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Lesson Seven The Church And You
We begin this lesson with some questions. What is the church? What is your relationship to the church?
The church is composed of people who have been saved from their past sins by the blood of Jesus Christ, having rendered obedience to the commands of the gospel of Christ. God alone forgives sins, and God alone makes one a member of His church God adds the saved to the church (Acts 2:47). People do not and cannot "join" the church like they would some club or fraternal organization. When they believe, repent of their sins, confess their faith in Christ, and are baptized into Christ for the remission of sins, their sins are forgiven them and God adds them to the church, the company of the saved.
The church is identified as the family of God (I Timothy 3:15). It is called the "house of God" which is His family. The church is also called the body of Christ (Ephesians 1:22,23). The church is that organization and institution of people who have been purchased by the blood of Christ (Acts 20:28), and are therefore the possession of God (I Corinthians 6:19,20). There is no such thing as being saved apart from the church because the church is the saved. The same process of obedience whereby one's sins are remitted is the process by which one becomes a member of the church. This denominational teaching that we do one thing to be saved and something else and different to "join" some church is a false teaching and has no root in Scripture whatsoever.
The church is also called the kingdom of God (Matthew 16:16-18). Those that make up the church are those who are in the kingdom (Colossians 1:13). Christ is the King of the kingdom and Christians are the citizens of it. It has no earthly headquarters because the throne of the King is in heaven (Acts 7:49). It is a spiritual kingdom, not one of this world (John 18:36).
The church of Christ is not a denomination. One never reads about denominations in the Bible. Denominationalism is entirely a creation of man and is the result of apostasy from the truth of God. There is no divine authority for the existence of any denomination on the face of the earth. If a church is a denomination, it is not the church of Christ. If it is the church of Christ, it is not a denomination.
You Are Or You Are Not
What is your relationship to the church? At this moment you are either a member of the Lord s church or you are not. If you are a member, then you are a Christian, one whose past sins were forgiven when you were baptized. If you are not a member of the church, you are yet lost and doomed in your sins, and there is not a word of hope for your soul anywhere in the Bible so long as you remain as you are. All spiritual blessings are found "in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3) and if you are not in Christ, you are not the recipient of His spiritual blessing. Nor shall you be until you are a member of His church
Let us turn our attention to certain responsibilities that you have in the church toward others who are members of the church and learn more of the relationship one should have toward the church.
Government
You should be identified with a local congregation. The universal church has no organizational or governmental structure other than Jesus Christ as the King. Christ is the head of the church (Colossians 1:18). Christians in a given locality make up a local congregation. They assemble for worship, have fellowship together in the doing of the work of God.
The local church is ruled and overseen by men designated as elders or bishops. There is to be a plurality of bishops in each congregation, men who meet certain specified qualifications as given in First Timothy 3 and Titus 1. The local church is served by those called deacons. There are preachers and teachers, and the membership makes up the body. There is no ecclesiastical structure larger than the local church in the church which Christ built. One of the major avenues of digressions has been the departure from the governmental structure of the church. Once that is set aside or altered, then liberties of every sort are brought in and apostasy is sure to follow.
A Christian is to cooperate with those who have the leadership of the local church. He is under their watchcare and oversight. They have the authority in matters of judgment and opinion over the local church. The church is not a democracy, nor is to be ruled by tragical means. The universal church is a monarchy with Christ as king and each local church governed as we have noted. Each member has an obligation to those who are called upon to serve as elders. Elders are to be "esteemed highly for their work's sake." (I Thessalonians 5:13). Members are to obey them (Hebrews 13:7). One violates God's law to raise rebellion against the duly ordained eldership when that eldership is acting according to Scripture and within the boundaries of their authority. Careless and reckless accusations against elders are not to be received. Good elders do not have to ask for respect and consideration because they so conduct themselves that they win the confidence of those over whom they have oversight.
Its Work
When plans are made for the carrying out of the work of the church, our relationship to the church is to be one of cooperation and harmony.
Each member is obligated to contribute of his means to the local church. Financially, the church is dependent upon members who give willingly, cheerfully, bountifully, sacrificially, The church is not authorized to go into business ventures to make money. Saving souls, not money, is the work of the church. To withhold your support to the local church is to withhold that which belongs to God. We would not contend that every contribution you make must be given to one local church, but we would contend that every Christian has the duty to the church to give. It is surely not a matter of great debate that the support of the local church should not only fall on a few while others feel no responsibility whatever. We are brethren and should have joint participation with each in this matter.
As a Christian, your relationship to the church should be one that tends to making and keeping the church united, as Jesus prayed for the church to be. The influence and power of the church is often drained away because of division. In matters where God has spoken, there is no room for division. We are to speak the same things and be of the same mind (Philippians 1:27; I Corinthians 1:10). In matters of human wisdom and the exercise of opinion, we should be charitable toward each other, remembering that the eldership has the duty and power of making such decisions for the local church. Seldom will everybody be pleased with every decision. It is our task to work for unity, not division. We might note that elderships that are attune to the disposition of the congregation will take into consideration what others think before making decisions that affect the entire body. As for matters of faith where God has spoken, their duty is clear. They are to uphold the Word of God regardless of what others may think. Good leaders are considerate attentive, open-minded and try to create the unity among brethren that is easy to sustain by the members. A sower of discord is abominable to the Lord (Proverbs 6:l6ff) and one places his soul in danger to foment division and strife just to have his own way.
Love The Brotherhood
Where there is genuine love for God and Christ and the Holy Spirit, where there is love among brethren, where the truth and its power is utmost in the minds of the brethren, unity, peace, harmony, Cooperation is much easier maintained. Each Christian should always try to be a part of the solution to every problem, never the source of it.
As a Christian, you owe it to every other member of the church to live a righteous life. We do not have the right to live anyway we want We must take into consideration the influence and effect that it has on the rest of the brethren, as well as the image our behavior places before the world about the church of Christ. One of the most powerful weapons in the arsenal of the devil is hypocrisy among members of the church. The devil delights in being able to point to the professed Christian and take note of his inconsistencies and sins. Teachers of the truth are often placed in embarrassing situations when trying to proclaim and defend the truth because there are those of their own brethren who are so involved in sin that his words of instruction have little effect on his hearers. You have no right to ruin the influence of the church, to retard the efforts made to save souls, to bring reproach on the name of Christ by living a hypocritical life. This attitude that it is nobody's business but my own what I do is false. What we do involves God, His church, as well as our own spiritual welfare.
To help the church remain pleasing to God, every member should check everything by the Bible. We all should insist that what is preached and practiced be authorized by the Scriptures. Only in this way can we prevent the congregation where we attend from drifting away from the straight and narrow path. Almost from the time of the beginning of the church there have been those who have wanted to go beyond the doctrine of Christ. Likewise, there have been those who have been "watchdogs" that often confused their watching with their insistence that everything be done their way. We all do need to watch and be alert to the slightest deviation from the truth. Digression does not occur suddenly but gradually, little by little, step by step. Only a persistent and consistent measuring by the Scriptures will keep the church on course. Everyone has a duty in helping to do this. We have the duty to uphold the truth as it is taught, and to oppose and expose error whenever and wherever it raises its Satanic head.
If you are a Christian, you and the church are inseparable because you are one of the members of it. You have to sustain a relationship to all the rest of the redeemed. We not only need to know what that relationship is, but we must determine that we will be one who will be found performing as the Lord has commanded.