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Salvation and Church Membership |
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By Dr. Mark Jackson Pastor, Towne Boulevard Church of God Middletown, OH |
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So what is salvation, and how is it connected to church membership? A common slogan used among our congregations is that the Church of God [Movement] is a place “where salvation makes you a member.” We believe only the Lord can add you to His church. Thus, we have no formal membership process in the Church of God [Movement] where a church vote is taken to determine who is a member of the church. Neither do we have a church roll book of the saved. We believe that God’s roll book is in heaven (Luke 10:20). This, however, does not mean that we deny church membership. We just hold to the belief that it is the Lord Who makes a person a member, not the pastor or the people in the church.
The inseparable connection between salvation and church membership is taught in the New Testament. Acts 2:47 says, “And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” It was the Lord that added people to the church, and He did this by saving them. Concerning this verse, John Stott states, “The Lord did two things together. He ‘added to their number . . . those who were being saved.’ He didn’t add them to the church without saving them, and he didn’t save them without adding them to the church. Salvation and
church membership went together: they still do.” Another important verse that connects salvation and church membership is 1 Cor. 12:13. It states, “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” Through the saving, baptizing work of the Spirit we are placed into one body, the church. This true whether we are Jew or Gentile, slave or free. We all enter the church the same way and that is through salvation. As Dunn states, “For Paul, to become a Christian and to become a member of the Body of Christ are synonymous.” There simply is no record in the New Testament of a formal process whereby the church itself determines who is a member.
A lot of people in the church world speak of joining a particular church or transferring their membership from one church to another. Again, we in the Church of God [Movement] do not think that we join a church this way. This is why there is no vote from our congregations to determine who is part of the church. That decision belongs to God. He alone places a person in His church and He does this by saving them. Earl Martin explains, “No man can make one a member. We cannot join the church. We must be added to it by the Lord. He adds only the saved. He adds all the saved. Hence it is composed of all saved people, all who have been born again.” As Martin points out, only the saved and all the saved are part of God’s church.
This teaching is a great part of our heritage in the Church of God [Movement], and it is one that we should maintain. Robert Reardon states, “This membership in the great family of God through the new birth, standing in Christ alone, reaching hands in fellowship to every blood-washed one, is still a powerful, scriptural, and compelling idea.” I agree. There is no way into God’s family other than salvation. So we need to teach this, but we also need to know what salvation is and how to experience it.
Salvation in Jesus Christ Salvation is experienced in Jesus Christ, for He provided it and it is received as we place our faith in Him. Matt. 2:21 says, “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Paul writes, “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (2 Tim. 1:15). Jesus Himself said, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10). Jesus came to save us from our sins, and there is no salvation apart from Him. The salvation that we enjoy was provided for us by Christ in His atoning death and bodily resurrection. Charles Spurgeon once claimed that he could sum up the Gospel in four words, “Christ died for me.” Though true, we do not want to forget the resurrection, or for that matter His ascension, intercessory ministry, and return. It is tempting for us to emphasize the cross to the degree that we neglect other aspects of His saving work. The good news of salvation is that Jesus died for our sins, rose again on the third day, is interceding for us at the right hand of God, and will return one day (1 Cor. 15:3-4; Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25; 9:28). He died in our place. He died to turn away God’s wrath from us, for His blood covers our sin by atoning for it. He rose from the dead as proof that God the Father accepted His atoning death on our behalf. Had He been a false Messiah or a sinner, God would have left Him in the tomb. But God raised Him from the grave demonstrating that He is the Son of God and that His death did atone for our sins. Also, He was raised to defeat death. Jesus said, “Because I live, you also will live” (John 14:19). The resurrection of Christ is the foretaste and guarantee of our own future, bodily resurrection. He is interceding for us in order to preserve us, and He will return at the Father’s appointed time to consummate our salvation.
It’s important to point out that this is the only provision of salvation. There is no salvation in other religions, for they are human attempts to find acceptance with God in ways other than the one described in the gospel. There are good things in most religions, but this does not mean that salvation is found in them or through them. No religion saves, not even Christianity per se; it is Christ and Christ alone who saves. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). There is only “one” mediator between holy God and sinful humanity, and that mediator is Jesus Christ (1 Tim. 2:5). Jesus prayed that the cup in Gethsemane be removed from Him, but it was not, for there was no other way for lost humanity to be redeemed (Matt. 26:36-46). As Peter pro-claimed, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). It may not be popular or politically correct, but the message of the New Testament is that salvation is found in Jesus Christ alone. As E. Stanley Jones once said, “There are many religions, but there is but one gospel.” It is important that we never become ashamed of the gospel and how it alone provides salvation (Rom. 1:16).
So what about those who have never heard the gospel? Is there any hope for them? Though general revelation is insufficient to lead to salvation (Rom. 1:18-25), it is possible that God could speak to a lost person directly through a dream or an angel, for instance. Yet, we cannot say for sure, and so the only certain way of being saved is through faith in Christ in response to gospel preaching (Rom. 10:14-17). In the end, it is wise to leave such matters in God’s hands, realizing that He alone is a competent and merciful Judge. Our responsibility is to preach the gospel, not to serve as Judge.
Salvation from Sin If salvation means anything, it means salvation from sin. The word salvation refers to deliverance from a perilous situation. To be saved is to be rescued from something that is harmful. The salvation that Jesus promised is salvation from sin (Matt. 1:21) He saves us from sin’s consequences and control, from its penalty and power. The consequence of sin is death, not just physical death but eternal death, eternal separation from God in hell. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” What God owes us for a life of sin is eternal death. What God gives us for trusting in Christ in eternal life. Rather than being punished for our sins, we will live forever because of the gift of eternal life given to us by God.
Furthermore, we are not only saved from sin’s consequences, but also from its control. Jesus saves us from our sin, not in our sin. As Charles Wesley wrote in one of his great hymns, “He breaks the power of canceled sin, He sets the prisoner free; His blood can make the foulest clean, His blood availed for me.”
Salvation by Grace through Faith We cannot earn salvation or deserve it in any way. Salvation is by grace. Paul writes, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Eph. 2:8-9). Grace speaks of God’s unmerited favor and love shown to us in Jesus Christ. As it has often been said, “Justice is getting what we deserve. Mercy is not getting what we deserve, and grace is getting what we could never deserve.” In the Church of God [Movement] we believe that we are saved by grace. Though it is tempting in the holiness movement to forget this and thus focus more on our holy behavior than on Christ, we must never forget that we are not saved by our holiness. We are saved by God’s grace alone. God’s grace is made manifest to us in the following ways. Christ died for us even though we didn’t deserve it. The Holy Spirit was sent to draw us to Christ, for without His gracious work we would never see salvation or believe in Christ. And the same grace that saves us is able to keep us to the end (Phil. 1:6; Jude 24-25).
Salvation is received through faith in Christ. Eph. 2:8-9 teaches that we are saved by grace; it also teaches that we are saved through faith. When the Philippian jailer asked what he must do to be saved, Paul answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). To be saved we must believe in Jesus. What does this mean? It is not enough to believe in the existence of God, for even demons do this (Jas. 2:19). It is not enough to believe that Jesus was a historical figure or a great teacher or even a prophet. Believing this will not save anyone. We must believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that He died for our sins on the cross and rose again, and that He alone is able to save us. To believe in Him is to trust in Him and to entrust our eternal destiny to Him. Faith is more than mental assent; it is personal trust that flows form the heart.
So salvation is salvation from sin, which is an act of God’s grace and received through faith in Jesus Christ. It is symbolized and confirmed in the act of water baptism and leads to good works. It is this salvation that makes a person a member of God’s church. This only makes sense, for the church is the body of Christ and Christ Himself is the head of the church. . . . F.F. Bruce writes, “It is the Lord whose prerogative it is to add new members to His own community; it is the joyful duty of the community to welcome to their ranks those whom Christ has accepted.” We welcome them not by making them members ourselves, but by acknowledging them as members already because of their salvation in Jesus Christ.
New Members We have now seen that salvation and church membership go together. There is no need for the church to vote on someone who wants to be part of a local church. But how do we recognize those who have decided to make our local church their church home? Salvation makes you a member of the universal church, but a person cannot attend and be part of every local congregation. Some sort of recognition is in order when Christians decide to make our church their church home. How do we make sure we are not careless when it comes to church membership? I would suggest two things. First, it is appropriate and helpful to have a new members class in the church. This class should be taught by the pastor or one of the elders. It is for those interested in making our church their church home. I offer this class a couple times a year and even take people through it one-on-one at times. We look at three areas: who we are, what we believe, and how to get involved. We cover such things as our history, our core values, our doctrinal beliefs, our leadership structure, our bylaws, and what is expected of members. Every local church is unique, and so it helps new members to learn how our church operates and what it believes. This is a great opportunity to teach some of the beliefs that are important to the Church of God [Movement] and to explain the relationship between salvation and church membership.
Second, there should be a time when new members are introduced to the church. This does not have to be very elaborate. It is simply a time when we say that a particular person or family has decided to begin worshipping with us on a regular basis and they want to make this their church home. In doing this we are not making them members of God’s church, nor is any vote taken. We are only acknowledging that they are saved and want to join with us in serving our community for Christ. It is even nice to allow them to share a word of testimony when they are introduced. This can be a big encouragement to the church. As they share about their commitment to Christ and why they were drawn to our church, it can be a boost to the morale of the congregation.
Dr. Mark Jackson is an articulate communicator of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and an able student and teacher of Biblical theology. You may access a video lecture he has prepared on the basics of our theological teaching at https://vimeo.com/229345073/845e478b55. This article is part of chapter 2 of Dr. Jackson’s excellent book, A Closer Look at God’s Church (Shelbyville, KY: Christian Insight Publications, 2016). Used by permission. The book is available at Amazon.com. Stott, John. The Living Church (Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity, 2007) 32. Dunn, James D. G. Baptism in the Holy Spirit (London: SCM Press, 1970) 129.
Earl L. Martin. “The Biblical Church,” in The Church (Anderson, IN: Warner Press, 1946, comp. by Warren C. Roark) 34
The Early Morning Light (Anderson, IN: Warner Press, 1979) 89, 91 Stafford, Gilbert W. The Life of Salvation (Anderson, IN: Warner Press, 1979) 11
Jones, E. Stanley. Christian Maturity (Nashville: Abingdon, 1957) 6 “O For a Thousand Tongues,” Hymnal of the Church of God (Anderson, IN: Warner Press, 1971) 65
Stafford, Gilbert W. Theology for Disciples (Anderson, IN: Warner Press, 1996) 339-40
Bruce, F.F. The Book of Acts, NICNT (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1955) 81
Russell Byrum helpfully explains, “Every Christian is a member of the universal church, but not of every congregation. But no one is properly a member of a local congregation who is not a member of the universal church. The latter is the ground for the former” (Christian Theology [Anderson, IN: Gospel Trumpet Co., 1925], 518) Martin, Earl L. This We believe . . . This We Proclaim (Anderson, IN: Gospel Trumpet Co., 1952) 80-81
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