I Went to Church Yesterday

The twelfth of an undetermined number in a series on the character and need for corporate worship.

I went to church yesterday. I'm part of the body of Christ. In it the union between God and his people is sealed. Christ's body is the temple, the place in which God dwells with his people, Jn 2:19. It is a community, a communion of the saints. Now, it is true that the Lord saves us individually – each one of us must confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Christ from the dead, in order for us to be saved, Rom 10:9. As Jesus Jesus taught the baffled Nicodemus ".. unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." Jn 3:3; see also vv. 5, 8.

However, the Scripture also goes on to tell us that our confession of Christ is neither something that we do of ourselves nor is it an action that is unto ourselves, that is, that it terminates on us. Our confession of the Lord Jesus Christ is effected by the Holy Spirit: ".. No one can say "Jesus is Lord" except in the Holy Spirit." 1 Cor 12:3. Secondly, the Holy Spirit sovereignly equips each person with different spiritual gifts, vv. 4-11. Thirdly, it is in (by) this Holy Spirit that "… we were all baptized into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free--and all were made to drink of one Spirit., ", v. 13. The summary of these verses is that as man the sinner is regenerated by the Holy Spirit, he is at the same time equipped with at least one spiritual gift with which he is to glorify God and serve other believers, 1 Pe 4:10-11, in the context of the local church, into which he is divinely placed. In the same way that parts of the physical body are organically interconnected, so "God arranged the members in the body [the church], each one of them, as he chose." 1 Cor 12:18. Essential to the understanding of the word member is the notion of a relationship with others; to be a member is to be a part of a group, collective or community. "For the body does not consist of one member but of many… If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body." vv. 14, 19-20. The one church is constituted of many different members.

From the foregoing we can safely conclude that genuine faith is a faith that terminates upon the Person and work of Jesus Christ and that expresses itself in the communion of saints, which is also termed the assembly or congregation of the faithful. This community is the church. While the Scripture teaches that the word church may be used in a variety of ways – the company of believers in one house, Rom 16:5; 1 Cor 16: 19; etc.; one city, Acts 8:1; 11:22, 26; etc.; a particular province, Acts 9:31; and in a universal or catholic sense, 1 Cor 12:28; Eph 1:22; 3:10, 21; etc., "Very frequently the word is used in the plural to designate the plurality of churches, that is to say of units, scattered throughout a certain area of lesser or greater geographical proportions.. Acts 14:23; 15:41; 1 Cor 16:1, 19;.." (John Murray, Christian Baptism, p. 33). It is with particular reference to this latter application of church, that is, the local, visible church, that saving faith is expressed and verified. As the late Professor Murray elucidates, "Union with Christ and the faith through with that union is effected, though in themselves invisible and spiritual facts, are nevertheless realities which find expression in what is observable." p. 34. In other words, one cannot claim to have faith in Christ and thereby to be a part of the universal church without being a member of a local, visible community. Saving faith is anchored in ".. visible association and organization [which] are implicit in the very nature of what constitutes the church." Ibid. Membership in the local church therefore is an inevitable consequence of saving faith. As such, it is a privilege to be enjoyed, a responsibility to be willingly undertaken, a union to be displayed, for it is one of the "… far-reaching implications of faith and conduct." Such action necessarily follows our confession which is "… an intelligent and consistent profession of faith in Christ and of obedience to him." Ibid., 36. (Emphasis added)

Well, some would argue, what about the thief on the cross? Was he not saved? Did he not make a genuine profession of faith in Christ? Surely he was not a member of the local church! All of these are true. However, the major point of Jesus' extending saving mercies to this thief is to demonstrate, not the possibility of deathbed salvation – (note that of the countless biblical examples of sinners coming to faith in Scripture, this is the only one of its kind. Therefore, it can be correctly described as extremely limited- only one is recorded in Scripture, but nevertheless, real- it was genuine; Christ did save this sinner)- but his absolute faithfulness in honoring his promise that ".. Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame… For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." " Rom 10:11, 13.

So what did I learn in church yesterday? I was strengthened in the truth that being a member of the local church is an immense privilege. I was fortified in the biblical teaching that the saving faith we are given and which ".. comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." v. 17, is the very faith that directs us to the place where Christ dwells on earth, his church, his body, his historical community which he created and over which he rules by his Word and Spirit. In church I learned that membership in (t)his body is not a peripheral or incidental matter, nor is it simply a personal matter. On the contrary, church membership is one of the crucial evidences of true saving faith, the faith that is worked in the heart of the sinner by the Holy Spirit in conjunction with the Word of God but that which, essentially, is a faith that is evinced in corporate communion. In church I gained a deeper understanding of the fact that on the Lord's Day, all believers are to answer the Holy Spirit's summons to “Adeste fideles, .. Venite adoremus, Domine,” that is, to "Come all ye faithful.. Come and adore him, Christ the Lord." In so doing, we demonstrate our faith is genuine. In so doing, we demonstrate that in our corporate worship and in our service to our brothers and sisters, we are not living for ourselves but for him who lived, died and was raised for our sake, 2 Cor 5:15.

I learned all of this in church yesterday.

I Went to Church Yesterday

The ninth of an undetermined number in a series on the character of and need for corporate worship.

I went to church yesterday. It is always a humbling privilege to be in the presence of the Lord with the rest of the saints. It is always a joyous and fearful experience to join with the members of our local congregation on the Lord's Day. There, in the congregation of the righteous, among those who have already fled for refuge in Christ alone as our only comfort in this life and in the life to come (Heidelberg Catechism Lord's Day # 1), we receive strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us, Heb 6:18. There, in the very presence of God, in the ark of his safety, he sweetly and sovereignly protects us from the chaos, hazards and evils of the world. There, we hear his voice in the preaching of the Word and as we eat and drink with the Lord Jesus Christ in the sacrament of the Lord's Table. There, we truly taste of the powers of the age to come. There, we are reminded of God's love for us, a love that reaches its highest expression in God’s sending his son to live a sinless life for us and to die for us, while we were yet sinners, Rom 5:8; see also v. 6.
Clearly the coming together in joyful, worshiping assembly is primarily an occasion for those that belong to God through Christ. Truly this is an event designed for God's people whom Christ purchased with his blood. Certainly this moment for those whom Christ states “Behold, I and the children God has given me.” Heb 2:13. Obviously this is a celebration for members only.

As I reflected on these truths, it began to dawn on me that to be a member of Christ's body, to be purchased by him and placed by his Spirit in his body, which receives its nourishment, strength and guidance from its head, Jesus Christ, is to be the recipient of an incomparable honor. There, unworthy in ourselves to be beneficiaries of Christ and all the benefits that he communicates to us, we are reminded that it is only by Christ's Person and work that we have been made adequate to receive such rewards.

I began to wonder again, that if all these are true, then why is it that some take church membership so lightly? Why is it that some regard it as an unpleasant, inconvenient option? Why is it that even among some professing true religion, they speak of the church as an unpleasant gathering that is full of hypocrites? Why do many perceive it to be a mere social and religious institution whose pastors are only out to get our money? I remember once having a discussion on this matter with a bank teller who stubbornly insisted that although she was not a member of a local, visible church, Christ still dwelt within her. In so doing she pointed to her heart. She was rather buxom.

Notwithstanding, the biblical witness is very clear: the Lord God has always been creating a people for himself. From the time of Adam and Eve, the first family, and from then on to Noah and his family, then to Abraham's family which the Lord expanded into a nation variously called the children of Israel, the sons of God, my people, and to which he often referred as his sheep, we understand that the Lord has always been concerned with sovereignly creating a people, a community, for himself. In this regard, Israel, the church of the Old Testament, was commanded by God to authenticate itself as God's own treasured possession by obeying his precepts regarding worship, diet and social/legal relationships. As Moses reminded his hearers "See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.' For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? The New Testament continues this pattern and principle. And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?" Dt 4:5-8. In sum, God's people, the members of his covenant community, the members of his church, have particular God-given signs by which they show themselves to be separated from the rest of the world and unto God.

The New Testament continues this pattern. The apostle Paul tells us throughout 1 Cor 12 that the church is indeed a body consisting of many members. "For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ… For the body does not consist of one member but of many." If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body." vv. 12, 14, 19 -20.
How did the many members come to be placed in this body? By what means were they constituted as one body? By the sovereign work of God alone: "For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free--and all were made to drink of one Spirit… But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose." vv. 13, 18. Thus, it is the Lord God himself who chooses us for our neighbors and who chooses our neighbors for us! We are his people! We are family!

Further, membership in the local church is based on the expression of our common confession of faith: "There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call-- one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." Eph 4:4-6.

In this era, the body of Christ marks itself off, rather, is marked off by God, from the rest of the world, not my keeping the law but by its members' Christ-like love for one another, Jn 13:35. "For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Gal 5:14.

It is therefore within the body of Christ, that the power, love and Presence of God in the Person and work of Christ as proclaimed through the faithful preaching of the Word and as received through the proper administration of the sacraments, come alive!

These were some of the great truths that were reinforced in church yesterday. As we sang together, prayed together, confessed our sins together and received God's pardon [on the basis of Christ's merits alone] together, we were reminded that we were God's covenant community, a corporate entity, his chosen people, his own treasured possession, that he is constantly forming and shaping, molding and growing, into the image of Christ, for his own glory.

I went to church yesterday. I am a member of Christ's body.

Next week, God willing, we'll continue this discussion on the topic of church membership.