Church membership in the Bible.(The Scripture references are hyperlinked to an online Bible. Just hover over the reference and it will be displayed in full.)
When we look to Scripture, we see the church functioning as groups of believers devoted in fellowship to one another [Acts 2:42], in local assemblies [1 Cor 1:2, Col 1:2, 1 Thess 1:1-2], under the loving care and instruction of biblically qualified elders and deacons [Acts 20:28, Phil 1:1, 1 Pet 5:2-3, Heb 13:7]. The word translated as "fellowship" in the New Testament is the Greek word koinonia, which speaks of joint participation and community. God intends believers to be active members of a local church with mutually submissive, interdependent, accountable and meaningful relationships [Eph 5:21, 1 Cor 12:21, Heb 10:24-25, 1 Thess 5:11]. Our corporate fellowship is simply an expression of this. However, these kinds of relationships cannot function effectively when believers drift from church to church or attend only occasionally as essentially long term visitors with no intention to commit to a church family. The pattern in Scripture is that of believers not just going to a church, but rather belonging to a church. This is crucial since the church elders, pastors and deacons need to know who we're spiritually accountable to God for [Heb 13:17]. Since the church is made up of God's people, membership simply describes the commitment believers are to have towards their brothers and sisters in the local church as they seek to carry out the "one anothers" in Scripture, and as they are equipped for the work of ministry, each doing their share [Eph 4:11-16]. Additionally, without a meaningful church membership a local church cannot protect its members through the practice of loving and patient church discipline in the event that this is required [Matt 18:15-17] [1 Cor 5]. Although church membership is not specifically commanded in Scripture, we believe it is the Scriptural model for good and beneficial reasons. This is why we have a formal church membership here at CBC. |
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The Priority of the Local Church - Part 2
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CBC - What We Believe and Teach
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