The Importance of the Church

 

The Bible says that commitment to a faithful Christian Church is necessary for God’s glory and our spiritual well-being. There are three main reasons:

 

(1) God not only wants to be praised and called upon by people privately, but He also wants to be praised and called upon by the public voice of the whole church (Psalm 68:26).

 

(2) God promises that as pastors faithfully preach and teach His Word He will work in people’s hearts the faith that is necessary for salvation. He will cause that faith to grow and to become stronger. “Faith comes by hearing God’s Word” (Romans 10:17).

 

(3) Christ calls all believers into fellowship with Himself and with each other (1 John 1:3). He gives them spiritual gifts for the benefit and encouragement of the whole congregation (Acts 2:42; Hebrews 10:24-25). When you believe in Christ as your personal Savior and Lord, you become a child of the living God. You are adopted into the family of God. Now comes the desire to be a full and active member of a church with others of God's family. You recognize your need for the ministry of the church; you want the fellowship of other Christians; you want to be of some service to your Lord.

 

In order to be a faithful church member it is important to know which church you should be committed to. Just what should you look for in a church?

 

What Is a Church?

 

The first thing that often comes to mind in thinking of a church is a building, usually with a steeple. Obviously, a church meets in a building, but the building is not the church. A church existed long before any church buildings. The Greek word for "church" in the New Testament was used to identify the Old Testament people of God in the wilderness (Acts 7:38). Several times in his letters Paul speaks of churches meeting in various people's homes. In each case there was no structure that would meet the description of a modern church building.

 

The church is a body of believers, not a building. Paul speaks of "the church of God, which he bought with his own blood" (Acts 20:28). It is the body of believers for whom Christ died. Paul says of Christ that God "appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way" (Ephesians 1:22, 23). Christ is the head of the church; believers are the body of the church. The body of believers united by faith to Christ, the head, is the church of Christ.

 

The church is understood in two different senses. There is the INVISIBLE CHURCH, so called because we don't see it. It is the church as God sees it, composed of all those who ever have believed or ever will truly believe in Christ. There are no hypocrites in this church. It is the perfect church, the eternal church. This church will be seen only in heaven.

 

There is also the VISIBLE CHURCH, the church we see every day all around us. This visible church can be recognized as having a certain external organization, with officers and formal public worship services. The visible church contains some who profess to believe in Christ but really don't (see Matthew 13:20-21; Acts 8:9-23); their hypocrisy may be more or less obvious. Some hypocrites will go undetected (Matthew 13:28-30). Others will show their true colors and will leave the church (1 John 2:19). Some will have to be put out of the church until they repent of their disobedience (Matthew 18:17). In Christ's day the visible church had one member named Judas, who betrayed his Lord. The fact that there are hypocrites in church means that some people are in church for the wrong reasons. Some are in church because they hope to bribe God into giving them a good life, or because they hope to have a good reputation or they simply want a church to bury them when they die. The church’s officers cannot read the heart. They can only judge what people say and do publically. As long as people confess the Christian faith and there is no obvious ungodliness in their public life they are to be admitted into church membership as Christians.

 

The Church's One Foundation

 

In Matthew 16:16-18 Jesus said He would build His church on the foundation that He is the Messiah, the Son of the living God. “Here Jesus declares that the apostles (with Peter as their spokesman) are the foundation of His church as they confess and reveal that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (see Matthew 18:18; Ephesians 2:20; 1 Corinthians 3:11). Therefore, the first thing to examine about any church is its foundation. Is it built on the truth that Jesus is God and Savior?

 

Identifying a True Church by its Doctrine (see Belgic Confession, article 29)

 

Not every organization that calls itself a church is a true church. Some churches are not committed to the Bible as the Word of God and to Christ as God come in the flesh. Some do not teach biblical repentance and faith. Some churches, Scripture warns, are "synagogues of Satan" (Revelation 3:9). How can we identify a true church? A true church must be faithful to the Lord both in doctrine and life, remembering that only true doctrine leads to true godliness of life (1 Timothy 6:3).

 

A faithful church can be identified by its commitment to three basic things (three marks): (1) the preaching of God's Word, especially the one true gospel, (2) the pure administration of the sacraments, and (3) the exercise of church discipline.  

 

1. The Preaching of God's Word (especially the one true gospel)

 

The Bible says that the church is “the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). This means that the church exists to uphold and proclaim the truth. A true church will faithfully preach and teach the Word of God. Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples" (John 8:31). “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no light in them” (Isaiah 8:20). “Whoever transgresses and does not continue in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who continues in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son” (2 John 9). Galatians 1:6-9 says to beware of false gospels! The one true gospel is that sinners are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

 

Preaching is one of the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Preaching is what the Lord Jesus Christ uses to open the door to heaven. When the gospel is faithfully proclaimed the Lord uses it to open people’s eyes to believe the truth. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17; see also 1 Corinthians 1:21; 1 Peter 1:25). Acts 16:14 says that while Lydia listened to the Apostle Paul preach the gospel the Lord opened her heart to believe what Paul said. While Peter was preaching to Cornelius and his household, “the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word” (Acts 10:44). Later, when Peter reported what had happened he said that God “had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles” (Acts 14:27).

 

The Lord has promised to save, sanctify and preserve His followers through the ministry of a faithful church.

 

This is why Scripture commands the church to assemble for worship every Lord’s Day to hear the preaching of God’s Word (Acts 20:7; Hebrews 10:25). Public worship must include the preaching of His Word by a man lawfully called and ordained, and it must be conducted under the authority and oversight of elected elders (Philippians 1:1).

 

Therefore, when it comes to deciding which church to be committed to, ask yourself, "Do I know more about the Bible? Has the minister faithfully worked to explain what God says in his Word? Through his preaching, have I come to see my sin and God's glory more clearly? Was the gospel clearly preached (Galatians 1:6-9)? If not, you are in the wrong church and should leave it.

 

2. The Administration of the Sacraments

 

The proper administration of the sacraments is an essential as¬pect of a church committed to Christ and true faith in him. The sacraments will be dealt in more detail later. Meanwhile, the Scriptures tell us the true meaning of the sacraments and how they are to be administered. A church that doesn't follow the Bible in the use of the sacraments is not a true church.

 

Here are some basic facts about the sacraments:

 

(1) A church that does not practice baptism and the Lord’s Supper is not a true church (Matthew 28:18-20; 1 Corinthians 11:26).

 

(2) The only two sacraments commanded in the Bible are baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Roman Catholics add confirmation, penance, ordination, extreme unction, and marriage. But this is not supported by the Bible or the ancient church fathers, two of whom, Ambrose and Augustine, said that the only two sacraments were baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

 

(3) The sacraments are not necessary for salvation. To say otherwise is to deny the one true gospel that sinners are saved by grace alone and not by works (Galatians. 1:9). The thief on the cross had neither baptism nor the Lord’s Supper! This does not mean they are not necessary at all. They are necessary for strengthening our faith. The Lord uses preaching to create faith and He uses the sacraments to strengthen faith.

 

(4) The person who refuses to be baptized or to partake of the Lord’s Supper cannot be saved, not because the sacraments are necessary for salvation, but because they are commanded by Christ (if we believe in Christ we will obey His commands); therefore a person’s rejection of the sacraments is a symptom of a deeper problem, which is a lack of faith in Christ.

 

(5) The officers of the church must not knowingly allow the unbelieving and ungodly to partake of the Lord’s Supper. This is why our church requires visitors to sign a form, testifying that they believe in Christ and are in good standing in a faithful church. As long as people confess the Christian faith and there is no obvious ungodliness in their public life they may be admitted to the Lord’s Supper. Since the church’s officers cannot see the heart it must exhort the congregation to examine their own hearts before partaking of the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:28). Those who secretly live in sin will eat and drink judgment! (1 Cor. 11:29).

 

3. The Exercise of Church Discipline

 

A true church will accompany the preaching of the Word and the administration of the sacraments with the consistent exercise of church discipline. Christ distinctly instructed the church to discipline its members. If anyone continues in his sins, "tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector" (Matthew 18:15-20). Paul told the church at Corinth to put an unrepentant, sexually immoral person out of the church (1 Corinthians 5:1-13).

 

Here are some basic facts about church discipline:

 

(1) Discipline is the second key (preaching is the first key) of the kingdom. The keys are described in Matthew 16:19 as the authority to bind and loose. This authority is used in connection with church discipline (Matthew 18:17-18). This is the authority to put unrepentant members out of the church – those who publicly deny the Christian faith or disobey God’s commands (1 Corinthians 5:13). 

 

(2) The idea of discipline might sound strange when it comes to the church, but if a family or country or city cannot exist without discipline, or laws and punishments, then certainly the church, which is the household of God, also needs some form of government and discipline. There must be certain persons appointed and elected by the church to manage its affairs, or else there will be confusion.

 

(3) The purpose of discipline is to try to restore the disobedient to the path of obedience (1 Cor. 5:5; Gal. 6:1; James 5:19-20). It is possible for a true believer (like David) to go astray for a time. Discipline is designed to bring them to repentance (2 Cor. 2:6-7). God sent Nathan the prophet to rebuke David and bring him to repentance! Perhaps the unrepentant church member never did have true faith. He should not be a member of the church, but perhaps through discipline, he will come to realize his need for Christ and His church.

 

(4) To imply that church discipline is harsh, unloving, and offensive is to charge Jesus Christ with these sins! If we do not discipline unrepentant members we injure the sinner who needs to be restored. The soul of the sinner is being left to persist in and perhaps die in his stubbornness and sin. We also hurt the church, because the whole church will be infected unless wrong teaching and immoral behavior is uprooted (1 Corinthians 5:6-7). If sin is left unchecked then a church is in danger of becoming a false church (Revelation 1-3). We also injure the honor of Christ whose name we bear. By not disciplining people who are openly hypocrites we give a clear message to the world that the Christian faith approves of ungodliness; and we justify the world’s complaint that the church is full of hypocrites.

 

(5) If any member of the church publicly and obviously lives in disobedience to any one of the Ten Commandments then the church will lovingly confront them and seek to restore them to the path of obedience.

 

(6) A church that doesn't love the body of Christ or the head of the church enough to try to keep Christ's members pure in doctrine and life is not a church to be trusted with the nurture of our souls.