Bible Study Step #3 – Investigate the Text for Clarity
This step is a bridge between observation and interpretation. Remember that observation is seeing what the text says. Interpretation is discovering what the text means by what it says. Investigation helps us to get from what the text says to what it means.
As we observed at the end of our last lesson that, after prayerfully reading the text in context and observing what the text says, we may still have unanswered questions. Many things will be clear, but perhaps a few things are still hazy. We may need to do some detailed investigation of the text. Where do we go to bring clarity to our understanding of what the text says?
The way we read and study the Bible flows from what the Bible is. The Bible declares about itself that all scripture is inspired by God (2 Tim. 3:16), that it is our spiritual food (Matt. 4:4), that it gives life (John 6:63), that it makes us wise for salvation through faith in Christ (2 Tim. 3:15), and that it is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:17). If we believe that, then we will want to get the most out of it.
Probably most of you have heard the adage, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” It’s more beneficial in the long run to provide knowledge and skills to help someone help themselves than to give them a direct solution or a handout. Applying this idea to Bible study, I suggest that although it is good for me to spoon-feed you the truth of God’s word, it is better for you if I can teach you how to feed yourself the word of God. Peter writes,
“Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” (1 Peter 2:1-3).
What does that scripture say should be the desire of all born again believers?
What benefit does feeding on the word of God have for us?
We are certainly privileged to live in a time and place where the Bible is so available to us. We not only have access to the word of God in our own language (which many in the past and even today have not), but we even have multiple good translations and study bibles available. We are privileged that most of us today are literate. Yet even with all this available, I fear that many Christians today are spiritually malnourished because they either lack the motivation or the skills to feed themselves.
What do you want to accomplish in this series of lessons?
7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; 8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; 9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. 10 More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. 11 Moreover by them Your servant is warned,
And in keeping them there is great reward. (Psalm 19:7-11).
What would you think if you heard God was publishing a book? What would you expect from such a book?
How to Be a Healthy Church Member in a Healthy Church
Romans 12
In Ephesians 2, Paul describes the church using the metaphor of a temple. Having shown how we are saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:1-10) and how, in Christ, God has brought us together in one body through the cross (Eph. 2:11-18), Paul then writes,
19Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,21in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,22in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. (Eph. 2:19-22)
What is the church like?
The church is like a holy temple—the dwelling place of God in the Spirit. All of us are like living stones that God places together in His spiritual house (see 1 Peter 2:4-5).
But what does this temple look like?
For that, let’s go to another letter of Paul, his epistle to the Romans. Romans 12 is like a blueprint, a template, or a form that lets us see what a healthy church looks like. Although the word “church” is not used in Romans 12, yet there is no question that the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul is writing to all the Lord’s churches in general and His church in Rome in particular. Here Paul gives a blueprint for a healthy church.
FOUNDATION: everyone is consecrated to the Lord. (Romans 12:1-2)[1]
1I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Rom. 12:1-2).
Paul begins with our relationship with God through Christ and our worship of Him. This comes before anything else. Without this, there is no church, period. In fact, Paul has spent eleven chapters detailing how we are saved through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and how we receive that salvation by grace through faith. All this doctrine, Paul sums up with the words “by the mercies of God.” Everything we do is in response to all He has done. It is on the basis of God’s mercy shown to us in Christ that Paul exhorts us to healthy church membership.
We consecrate our lives to God through Jesus Christ. Paul urges believers to “present your bodies a living sacrifice.” The word “present” is a technical term that was used to describe the bringing and offering of an animal for sacrifice on an altar, it is a worship word. The tense of the verb indicates this is a decisive dedication of ourselves to God. We deliberately place ourselves on His altar as we live our lives. When Paul calls us to present our “bodies” to the Lord, it means to offer our total being to Him, not just bits and pieces. Romans 6:13 tells us to offer every part of our bodies to Him as instruments of righteousness “And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” This is what it means to offer ourselves in a way that is “holy” and “acceptable to God.” This is our “reasonable service” or our “spiritual service of worship” (NASB).
How do we do that?
In Romans 12:2 Paul gives a negative command and then a positive one:
Do not be conformed to this world.
You don’t have to try to be conformed to this world, the world will conform you to its mold if you simply do nothing. How do we break out of the world’s mold?
Be transformed by renewing your mind.
At its core, not being conformed to this world, this evil age, is a matter of how we think. How are our minds renewed? By God’s word of truth. We are sanctified, made holy, and conformed to the image of Christ, by the word of truth.
Jesus prayed for His disciples in John 17:
14 “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. 16 “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. (John 17:14-17)
Transformation results in proving in practice God’s will. Paul describes the outcome of being renewed in your mind: “that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” When we turn away from the world’s ways and have our minds renewed by God’s word, we demonstrate that God’s will is always good, pleasing, and ultimately perfect.
So the foundation for healthy church membership in a healthy church is when the recipients of God’s mercy, have consecrated their lives to Him, and are focused on becoming more like Him and doing His will.
FRAMEWORK: everyone is growing in Christ. (Romans 12:3-8)
In a house, the framework is the beams that form the rafters and joists, the underpinning, and the studs. It will become invisible to everyone, but if it is absent or done poorly, everything is in jeopardy. The framework is built on the foundation.
The framework is made up of relationships that God builds in our lives and in our church.
Church members must be healthy in relation to:
a) Themselves.
3For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. (Rom. 12:3).
In verse 3 Paul uses one particular Greek word (and its compounds) four different times. It’s the word that is translated “think.” A literal translation of verse 3 might read something like this: “Do not super-think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but rather think of yourself with sober thinking.” The idea is that Christians ought to have a realistic appreciation of themselves—not puffed up with conceit and not dragging themselves down into the mud.
They are humble. They have a solid, balanced view of themselves as sinners saved by grace, as objects of divine grace. Grace should lead to humility. Everything we are and everything we have is a gift of God. We did not deserve it or earn it. And so, the foundation for true humility is always to keep God’s grace in view.
We are to think with reasonable, sound judgment “as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.” Literally, it is, “As God has measured out to each one a measure of faith.” Where does faith come from? Not from us. From God. He has measured out to each one a measure of faith. What does this mean? God has given each of us enough faith through His grace in Christ that we can serve in the body of Christ without conceit.
b) The body as a whole.
4For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function,5so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. (Rom. 12:4-5).
The church is like a body. It has many parts with many functions yet they all serve a larger purpose. The principle involved is unity amidst diversity. We’re not all alike in the body of Christ. We have different functions, different gifts, different backgrounds, and different preferences, different measures of faith. God doesn’t make cookie-cutter Christians. A healthy church is one made up of many different people who are united in Christ. We don’t have to share the same politics or like the same music or eat the same food or drive the same cars. That’s not what it’s all about. What we do share, however, is a deep-seated love for Jesus Christ. That ought to be enough to hold us together. Healthy churches are filled with people who have unity in diversity.
Just as a body is not a loose confederation of separate parts all doing their own thing, so the body of Christ, the church, is not a bunch of loosely connected, independent people all doing God’s work. The church is one where we are “individually members of one another.” We are interdependent on one another. We need each other because we belong to each other.
c) Their spiritual gifts.
6Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith;7or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching;8he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. (Rom. 12:6-8).
The body of Christ functions through members who use their spiritual gifts for the benefit of the body. They accept their gifts and use them within the congregation in Christ-honoring and body-building ways. God gives these gifts to every member “according to the grace that is given to us.” None of us can boast about our spiritual gift since it is given by God’s grace. Spiritual gifts are the gracious enabling or ability given to every believer by the Holy Spirit for service in the church. What Paul says about the seven gifts he mentions shows us that the point of the whole passage is that we must exercise our gifts. The purpose of our gifts is to use them to build up the body of Christ as each member does his or her part.
This is the framework—a right understanding of ourselves, a right relationship with one another, and a right relation to the use of spiritual gifts. It is a framework that expresses unity in diversity, interdependence, and building up each other through the exercise of spiritual gifts.
FINISHING: everyone lives by the law of love. (Romans 12:9-21)
Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. (Rom. 12:9).
As with a house, the finishing work is what people see. They do not focus on the foundation or the framework unless something is wrong. It is the finishing work that makes a house attractive and useful. In a congregation, the finishing work is the behavior of God’s people toward one another and the world. It is love in action.
The word here for “love” is the word “agape,” which means unconditional and sacrificial love. It is the kind of love that God showed to us in Christ while we were still sinners (Rom. 5:8). Nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:39).
This kind of love must “be without hypocrisy,” unfeigned, sincere (2 Cor. 6:6; 1 Pet. 1:22). Paul does not stop there but explains what that kind of love within the body looks like. After all, love in scripture is never presented as an emotion we feel but as an action we do.
If our love is pure and without guile or hypocrisy, here is what it will look like:
a) This kind of love hates evil.
Biblical love is discerning. Love does not mean ignoring sin. Followers of Christ will hate what He hated: bad religion, corrupt leaders, false teachers, and hypocritical do-gooders, for starters. We will abhor any evil thing that contaminates the body of Christ.
b) This kind of love values good things.
The opposite of abhorring what is evil is to “cling to what is good.” The verb, “cling to,” literally, is to be “glued to.” “The good” is God’s good, acceptable, and perfect will (12:2), His moral will, which is revealed in His Word.
c) This love puts others before itself (Rom. 12:10).
10Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; (Rom. 12:10)
In Christ we are a family. We are brothers and sisters, children of God, born of the same womb. Born again by the Holy Spirit of God through faith in Jesus Christ. So we are to love each other with a devotion that is characteristic of a loving, close-knit, supportive family.
We are not to seek honor for ourselves, but rather genuinely to rejoice when others receive honor and we don’t. This means that you look for tangible ways that you might honor a brother or sister. You do not let these opportunities come to you; you pursue them. You seek to “outdo one another” in trying to show esteem.
d) This love serves enthusiastically (Rom. 12:11).
Love energizes service. Love not only gives us a willing spirit to serve, but a fervent spirit to diligently serve the Lord. There are three exhortations that go together in this verse. Paul first gives us the negative, then the positive, and then the focus of the instruction.
Love is “not lagging in diligence”—it’s not lazy. Love is “fervent in spirit”—love is the foundation of our zealous service. The focus of our diligence and fervency is “serving the Lord.” If we love little, we likely serve little. If we love much, then it shows up in our service.
e) This love joyfully endures hardship through prayer (Rom. 12:12)
rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; (Rom. 12:12).
The staying power of love is closely related to its constant companions, faith and hope. Here Paul emphasizes love’s endurance in the midst of adversity. Prayer is the lifeline that lays hold of the living God to supply our needs during times of tribulation. Being devoted to prayer is the only way that you can rejoice in hope and persevere in tribulation.
f) This love shares generously (Rom. 12:13).
distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.
“Distributing” (Rom. 12:13) is the Greek verb, koinoneo, often translated as “fellowshipping” or “sharing together.” It is used in reference to sharing material goods in several other places (Acts 2:44; 4:32; Rom. 15:27; 2 Cor. 8:4; 9:13; Gal. 6:6; Phil. 4:15; 1 Tim. 6:18; Heb. 13:16). It means more than just tossing a little money to a need. It calls for participation, involvement, and engagement.
Hospitality literally means, ‘fond of strangers,’ implying taking in strangers as guests in the home. Hospitality is a big deal in Scripture (Hebrews 13:1-2 and Matthew 25:40,45). We are blessed with some incredibly hospitable members. I would encourage you to pursue someone for whom you might show hospitality. Minister to them around your table, enjoying fellowship in your home. This verse calls for participation.
g) This love treats enemies kindly (Rom. 12:14,17-20).
14Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. … 17 Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. 18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. 19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”
This is in complete harmony with our Lord’s command that we love our enemies (Matt. 5:44). We are to do good, bless, pray, and give to our persecutors. A healthy church finds ways to love their enemies.
h) This love blesses the hurting and the lowly (Rom. 12:15-16).
15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 16 Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.
The mindset of the gospel says, “Because God was merciful to me when I was His enemy, I will bless those who hate me and wrong me.” We sympathize with others both in joys and in sorrows. Same-mindedness means that instead of self-preoccupation, self-infatuation, and self-exaltation, we join in Christ-preoccupation, Christ-infatuation, and Christ-exaltation (Piper).
i) This love is an overcoming-with-good force (Rom. 12:21).
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
The Lord’s plan is not to destroy our enemies, but to win them over.
Leeman summarizes the duties of a church member when he writes:
Just as Christ submitted his whole life for our good, so we should submit our whole lives for one another’s good. It’s not as if there is some area of our life that is exempt from considering the interests of others better than our own. Specifically, we should give ourselves to our churches publicly, physically, socially, affectionately, financially, vocationally, ethically, and spiritually.[2]
And,
Christ’s love wonderfully transforms the ugly into the beautiful (see Eph. 5:22–31). Our love for one another should do the same thing—help the ugly become beautiful. Who can love in this way? Only the ones whose eyes have been opened and whose hearts have been freed from the slavery of loving this world: “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36 ESV).[3]
The heart of church membership isn’t necessarily having your name on a list. The heart of membership is: “I am committed to Christ and therefore to all of you.” I will share your joy and your pain. I will take responsibility for you. I will love and care for you. That’s the meaning of membership. It’s a deeply biblical reality born of the spiritual union between Christ and His church—the reality that each local church is the body of Christ, and we as individual Christians are members of it.
I hope you all had a chance to read the introduction and chapter 1 of the book we provided, Church Membership, by Jonathan Leeman. I will be talking about some of the concepts that Leeman deals with in that chapter. But where I would like to start today is to ask:
What is a church?
The first place we find the word “church” in the New Testament is Matthew 16:18. Let’s read it in context:
13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” 14 So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matt. 16:13-19)
We don’t have time to study this whole passage in detail, but I do want to you to notice what it says about the church. Many people today understand the church as a building, an institution, or an organization. This is not really a biblical understanding of the church.
What is the meaning of the word “church”?
Let’s think for a moment about the meaning of the word “church.” “Church” is a translation of the Greek word ekklesia (from ek = out + klesis = a calling, verb = kaleo = to call)[1]; so it literally means called out or the called-out ones. So, it came to mean an assembly convened for a specific purpose. It is used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament to translate the Hebrew word qāhēl meaning assembly or congregation of people for civil affairs (1 Kings 2:3), for war (Num 22:4), of nations (Gen 35:11), and a variety of other gatherings, including, and most importantly, Israel’s gatherings for religious purposes (Deut 9:10; 2 Chron 20:5; Joel 2:16).[2]
So, the biblical meaning of church is not that of a building, an institution, or an organization, but it is a gathering of people for a specific purpose. It is ironic that when you ask people what church they attend, they usually identify a building, a location, or a denomination. A church may meet in a building at a certain location. In Romans 16:5 Paul writes about Pheobe saying, “… greet the church that is in their house.” Paul refers to the church in their house—not a church that is a house—not a building, but a gathering of believers.
How is the word “church” used?
In the New Testament, the word church can refer to a group of Christians (Acts 11:26) meeting on a regular basis in a home, in a particular city (Jerusalem, Acts 8:1, 11:22; Antioch, Acts 13:1; Corinth, 1 Cor. 1:2; Thessalonica, 1 Thess. 1:1; the seven churches of Revelation 2-3), in a region (Acts 9:31), or larger area. Taken together, we realize that the church is a universal body composed of all true believers in Christ, united in Him by the Spirit, and that there are particular geographical expressions of it here and there and throughout history. Thus, though there are many local “churches,” there is really only one church (Eph 4:4; Heb 12:23).
Which “church” is Jesus talking about in Matthew 16:18, universal or local?
The universal church:
Since Jesus is talking about one “church”, it seems that He is describing the universal church—all believers of all ages, His one true church. Some have called this the “invisible church” because only Christ can infallibly see who is a true believer and who is not. Some of them may be in churches. Some in churches may not be in His church. This is the church Jesus promised to build in Matthew 16. Here are more verses that talk about the universal church: 1 Corinthians 12:13, 28; 15:9; Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians 1:18; Hebrews 12:22-24.
The local church:
Now, let’s turn to the only other passage in the Gospels where we find the word “church,” Matthew 18:17. Again, reading it in context,
15 “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. 16 “But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ 17 “And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. 18 “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20 “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” (Matt. 18:15-20).
Here we find Jesus teaching His disciples that they should address unresolved sin by telling it “to the church.” Knowing, as we do, that by the time Matthew wrote these words from Jesus, the universal church was scattered throughout the whole Roman world—how could they tell it to the church? It seems that this is talking about a specific gathering of believers located in one place—the local church.
The overwhelming emphasis in the New Testament is on the local church. Of the over 105 times ekklesia is used with reference to the church, approximately seventy percent of those are unambiguous references to a local church (e.g., Acts 8:1; 11:22; 14:23; 15:41; 16:5; 20:17; Rom. 16:1, 4; 1 Cor. 1:2; 4:17; 6:4; 7:17; 11:16; 11:18; 14:19; 14:33; 16:1; 2 Cor. 1:1; 8:1; Gal. 1:2; 1:22; 1 Thess. 1:1; James 5:14; Rev 1:4, 11, 20; 2:1; 11, 12). The local church is described in Galatians 1:1–2: “Paul, an apostle . . . and all the brethren who are with me, To the churches of Galatia.” In the province of Galatia, there were many churches—they had a localized ministry and were scattered in towns throughout the province. They were local churches.
Now, back to Matthew 16, I want you to notice these things about the church. These things are true of the universal church, but they are lived out in the local church.
1. The church belongs to Christ, not to us.
Jesus said, “I will build My church” (Matt. 18:18). It’s Christ’s church. He bought it with His blood (Acts 20:28). It belongs exclusively to Him. No one—no matter how influential or how much money he has donated or how long his ancestors have been members of a church—can rightly claim, “This is my church!” No, it’s not! Jesus Christ owns it. He places us in it for His kingdom purposes. Membership does not mean that the church belongs to me or even to the members gathered together. Jesus is Lord of His church. He is King. We are His subjects, citizens of His Kingdom.
As Jonathan Leeman, in the book Church Membership that we gave you, says, “Jesus has imperium… He is the one with final power over life and death” (p. 20). Leeman points out that the Bible talks about church membership more in terms of “how God’s people gather together under His supreme rule.” (p. 25). The church is the “Lord and His bound-together people.” (p. 26). And, “A local church is a real-life embassy, set in the present, that represents Christ’s future kingdom and His universal church.” (p. 28).
The risen Lord Jesus said to His gathered disciples, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth, Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations” (Matt. 28:18). Jesus has all authority. Paul writes, that God has, “… put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” (Eph. 1:22-23).
What this means for church membership is that we don’t just “decide to join” a church. We must first submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We must recognize Him as King and us as subjects of His Kingdom. We must submit to the authority of Christ.
2. The church is built on a right understanding and confession of Jesus Christ.
Peter, under direct revelation from God the Father, correctly proclaims of Jesus (Matt. 16:16), “You are the Christ.” Christ means that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah or Anointed One, prophesied about in over 300 Old Testament prophecies. Peter’s pronouncement that Jesus is “the Son of the living God” may have been a parallel way of saying that Jesus is the Messiah. But it also reveals Jesus’ divine nature—that He is the eternal second person of the Trinity.
What this means for church membership is that we submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ by believing the right things and confessing the right things about Christ. This is the way that God saves us by His grace through faith in Christ. Paul says it this way in Romans 10:
9that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.10For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Rom. 10:9-10).
This means that it is of utmost importance for the church to preserve and proclaim sound doctrine about the person and work of Jesus Christ.
3. The church has the authority to proclaim the gospel of salvation.
Peter, representing the apostles, had the authority to proclaim the gospel of forgiveness of sins to all who repent and believe in Jesus, or judgment to those who refuse to believe. In fact, we see Peter doing this with the Jews on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2), with the Samaritans (Acts 8), and with the Gentiles (Acts 10). And we have the apostolic testimony to God’s way of salvation in the New Testament. As members of the church, Christ has entrusted to us the most important message in the world: whoever believes in Jesus will not perish, but have eternal life as God’s free gift (John 3:16; Eph. 2:8-9); but those who do not believe are condemned.[3]
What that means for church membership is that the Lord Jesus Christ has given to the church the authority to recognize and disciple those who are saved. Leeman puts it this way in the book, “The local church is the authority on earth that Jesus has instituted to officially affirm and give shape to my Christian life and yours.” (p. 24). And, “A church member is a person who has been officially and publicly recognized as a Christian …, who shares in the same authority of officially affirming and overseeing other Christians in his or her church.” (p. 28).
What do you think about Leeman’s statement, “Christians don’t join churches, they submit to them.” (p. 29)?
We know that we submit to Christ, the head of the church. Do we submit to the church also? Leeman writes, “If Jesus instituted the local church with authority over us, we don’t just join one like we join clubs or voluntary associations; we submit to them as we do governments.” (p. 29). It also means that being a part of the church is not optional, it is essential. Leeman writes, “Once you choose Christ, you must choose His people, too … Choose the Father and the Son and you have to choose the whole family—which you do through a local church.” (p. 31). The apostle John put it in terms of love, “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him.” (1 John 5:1). If we are truly born again as children of God we not only love God but we love our brothers and sisters in Christ. The practical way that we love one another is through the family of God in the local church.
Jesus teaches that the authority of His disciples (that exercised in His church) is very different from worldly rulers and authorities. Matthew 20 says that Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said,
“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. 26 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. 27 And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave– 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Matt. 20:25-28).
Jesus is not teaching that the church has no authority; nor is He teaching that we do not submit to authority. He is teaching that it is a different kind of authority—based on service and sacrifice, not manipulation and coercion.
4. The church will not ultimately fail.
Jesus said, “I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). The city gates were the place where the government transacted official business. So, it was a figure of speech for government authority. So I think that Jesus meant that all the powers of death and hell cannot stop His church from ultimately triumphing.
Leeman says that there are two groups who really understand the significance of the church: governments who persecute the church and Christians who are persecuted. Governments who persecute the church understand that Christians can never “give final allegiance to” the state, “They give it to Jesus.” (p. 32). And persecuted Christians understand the price of their allegiance to Jesus, that it is not optional. Submission to Christ means submission to His church.
