All Protestants stood together over and against Rome in their affirmation of the Bible as our ultimate and inerrant rule for faith and practice.

So too, all Protestants agree in full that Jesus Christ is Lord – Lord of His Church and Lord of the whole world. In fact, this affirmation (“Jesus is Lord”) is fundamental for all those who would claim the label “Christian” – including Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and every kind of Protestant.

I’m beginning our series on Baptist distinctives with regenerate church membership because this is the core theological tenet from which all other Baptist distinctives emerge, and it’s that core doctrine which reaches out to connect all the rest. It is here that the first conscious Baptists began to part ways with their Protestant brethren. Why do Baptists only baptize believers with a credible profession of faith? Why do Baptists send letters of commendation from one church to another when members come and go? Why do Baptists remove or discipline unrepentant sinners from among their church membership? Why do Baptists place so much emphasis on the autonomy of each local church?

There’s a sense in which the answers to all of these questions are rooted in the Baptist distinctive of regenerate church membership. I’m arguing today that the local church ought to be comprised onlyof regenerate believers (so far as we can tell) in order to reflect the realityof Christ’s kingdom.

Let’s read from Matthew’s Gospel today, a parable and Jesus’s explanation of it, and let’s consider how this applies to our subject.

Scripture Reading

Matthew 13:24–30; 36–43 (ESV)

24 He [Jesus] put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25 but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also.

27 And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’

So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

36 Then he [Jesus] left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.”

37 He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels.

40 Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, 42 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

Main Idea:

The local church ought to be comprised only of regenerate believers (so far as we can tell) in order to reflect the reality of Christ’s kingdom.

Sermon

1. What is the meaning of regenerate?

The word “regenerate” comes to us from a NT word found in Titus 3. (Turn there with me.) The Apostle Paul wrote, “3 we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regenerationand renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:3-7).

“Regeneration” is a work of God’s Spirit, which He performs on all who hear the gospel and believe. It’s what happens when a sinner is converted. Jesus said it like this in John 3, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless on is born againhe cannot see the kingdom of God” (Jn. 3:3). But once a sinner is “born again,” he or she both “sees” and enters God’s kingdom through this spiritual birth.

The concept is that of being born spiritually or renewedspiritually. The Bible speaks of blind eyes being opened, or of deaf ears hearing, or of dead sinners coming to life when they hear the gospel proclaimed… And this is the miraculous power of God, which works or acts in the preaching or teaching of the gospel.

Brothers and sisters, when we confront someone in their sin and tell them about God’s gracious gift of forgiveness through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, we are doing ordinary stuff. Our hearer may ignore the message. He or she may not understand it. They may reject it. And they may even be mad at us for talking about sin, God’s judgment, and the need for repentance and faith.

But when we have gospel conversations with friends, or family members, or co-workers (doing the ordinary stuff of evangelism), God sometimes does the miraculous work of regeneration! He may open their eyes so that they see beauty and glory in the face of Christ! He may open their ears so that they hear joy and salvation in that good news! And He may bring that dead sinner to new life, by the power of His Spirit, and throughthe ordinary means of our evangelism!

This is how a sinner becomes an “heir [or “inheriting son”] according to the hope of eternal life” (in the words of Titus 3:7). This is how a sinner becomes a “son of the kingdom” of God (in the words of Matt. 13:37). This is why John says at the beginning of his Gospel, “[Jesus] came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (Jn. 1:11-13).

To be regenerate, then, is to be “born of God” (Jn. 1:13), to be “born again” by the Holy Spirit (Jn. 3:3), or to be a “son of the kingdom” of God (Matt. 13:37).

But not everyone is regenerate. In fact, we come into this world “dead in sin” (Eph. 2:1). So, how is it that we can tell if someone is regenerate or born again? Well, I’m glad you asked… that’s point 2 of my sermon today.

2. How can we tell if someone is regenerate?

Regeneration does not change the way we look. We cannot check someone for a regeneration tattoo or hair style or facial expression. Spiritually-alive people don’t have a certain smell or body-type or socio-economic class.

But regeneration does show up on the outside. It becomes apparent in the way a regenerate person lives. When a sinner is born again, he or she has the indwelling Spirit of God, who is at work within them, changing their desires – creating love, convicting of sin, and cultivating an appetite for holiness.

This is how the NT describes Christian living (or regenerate living) in Galatians 5. (Turn with me there.) It contrasts “walking by the Spirit” with “living according to the flesh.” The Apostle Paul wrote to Christians throughout the region of Galatia, saying, “16… walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the fleshare against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”

Note the contrast. Living or walking by “the Spirit” is “opposed to” living or walking by “the flesh.” And in Christians, these two are at war in the sense that one’s “desires” are divided. And that’s why the passage continues on…

“18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law [or “condemned by God’s law”]. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident [or “visible” or “observable”]: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God [i.e., these are not sons of Godnor inheritors of God’s kingdom].”

The Scripture here warns Christians that those who live according to the flesh are not actually sons of God, and therefore, Christians are to resist the ongoing temptation to live this way. Instead, Christians are to live or walk according to the renewed desires, which the Holy Spirit works within them.

“22 But the fruit of the Spirit [is also “evident” or “visible” or “observable”] is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal. 5:16-24).

Here we see the definitive answer to our question! How can we tell that someone is regenerated? Those who are born again or made alive by God’s Spirit are indwelt by the Spirit, and they “belong to Christ Jesus” (v24). And we can tell it because they are the ones who “have crucified the fleshwith its passions and desires” (v24). This does not meanthat Christians don’t sin, but it does mean that Christians give themselves to living according to the renewed desires of the Spirit – they make war on their fleshly desires, and they pursue the sorts of thoughts and words and deeds that honor Christ, which the Holy Spirit empowers them to do.

Friends, here is a crucial point for us to understand. Christians don’t become sons of God by doing good or holy or righteous things. But Christians are those who have becomesons of God on the basis of God’s grace in Christ… and because they have been regenerated by the power of God’s Spirit, they now want to dogood and holy and righteous things. And there is no such thingas a Christian who does not have his or her desires renewed by the Holy Spirit.

So many mistakes arises from confusing these two realities. Martin Luther tried to make it clear by saying, “Faith in Christ alone justifies, but the faith that justifies is never alone.” What he was getting at was the tandem reality that faith and good works or beliefand the fruit of the Spirit are not separate… They are distinct(good works or growth in holiness does not save anyone; only faith in Christ can do that), but they are not separate (those who believe will inevitably and without exception desire righteousness in their lives).

Regenerate people are not perfect, but they will consistently and perseveringly turn away from sin and display love for Christ by the way they love other Christians and by the way they obey Christ.

Friends, I often ask people who are confused about whether they are truly Christians (about whether they have really been born again)… I ask them, “When was the last time you really wanted to do something that you did not do because you knew Christ forbid it?” or “When was the last time you really did not want to do something that you ended up doing because you knew Christ commanded it?”

Friends, if you cannot remember the last time you deniedyour own desires in order to obey Christ, then that’s cause for concern. Maybe you don’t realize just how sinful some of your desires are… maybe you don’t know what Christ has commanded… maybe you aren’t giving this stuff nearly the thought it deserves. Or maybe you are still spiritually dead… and maybe you just think you’re a Christian because you aren’t committing those obvious sins that everyone else can easily see.

But the reality is, friends, that time will tell. Regenerate, spiritually alive people walk or live according to the Spirit. God’s Spirit is at work in them, changing them and reshaping them… they can’t help but love God’s word… they can’t help but feel deep sorrow over their sin… and they can’t help but wake up every morning aching for greater holiness, more freedom from sin, and increasing love for Christ and other Christians.

3. Are there really two kinds of people in the world?

So far, I have barely mentioned our main text for today. The reason is that we all need to understand the difference between “sons” of God and everyone else in the world before we can understand the explanation Jesus gives of this parable in Matthew 13. In other words, the only way this parable makes sense to us is if we understand that there really are two kindsof people in the world – children or sons of God and childrenor sons of the devil.

I know this may sound harsh to some, but this has been the overarching theme of the whole Bible from the beginning. In Genesis 3, God promised that there would come an “offspring” or “son” who would “bruise” or “crush” (NIV) or “grind” the “head” of the ancient “serpent” (Gen. 3:15). But God also said that the “serpent” would have “offspring” too (Gen. 3:15), and the “offspring” of the “serpent” would be at “enmity” or have “hostility” toward the promised son of victory (Gen. 3:15). And all throughout the OT, and repeated in the NT, we see the constant assault on God, His Messiah, and His people by everyone else.

Again, I know this may sound harsh, but if you think about it for just a moment, you will see that there really can be no neutral position. If Christ is King, then all must honor and obey Him. The person who ignores Christ is just as guilty as the one who declareopen war against Christ. Both are rebels, both are denyingChrist the honor He is due, and Christ will have no rebels in His kingdom. No good king… no just judge… no benevolent ruler… will let sin go unpunished, force the righteous to endure the wicked, or allow his kingdom to be occupied by those who defy the central authority and structure of the whole civilization.

So then, when we read Jesus’s parable about His kingdom here, and when we read Jesus’s own explanation of it, we are not surprised to see Jesus dividing the people of the world in two, and we are not surprised to see Jesus calling one group “the sons of the kingdom” and the other group “the sons of the evil one” (v38). This is not some elite group of sinners and saints; this is the basic dividing line for all people everywhere.

Let’s look at it together. Verse 24-30 is the parable, and v36-43 is the explanation. Matthew records this parable of the weedsalong with several others, which all teach something of what “the kingdom of heaven” is like. Jesus is teaching His hearer about various features or characteristics of the kingdom of God or the kingdom of Christ, which is heavenly and eternal, but the kingdom is also breaking into the temporal realm of creation. One repeated refrain throughout Matthew’s Gospel is “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:2) or “the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Matt. 12:28).

We see this exact tension in our passage here. Jesus says that the “kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat…” (v24-25). Jesus explains in v38 that “the field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. [But] the weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil” (v38-39). Thus, the “sons of the kingdom” (which are spiritually alive and citizens of God’s eternal kingdom) and the “sons of the evil one” (which are spiritually dead and rebels against God’s kingdom)… these all live side by side for a time in this parable about the “kingdom of heaven.”

But it will not always be so. Jesus says in v 40, “Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, 42 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (v40-42). In other words, the “sons of the evil one” will be taken away, and the “sons of the kingdom” will be left behind. And “then,” says v43, “the righteous [or the “sons of the kingdom”] will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (v43). In other words, they will enjoy the “kingdom of heaven” on earth without any sin or sinners.

Friends, we presently live in a world that is populated both by saints and sinners, by Christians and non-Christians, by those who are spiritually alive (or regenerate) and those who are spiritually dead (or unregenerate). This is how it has been since Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to dwell among His people, and this is how it will be until “the end of the age,” when Christ shall come to eradicate all those who remain in sin and unbelief and ignorance and rebellion.

It is easy for us to fall into that default setting, thinking that the way things are is the way they will always be. The Scripture warns us that some will even mock the coming of the judgment of God (2 Pet. 3). The Apostle Peter wrote that some would say, “Where is the promise of his coming? …all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation” (2 Pet. 3:4). But, Peter warns, “do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Pet. 3:8). In other words, God doesn’t regard time like we do, and His plans always unfold exactly when He intends.

Peter goes on, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord [or final judgment] will come like a thief [it will arrive when you don’t expect], and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed” (2 Pet. 3:9-10).

Because this is true (the day of the Lord is coming), one of the main reasons local churches exist today is to remind everyone (both sinners and saints) that such a day is coming… and to make it clear that only those who are the “sons of the kingdom” (v38) or “children of God” (Jn. 1:12) or “born of God” (Jn. 1:13) or “born again” (Jn. 3:3) or “regenerated” (Titus 3:5)… only these will be spared from God’s judgment and enter into the blessings of God’s kingdom.

And this is one big reason why Baptists have historically believed that local churches ought to be comprised only of regenerate believers (so far as we can tell)… so that our local churches reflect the reality of Christ’s kingdom.

4. What are some implications of this distinctive?

As I said at the outset of my sermon today, this conviction and practice of regenerate church membership is one of the central distinctives (maybe the central distinctive) of Baptists. It’s like the hub of a wheel with many spokes, but all of them connect at this hub. Therefore, the implications here are many.

Let me offer two of them at length and rattle off a few more near the end… with an emphasis on those that most directly apply in our context – East Texas, where a lot of people think they are Christians but aren’t, and where a lot of folks think of churches less like outposts of Christ’s kingdom and more like agencies for the planning of entertainment and various social programs.

Baptists historically and formally believe (based on their understanding of the Bible’s teaching) that the local church ought to be comprised only of regenerate believers (so far as we can tell) in order to reflect the reality of Christ’s kingdom.

And one implication of believing this, is that if you’re nota member of a local church, then I wonder why you’re so confident that you are a “son of the kingdom” and not a “son of the evil one.” Of course, being a church member doesn’t magically regenerate anyone or make them a Christian. But becoming a church member is how individual believers are assured by something more than their own feelings that they are actually a “son of the kingdom.”

So many of our neighbors and friends and relatives are quite confident that they are among the “wheat” and not the “weeds” in Jesus’s parable here… even though they have absolutely no reason to think such a thing other than their own sense of… I don’t know what it is… a sense of divine obligation? Do you think God owes you salvation because you were born in Texas? …because you own a Bible? …because you pray? …because you get all sentimental around Christmas and Easter? …Do you think God owes you forgiveness just because you asked for it? …He owes you grace just because He gave it to someone else?!

Or do you think God will spare you from judgment because you know that Jesus died for sinners? …I don’t know why people think that just because they know some facts about Jesus that they are all good… Don’t you know that this knowledge only condemns you more?! If you know the gospel and Christ’s command to repent and believe and follow Him, and yet you remain indifferent… what do you think God will do with those who turned up their nose and decided to do it their own way… even though they know better (Heb. 10:28-31)?!

Friends, there is coming a day when all will be laid bare for what it truly is… and Christ has designed and instituted the local church as an authoritative picture and foretaste of that final judgment. Is there a congregation of believers who has assured you of your inclusion in the kingdom of Christ? Then, rejoice and take comfort in that! But if not, then don’t be so sure that your self-evaluation is correct all by itself.

This leads us into another implication of practicing regenerate church membership. Those of us who are members of a local church should be careful to only admit new members when we are basically convinced that their profession of faith is credible or believable.

I’ve said repeatedly this morning that the local church ought to be comprised only of regenerate believers (so far as we can tell). Baptists used to call this a “credible profession of faith,” and many Baptists still use this language. The idea here is not that every church member will personally investigate the lives of every person who wants to join the church. But there is a basic responsibility upon existing church members to want more information than a person’s contact info.

The way we apply this at FBC Diana is that we do not invite people to join the church on any given Sunday. If you want to join the church today, you cannot do it. We have a process, and it takes time… in large part so we can all get to know each other better before either of us says something we can’t possibly mean.

When a Baptist church invites a new person into membership, the whole congregation is extending a hand of fellowship to someone they believe is numbered among the “sons of the kingdom” of Christ… that’s what church membership means. And when a new person asks to become a member of a Baptist church, that person is asking to take on both the privileges and the obligations of membership… which include a commitment to follow Christ in meaningful fellowship together with the rest of the church members.

All this is church membership 101, and many of us know it well. But this is a foreign language to many of our friends and neighbors in East Texas. Truth be told, this is strange talk to many of the churches and pastors in East Texas as well. And that’s why we must never assume that everyone knows or stop emphasizing it.

If Christ is coming again to establish His kingdom on earth in a way that gathers “the weeds” for destruction and gathers“the wheat” for salvation, and if the local church is designedby God to be a reflection of that coming day, then it matters a great deal that we know who our church members are… that we know each other well enough to observe the evidence of spiritual life… that we only admit new members when we observe in them a credible profession of faith… that we sometimes make the hard decision to remove unrepentant sinners from among our membership… and that we warn those who are not members of a local church that they are walking on dangerous ground.

I pray that God will help us to be the sort of church that He has designed and intended us to be. I pray that we (the members of this church) will feel a sense of privilege and responsibility that we know so much about how central the local church is to God’s plan to save and grow and preserve sinners like us. And I pray that God will help us to be – collectively and individually – the witnesses He’s called us to be in this community, among our friends, in our homes, and as we go.

Endnotes

[i] R. Stanton Norman, The Baptist Way: Distinctives of a Baptist Church(Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2005), 47.

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