Churches of Christ: Who are these people?
Membership
Churches of Christ do not view membership in terms of a formula or list of rules chat muse be met to be accepted into the church. The New Testament specifies certain seeps chat people cook to become Christians. When a person became a Christian he/she at the same time became a member of the church.
The same is true in Churches of Christ today. When a person becomes a Christian he/she at the same time becomes a member of the church. There are no additional rules or ceremonies chat one must follow co be inducted into the church.
On the first day of the church’s existence, chose who repented and were baptized were forgiven and saved (Acts 2:38, 40). These were added co the church by the Lord (Acts 2:41, 47). Determined to follow chis pattern, we do not vote people into the church or require chem to complete a prescribed study course. We simply encourage their submission co the following essentials commanded in the New Testament.
• Listening to the gospel message, for “faith comes from hearing the message” (Romans 10:17).
• Becoming a believer, for “without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6).
• Repenting of sins, for God “commands all people everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30).
• Acknowledging Jesus as Lord, for he said, “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven ” (Matthew 10:32).
• Being baptized, for Peter said, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38).
Churches of Christ emphasize the importance of baptism . The reason for this is that the New Testament teaches that baptism results in forgiveness and salvation
(Acts 2:38; Mark 16·16).
We do not practice infant baptism because New Testament baptism is for sinners who submit to the Lord in belief and repentance. An infant cannot yet be a believer and has no sin to repent of.
The only form of baptism practiced in.Churches of Christ is immersion. The Greek word from which the word baptize comes means “to immerse, to submerge.” The scriptures describe baptism as a burial (Romans 6-3-4; Colossians 2:12).
The importance of baptism is seen in the purposes and results attached to it in the New Testament:
• Entrance into the kingdom of God (john 3:5).
• Entrance into the church (I Corinthians 12:13;
cf Ephesians 1:23).
• Forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).
• The gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38).
• Washing away of sins (Acts 22:16; Titus 3:5).
• Connection to the death and resurrection of Christ (Romans 6-3-4).
• Union with Christ ( Galatians 3:27).
• Justification (I Corinthians 6·11).
• Salvation (Mark 16·16; 1 Peter 3:21).
Jesus died for the sins of the whole world; the invitation to experience his saving grace is open to all (Acts 10:34-35; Revelation 22:17). We encourage you to accept the salvation he offers-to come to him in obedient faith and become a part of his church.
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By Joe Barnett
Published by Pathway Publishing House
Posted with Permission