The FaithFul of God

The FaithFul of God

Baptist Doctrine 2
How Members Are Received Into A Church
Part 2
Key Verses: Acts 19:1-10; Ephesians 2:8-22
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 A church is an organization under the laws of Christ and certain conditions for membership are laid now:
1. A Regenerate heart
2. A professed faith
3. A reception of baptism
4. A Christian character
A church should never admit for membership those who do not have the above qualifications.
Joining a church is an important occasion in your spiritual life. There is no pomp or ceremony as in joining other organizations. They join not because of seeking the truth and God’s will but because of many frivolous reasons. There is also a much overlooked item of church membership: given in the last paragraph of our “Church Covenant”, “We, moreover, engage that when we remove from this place we will as soon as possible unite with some other church.”
There are five ways of receiving members into a church, not all of which I agree with.
1. By experience and baptism. Persons wishing to unite with a church must give an account of the dealings of God with their souls, and state the “reason of the hope that is in them”: whereupon, if in the judgement of the church they “have passed from death unto life”, they are by vote of the church recognized as candidates for baptism, with the understanding that when baptized they will be entitled to all the rights and privileges of membership. Today we do not consider baptism as the door into the church, because Acts 2:41,47, “The Lord adds to the church.” They body moves to accept God’s adding to the church (the saved person becomes a member after baptism). No one should be baptized with the thought of not becoming a member of that church. Pastors should positively assure themselves that those who are received of baptism have felt themselves to be guilty, ruined, helpless sinners, justly condemned by God’s holy law; and under a sense of their lost condition have received Christ for salvation.
2. By letter of dismission from a sister church. A letter is only a recommendation or commendation of a believer in one church to another. These letters affording satisfactory proof of their Christian character and standing, the applicants
for membership are received and the hand of fellowship given, as in the former case. By sister churches we mean churches of like faith and order. Hence no Baptist church can receive and recognize, as a passport to membership, a letter from any Pedobaptist (infant baptism) organization. Infant baptism has no authority or ground in the Scripture.
Even the majority of pedobaptist scholars agree that there is no apostolic basis for infant baptism. The advocates of infant baptism say that it is a beautiful ceremony. Likewise Eve thought (Gen. 3:6) the forbidden fruit was beautiful and disobeyed God. Your neighbor’s wife or automobile may be beautiful but God gives you no right to take them for your own. The ceremony of heathen worship (so-called churches even) may be beautiful but it is not what God has ordained in His word for His church or people.
Also sister churches do not include:
A. Primitive Baptist or Hardshell Baptist. These are those who preach the gospel to the saved only and the “Two-Seed-In-The Spirit, Predestinarian Baptist sect.
B. Free-will Baptist which are totally Arminian.
C. General Baptist differ little from the Free-will Baptist.
D. Seventh-Day Baptism. They wash feet, bless infants, baptism by trine forward immersion and observe the Jewish sabbath.
E. Those Baptist churches that receive alien immersion, or unscriptural baptism from unscriptural churches.
A believer has an obligation to have his/her membership in the community where he lives, if he can find a church of like faith and order. If not, it is better to keep his membership in a sound church, even though in another city and attend and support as much as possible.
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02052025 posted
Baptist Doctrine 2 How Members Are Received Into A Church Part 2
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