Joining a Church: How?
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Be Convinced
Be Convinced
Let the one submitting to be baptized be convinced
Let the one submitting to be baptized be convinced
The people came to John
The people were willingly confessing
Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices.
All of this was in response to the teaching and preaching of the word, not by any means of pressure or manipulation.
If you are not convinced in your mind and heart that you are born again; that you are safe in Christ for eternity, do NOT present yourself for membership in a Christian church. Do NOT approach baptismal waters, and do not be talked into it. Instead, prayerfully contemplate the gospel and seek help and counseling from a pastor or some other believer that you trust to be honest with you. Your eternal destiny is not worth any benefit form playing church.
I was asked recently if the old methods still worked:
I was asked recently if the old methods still worked:
If by old methods we mean the specific traditions of recent eras, no. Nor did they work as well as they have been purported to have then, else where are the hundreds and thousands baptized in the late 20th century by Missionary Baptist ministers as a result of Missionary Baptist ministries and revivals? Where are their children?
If however by old methods we mean the plain teaching of the doctrines given to us in scripture and a sincere heralding of gospel truths by pastors and congregations alike; these have never ceased to work, nor will they until the Lord returns.
Let the church be convinced
Let the church be convinced
It is a lie to say we are not to judge another’s salvation. We do, we should, we are commanded!
Voting to receive a member IS a statement of believing or disbelieving their testimony
Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.
John Gill 18th Ce
Bring forth therefore fruits
That is, if you are truly penitent, if you have a proper sense of sin, and true repentance for it, do such works as are suitable to it, and will show the genuineness of it; for
fruits meet for repentance
are the same as "works meet for repentance", ( ) and as a tree is known by its fruit, so repentance is known by good works; these are the fruits and effects of repentance, and which are proofs with men of the sincerity of it. Those which follow upon evangelical repentance are such as are mentioned in ( ) . Now let it be observed, that John insisted upon repentance, and a good conversation, attesting the truth of it as necessary prerequisites to the ordinance of baptism; and so Peter first urged repentance; and then proposed baptism, ( ) from whence one should think it may be rationally and strongly concluded, that none but truly repenting sinners, and such who have given proofs that they are so, are to be admitted to this ordinance.
St. John Chrysostom - 4th Ce
But by repentance I mean, not only to forsake our former evil deeds, but also to shew forth good deeds greater than those. For, bring forth, saith he, fruits meet for repentance. But how shall we bring them forth. If we do the opposite things: as for instance, hast thou seized by violence the goods of others? henceforth give away even thine own. Hast thou been guilty of fornication for a long time? abstain even from thy wife for certain appointed days; exercise continence. Hast thou insulted and stricken such as were passing by? Henceforth bless them that insult thee, and do good to them that smite thee. For
Benjamin Keach - 17th Ce
Benjamin Keach - 17th Ce
Biblically
Biblically
Historically
Historically
The glory of a true church, and its discipline display'd wherein a true gospel-church is described : together with the power of the keys, and who are to be let in, and who to be shut out / by Benjamin Keach. 1697.
The Person must give an account of his Faith;* and of the Work of Grace upon his Soul be∣fore the Church;* and also a strict Enquiry must be made about his Life and Conversation:* but if through Bashfulness the Party can∣not speak before the Congregati∣on,* the Elder and two or three more Persons may receive an ac∣count of his or her Faith, and re∣port it to the Church.* But if full Satisfaction by the Testimony of good and credible Persons is not given of the Party's Life and Conversation,* he must be put by until Satisfaction is obtained in that respect. Moreover, when the Majority are satisfied, and yet one or two Persons are not, the Church and Elder will do well to wait a little time, and endeavour to satisfy such Persons, especially if the Rea∣sons of their dissent seem weighty.
Be Baptized
Be Baptized
The Initiatory Rite of the New Covenant & ceremonial prerequisite for membership
The Initiatory Rite of the New Covenant & ceremonial prerequisite for membership
Baptism / Circumcision parallel
Circumcision of flesh
initiatory rite of Abrahamic Covenant -
Circumcision - rite of Old (Mosaic) Covenant -
prerequisite for covenant community
And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.
If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.”
Baptism
initiatory rite of New Covenant (Christ) -
and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
prerequisite for joining the covenant community
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
mt 28:
So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
THE Public Profession
THE Public Profession
because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
The Bible knows nothing of a secret conversion, only of those confessing like the Psalmist: Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!
Paul on Baptism
Paul on Baptism
THE Public Profession
THE Public Profession
We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.
col 2:
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Paul seems to see baptism not only as a picture of the gospel (Jesus being buried and raised) but as identifying the one being baptised to those realities. By grace, I died to sin, have been buried and am raised by grace to new life in Christ Jesus!
A Means of Grace
A Means of Grace
Question 46: How are these means made effective for salvation?
Question 46: How are these means made effective for salvation?
Answer: The Spirit of God makes the reading, but especially the preaching of the Word, an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort, through faith unto salvation. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper become effective means of salvation, not from any virtue in them or in him that administers them, but only by the blessing of Christ, and the working of his Spirit in those who by faith receive them.
Paul speaks in similar terms of communion:
Paul speaks in similar terms of communion:
The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.
1cor 10:
Simply put, when taken faithfully, the Lord’s Supper is not only a tangible reminder to forgetful, fleshly church members, and a means of our renewing our participation in the New Covenant; in Christ, it is a Spiritual, supernatural event whereby true believers are knit more closely together in unity as a body, as a church.
Since Paul uses similar participation and identifying language with baptism, we can then state that not only is a baptism an outward act of profession and pledge, but it is a Spiritual, supernatural event where the one being baptized is declared to be the blessed son or daughter of God, and all who witness it in faith are strengthened and reassured of their own standing with God.
The Pledge of faith and faithfulness
The Pledge of faith and faithfulness
Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.
because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.
it saves, is a means of grace, and is an appeal for a good conscience
but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.
1pet 3:
Thus, to have a good conscience before God, that is to know you have done what you must and ought, you must be properly baptized as a profession of what has occurred, namely your conversion, and as a pledge of what will be, namely a life of obedience to God in His church
Be Certain
Be Certain
Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Know what the doctrine of the church and the pastor are
Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.
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.
Know the people
submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Know this is God’s plan for you
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
Thanks be to God for His church! God help us to ever conform our practices to His word. God help the unsaved to repent for salvation, and then be baptized; joining in the church family for life!