Saved Church Membership

Introduction

Back in the mid-1600’s, a debate arose in the churches of New England. Puritans and Baptists had always held up to this point that a person had to be saved to join the church. We call this Saved Church Membership or Regenerate Church Membership. Both groups believed that while you can’t know a person’s heart, there will be evidence of genuine conversion in their life. Therefore, a person should be evaluated for church membership before they could join. The problem was second generation “christians” who grew up in the church were showing no evidence of genuine conversion. So the Puritans came up with what has been called the Half-Way covenant. If you were the child of parents in the church, baptized as a baby, you were considered a half-way member. You could participate in some official functions of the church like voting, participating in the Lord’s Supper and having your own babies baptized. Clearly, the baptists were against all of this, but the Covenant theology of the Puritans led to this type of thinking. Many believe that this was where the Puritans began to decline and it wasn’t until the First Great Awakening that things began to change. Puritans like Jonathan Edwards opposed the half-way covenant in favor of regenerate church membership. The strength of the first revival here in America was the emphasis on a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

So here’s the question tonight, and it is basic, but the question is, is there evidence that only saved people should be included in the visible church membership? While we assume it in our churches could we prove it from scripture? After answering that question we will take a look at how we as a church practice this.

The Example of the Church in Acts

Acts 2:41–47 “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” The first step in this chain of events that eventually led to continuing daily in fellowship with one another in the church began with gladly receiving the word, then they were baptized and then they joined in the fellowship.

Acts 9:26–27 “And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.” Acts actually gives us one example of the church evaluating the salvation of someone who wanted to join their church. After Saul’s conversion and prior to his call as a missionary, he went to Jerusalem and wanted to join the church. Notice the phrase join himself to the disciples. Now what the church did here want motivated by pure motives: the text says they were afraid of him. Fear and doubt are the enemies of assimilating people into the church, but they did have one positive reason for not admitting him: they were not convinced of his salvation. Think about it. Saul had been killing Christians. What a better way to find out who the Christians were than to infiltrate their congregations. But Barnabas sets the example for bridging the gap and bringing Saul into the church. He relates Saul’s testimony of salvation and his Christian testimony. After this Saul was admitted into the church.

The Description of the Local Church

Another evidence for saved church membership in the local church relies on the descriptions of the church. In nearly all of Paul’s letters, he addressed them in a similar way. He would say who he was, who he was sending the letter to and then he would give some kind of a description of that church. Notice that in each of these letters, members of the church are described as being holy ones saints. We are going to begin in Romans and just look at a few of these:

Romans 1:7 “To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

1 Corinthians 1:2 “Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:”

Ephesians 1:1 “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:”

Philippians 1:1 “Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:”

Colossians 1:2 “To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

1 Thessalonians 1:1 “Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

All of these concepts: being a saint, a holy one, those who call on the name of Christ, faithful, brethren, sanctified, being in Christ; they all refer to a person who is clearly saved.

The New Covenant only includes those who have faith

A final piece I want to bring up is the New Covenant. In covenant theology, the NC is merely the fulfillment of the Covenant of grace founded back in the OT. Nearly everything in the OT is carried over into the NT in some way. I believe that the NC was initiated by the blood of Christ so that believers are in the NC now. Jesus said in

Matthew 26:28 “For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” The word testament is just another word for covenant. In fact, Hebrews 10:29 “Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?” translates it this way. Hebrews 9:16-17 quotes this very covenant as being fulfilled in Christ for us the believer. This covenant is not a continuation of the OT as it is called a new covenant, not according to the covenant I made with their fathers… when they came out of Israel. So it would be distinct from the Mosaic covenant. But I want us to go back to the original prophecy of the New Covenant:

Jeremiah 31:31–34 “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, That I will make a new covenant With the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers In the day that I took them by the hand To bring them out of the land of Egypt; Which my covenant they brake, Although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, And write it in their hearts; And will be their God, And they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: For they shall all know me, From the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: For I will forgive their iniquity, And I will remember their sin no more.”

One thing that stands out in this text is that, everyone would have God’s law on their hearts, they would all know God, and he would forgive all their sins. Why is this important? The Puritans who adopted the half-way covenant and many reformed churches today believe that the NC is like the Mosaic covenant. Under the law, everyone who was circumcized was considered a part of the people of God: a Jew. But were all those people believers in Jehovah. No clearly not. So they argued that the church is a mixed congregation just like Israel. But the NC is not like the MC.

Every believer is a true believer. All who belong to this covenant have had their sins forgiven and know God. In the Church which is his body, the universal church, there are no unbelievers. The local church is intended to be a reflection of the universal church. So it ought to include only truly saved persons.

The Practice of Church Interviews

Let’s face it, in theology we agree that there should not be any lost people in the membership of the church; but in practice this is nearly impossible. We have all met kids who prayed a prayer when they were younger and then realized later they weren’t saved. This implies they were members but not saved. What about people who say they are Christians, but they aren’t really. How many churches in America don’t even believe the gospel? What about those who profess to be saved, they could spout off the plan of salvation but their lives never reflect any change?

I think there is evidence in that story from acts 9, that the church can and did evaluate who should join a church. So how do we do this:

Some churches have you write out your written testimony or stand before everyone and give your testimony of salvation.

Some have a waiting period were they examine your life for fruit of salvation.

Others have a mandatory membership class before you can join the church.

In our church we practice doing a church interview. Prior to someone joining the church, the pastors or deacons will sit down with someone who has expressed a desire to join the church. We will ask them their salvation testimony, about their baptism and previous church experience. Then I usually open it up for any questions they might have. I usually give them a copy of the constitution for them to read at some time during this process. Then when they come before the church to join the church, we as pastors and deacons can make a recommendation which the church votes on.

I feel like this is a middle of the road way to approach it. We aren’t loose as some or as tight as others. The only biblical example we have of a process involved:

leaders talking to the candidate

hearing their testimony

evidence of faithful walk before the Lord- which could include prior baptism and church membership.

then reception into the church

Conclusion

I also try to hand out a copy of Rediscover Church by Jonathan Leeman of 9Marks to those who join as an indepth look at the purpose of church, the authority of the church, the worship and service of the church and the responsibilities of being a member of the church. I was given about 25 of these for free back before I was pastoring. I used them for a men’s bible study at the coffee shop once upon a time, but if you recently joined and I didn’t get you a copy and you would like one come see me.

Part of protecting the purity of the church is making sure that those who are members of the church are truly saved. Hopefully, tonight this message has helped you see in more detail why we require this. But I want to bring this to two applications:

If you don’t truly know the Lord as your savior, If you have never placed you trust in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; you can do that tonight. I would invite you when the piano plays to come forword and speak with a counselor about settling this tonight.

If you have never joined Harvest Hills Baptist Church, this is an invitation to come and initiate the process for joining the church. We would love to have you.