Baptism/Membership - week 2

The Biblical Basis for Membership, The Responsibility Of Members, Gifts & Abilities, Overview Of The Constitution & By-Laws

Country clubs have membership fees so the members can belong to something and expect to be served in the process

Church membership sometimes is looked at as a country club membership. 

The church/personnel are there to serve the member however they desire to be served. 

Tithes and offerings are viewed as the membership dues.

What Is The Biblical Basis For Church Membership?

The Bible never gives a single command that says, “Thou shalt have church membership,” but the concept of a defined, committed body of believers belonging to a specific local church is strongly implied and practiced throughout the New Testament.

The Early Church Had a Defined Number of Believers

The New Testament regularly speaks of the church as a countable, identifiable group.

Read Acts 1:15, 2:41; 2:47; 4:4

People were added to something identifiable. There appears to be a recognized body of believers—what we would call membership.

Churches Practiced Removal From the Body

Church discipline requires knowing who is inside the church and who is outside.

Read 1 Corinthians 5

This distinction between “inside” and “outside” assumes a recognized group of people (i.e. church members).

The man in 1 Corinthians 5 was removed from the fellowship—something impossible if there were no defined membership.

Pastors Are Responsible for Specific People

Church leaders are commanded to shepherd a particular flock.

Hebrews 13:17 ESV

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

1 Peter 5:2 ESV

shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly;

For elders to give an account for souls, they must know who they are responsible for. The language in 1 Peter 5 implies a defined group under the care of the Eldership.

The Church Functioned as an Interdependent Body

The local church is described as a body where believers are committed to one another.

Read 1 Corinthians 12:12-27

Read Romans 12:3-21

Believers are members of one body, with mutual responsibility and care.

The Church Maintained Recognized Rolls or Lists

There is evidence of organized lists within the church.

Read 1 Timothy 5:9-16

Paul instructs that widows be “enrolled” (put on a list).

This shows that early churches kept recognized records of who belonged to certain groups within the church.

Baptism Marked Entrance Into the Church Community

The pattern in the New Testament is:

Salvation → Baptism → Addition to the Church

Acts 2:41 ESV

So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

Baptism publicly identified someone with a particular local church body.