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- A definite action is singled out, and it is forbidden. This means that every member of the church must, according to the constitution, be committed to total abstinence and that prospective members who are not teetotalers will be excluded from membership.
www.desiringgod.org/messages/total-abstinence-and-church-membership
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Mar 11, 2013 · In fact, he also argues that “abstinence [should not] be a requirement for church membership” and even led the elders at his church to alter a line in their church covenant that required total abstinence for membership.
Mar 14, 2017 · Church membership is an important part of Christian discipleship. As we come together as a church, we are able to encourage each other as well as hold each other accountable. Alistair Begg examines the scriptures to see what the Bible says about belonging to a church and church membership.
- Membership Is Not “In The Bible.”
- Membership Clarifies The Distinction That Redemption creates.
- God Models membership.
- Membership “Turns” The Keys of The Kingdom.
- Membership Is A Meaningful Commitment.
- Membership Applies Biblical Metaphors For The Church.
- Membership Facilitates Ministry.
- Membership Facilitates Discipline.
- Membership Facilitates The Elders’ Accountability to God.
- Membership Expresses Love and Obedience to Jesus.
At least, it’s not there in a proof-text sort of way. Local church membership is not the eleventh commandment, or an additional beatitude, or an extra verse in some obscure manuscript tradition. But kind of like the doctrine of the Trinity, we’ll see that local church membership is a good and necessary consequence of what’s in the Bible.
Redemption creates a distinction between God’s people and not-God’s people. In fact, that’s God’s stated reason for bringing the plagues on Egypt, but not on Israel, right before the Exodus: “That you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel” (Ex. 11:7; cf. Ex. 8:22–23; 9:4). The plagues preview the great distinction that...
Just two months after God redeems his people, he counts them (Num. 1:1–3). God himself practices and models for us a form of membership. And God continues to practice membership in the form of “the book of life” (Phil. 4:3; Rev. 3:5; 17:8; 20:12, 15, 27; 22:19). Practicing local church membership is one way we “be imitators of God” (Eph. 5:1). Mayb...
No, I don’t mean that being a member of a local church automatically gets you a green light into heaven. Some people have gone to hell as life-long members of churches. But in Matthew 18:17, the power of the keys, which Jesus gives to the church, is the power to externally affirm or deny the orthodoxy of gospel proclamation and the genuineness of g...
When God counts his people for the very first time in Numbers 1:1–3, he counts everyone adult male ready for war. God was forming an army, and he wanted everyone to know who could be counted on to help carry out the conquest in Canaan. Don’t worry, I think women should be church members just as much as men! The argument here is that Christians shou...
The Bible sees local churches as flocks of sheep (1 Pet. 5:3). It’s never a good thing for a sheep to go solo looking for green grass. Rogue sheep are easy prey. We belong in the safety of a flock. Membership helps keep us gathered with the other sheep under the protection of the shepherd. Besides, what kind of under-shepherd doesn’t know which par...
It sounds big to say that you’re a member of the universal church and that you love all Christians in the world. But can you really love all Christians in the world equally well? To bear one another’s burdens, spur one another on to love and good deeds, consider each other more important than yourselves, bear with one another in love, exhort one an...
Matthew 18:17 says, “If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.” Who is “the church” there? Is Jesus telling the disciples that anytime any professing Christian remains unrepentant, that every Christian in the world should be told about ...
Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account (Heb. 13:17). Our church leaders “will have to give an account” for how they watch over our souls. But how can they give an account if they don’t know whose souls they’re responsible to oversee? In 1 Peter 5:2–3, Peter tells t...
By calling yourself a Christian, you’re saying that you submit to the kingship and authority of Jesus. But Jesus has delegated some of his authority to his under-shepherds—pastors and elders of local churches. Jesus wants his sheep under the care of those under-shepherds. But if you refuse to submit yourself to any of the under-shepherds that Jesus...
Sep 21, 2015 · If you’d like to see the issues summarized well, Piper lays they out clearly in his message on abstinence from alcohol and concludes that abstaining is recommended, but not required for membership.
Jul 13, 2008 · Church membership is implied in the biblical requirement of Christians to be submitted to a group of church leaders, elders, or pastors. The point here is that without membership, who is it that the New Testament is referring to who must submit to a specific group of leaders?
It is within the church that total abstinence can be urged as they very best practice for members of our church. It is inconsistent to single out as a test for membership one dangerous activity – drinking alcoholic beverages, and one sin – drunkenness, and overlook a host of others.
