Church Membership Lesson 2
I hope you all had a chance to read the introduction and chapter 1 of the book we provided, Church Membership, by Jonathan Leeman. I will be talking about some of the concepts that Leeman deals with in that chapter. But where I would like to start today is to ask:
What is a church?
The first place we find the word “church” in the New Testament is Matthew 16:18. Let’s read it in context:
13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” 14 So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matt. 16:13-19)
We don’t have time to study this whole passage in detail, but I do want to you to notice what it says about the church. Many people today understand the church as a building, an institution, or an organization. This is not really a biblical understanding of the church.
What is the meaning of the word “church”?
Let’s think for a moment about the meaning of the word “church.” “Church” is a translation of the Greek word ekklesia (from ek = out + klesis = a calling, verb = kaleo = to call)[1]; so it literally means called out or the called-out ones. So, it came to mean an assembly convened for a specific purpose. It is used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament to translate the Hebrew word qāhēl meaning assembly or congregation of people for civil affairs (1 Kings 2:3), for war (Num 22:4), of nations (Gen 35:11), and a variety of other gatherings, including, and most importantly, Israel’s gatherings for religious purposes (Deut 9:10; 2 Chron 20:5; Joel 2:16).[2]
So, the biblical meaning of church is not that of a building, an institution, or an organization, but it is a gathering of people for a specific purpose. It is ironic that when you ask people what church they attend, they usually identify a building, a location, or a denomination. A church may meet in a building at a certain location. In Romans 16:5 Paul writes about Pheobe saying, “… greet the church that is in their house.” Paul refers to the church in their house—not a church that is a house—not a building, but a gathering of believers.
How is the word “church” used?
In the New Testament, the word church can refer to a group of Christians (Acts 11:26) meeting on a regular basis in a home, in a particular city (Jerusalem, Acts 8:1, 11:22; Antioch, Acts 13:1; Corinth, 1 Cor. 1:2; Thessalonica, 1 Thess. 1:1; the seven churches of Revelation 2-3), in a region (Acts 9:31), or larger area. Taken together, we realize that the church is a universal body composed of all true believers in Christ, united in Him by the Spirit, and that there are particular geographical expressions of it here and there and throughout history. Thus, though there are many local “churches,” there is really only one church (Eph 4:4; Heb 12:23).
Which “church” is Jesus talking about in Matthew 16:18, universal or local?
The universal church:
Since Jesus is talking about one “church”, it seems that He is describing the universal church—all believers of all ages, His one true church. Some have called this the “invisible church” because only Christ can infallibly see who is a true believer and who is not. Some of them may be in churches. Some in churches may not be in His church. This is the church Jesus promised to build in Matthew 16. Here are more verses that talk about the universal church: 1 Corinthians 12:13, 28; 15:9; Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians 1:18; Hebrews 12:22-24.
The local church:
Now, let’s turn to the only other passage in the Gospels where we find the word “church,” Matthew 18:17. Again, reading it in context,
15 “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. 16 “But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ 17 “And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. 18 “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20 “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” (Matt. 18:15-20).
Here we find Jesus teaching His disciples that they should address unresolved sin by telling it “to the church.” Knowing, as we do, that by the time Matthew wrote these words from Jesus, the universal church was scattered throughout the whole Roman world—how could they tell it to the church? It seems that this is talking about a specific gathering of believers located in one place—the local church.
The overwhelming emphasis in the New Testament is on the local church. Of the over 105 times ekklesia is used with reference to the church, approximately seventy percent of those are unambiguous references to a local church (e.g., Acts 8:1; 11:22; 14:23; 15:41; 16:5; 20:17; Rom. 16:1, 4; 1 Cor. 1:2; 4:17; 6:4; 7:17; 11:16; 11:18; 14:19; 14:33; 16:1; 2 Cor. 1:1; 8:1; Gal. 1:2; 1:22; 1 Thess. 1:1; James 5:14; Rev 1:4, 11, 20; 2:1; 11, 12). The local church is described in Galatians 1:1–2: “Paul, an apostle . . . and all the brethren who are with me, To the churches of Galatia.” In the province of Galatia, there were many churches—they had a localized ministry and were scattered in towns throughout the province. They were local churches.
Now, back to Matthew 16, I want you to notice these things about the church. These things are true of the universal church, but they are lived out in the local church.
1. The church belongs to Christ, not to us.
Jesus said, “I will build My church” (Matt. 18:18). It’s Christ’s church. He bought it with His blood (Acts 20:28). It belongs exclusively to Him. No one—no matter how influential or how much money he has donated or how long his ancestors have been members of a church—can rightly claim, “This is my church!” No, it’s not! Jesus Christ owns it. He places us in it for His kingdom purposes. Membership does not mean that the church belongs to me or even to the members gathered together. Jesus is Lord of His church. He is King. We are His subjects, citizens of His Kingdom.
As Jonathan Leeman, in the book Church Membership that we gave you, says, “Jesus has imperium… He is the one with final power over life and death” (p. 20). Leeman points out that the Bible talks about church membership more in terms of “how God’s people gather together under His supreme rule.” (p. 25). The church is the “Lord and His bound-together people.” (p. 26). And, “A local church is a real-life embassy, set in the present, that represents Christ’s future kingdom and His universal church.” (p. 28).
The risen Lord Jesus said to His gathered disciples, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth, Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations” (Matt. 28:18). Jesus has all authority. Paul writes, that God has, “… put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” (Eph. 1:22-23).
What this means for church membership is that we don’t just “decide to join” a church. We must first submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We must recognize Him as King and us as subjects of His Kingdom. We must submit to the authority of Christ.
2. The church is built on a right understanding and confession of Jesus Christ.
Peter, under direct revelation from God the Father, correctly proclaims of Jesus (Matt. 16:16), “You are the Christ.” Christ means that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah or Anointed One, prophesied about in over 300 Old Testament prophecies. Peter’s pronouncement that Jesus is “the Son of the living God” may have been a parallel way of saying that Jesus is the Messiah. But it also reveals Jesus’ divine nature—that He is the eternal second person of the Trinity.
What this means for church membership is that we submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ by believing the right things and confessing the right things about Christ. This is the way that God saves us by His grace through faith in Christ. Paul says it this way in Romans 10:
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Rom. 10:9-10).
This means that it is of utmost importance for the church to preserve and proclaim sound doctrine about the person and work of Jesus Christ.
3. The church has the authority to proclaim the gospel of salvation.
Peter, representing the apostles, had the authority to proclaim the gospel of forgiveness of sins to all who repent and believe in Jesus, or judgment to those who refuse to believe. In fact, we see Peter doing this with the Jews on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2), with the Samaritans (Acts 8), and with the Gentiles (Acts 10). And we have the apostolic testimony to God’s way of salvation in the New Testament. As members of the church, Christ has entrusted to us the most important message in the world: whoever believes in Jesus will not perish, but have eternal life as God’s free gift (John 3:16; Eph. 2:8-9); but those who do not believe are condemned.[3]
What that means for church membership is that the Lord Jesus Christ has given to the church the authority to recognize and disciple those who are saved. Leeman puts it this way in the book, “The local church is the authority on earth that Jesus has instituted to officially affirm and give shape to my Christian life and yours.” (p. 24). And, “A church member is a person who has been officially and publicly recognized as a Christian …, who shares in the same authority of officially affirming and overseeing other Christians in his or her church.” (p. 28).
What do you think about Leeman’s statement, “Christians don’t join churches, they submit to them.” (p. 29)?
We know that we submit to Christ, the head of the church. Do we submit to the church also? Leeman writes, “If Jesus instituted the local church with authority over us, we don’t just join one like we join clubs or voluntary associations; we submit to them as we do governments.” (p. 29). It also means that being a part of the church is not optional, it is essential. Leeman writes, “Once you choose Christ, you must choose His people, too … Choose the Father and the Son and you have to choose the whole family—which you do through a local church.” (p. 31). The apostle John put it in terms of love, “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him.” (1 John 5:1). If we are truly born again as children of God we not only love God but we love our brothers and sisters in Christ. The practical way that we love one another is through the family of God in the local church.
Jesus teaches that the authority of His disciples (that exercised in His church) is very different from worldly rulers and authorities. Matthew 20 says that Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said,
“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. 26 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. 27 And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave– 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Matt. 20:25-28).
Jesus is not teaching that the church has no authority; nor is He teaching that we do not submit to authority. He is teaching that it is a different kind of authority—based on service and sacrifice, not manipulation and coercion.
4. The church will not ultimately fail.
Jesus said, “I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). The city gates were the place where the government transacted official business. So, it was a figure of speech for government authority. So I think that Jesus meant that all the powers of death and hell cannot stop His church from ultimately triumphing.
Leeman says that there are two groups who really understand the significance of the church: governments who persecute the church and Christians who are persecuted. Governments who persecute the church understand that Christians can never “give final allegiance to” the state, “They give it to Jesus.” (p. 32). And persecuted Christians understand the price of their allegiance to Jesus, that it is not optional. Submission to Christ means submission to His church.
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[1] Blue Letter Bible lexicon, https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g1577/nkjv/lxx/0-1/#lexResults
[2] Greg Herrick, Ecclesiology: The Church, https://bible.org/seriespage/ecclesiology-church#P281_131027
[3] Steven Cole, Lesson 2: Who Needs the Church? (Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 5:25; 3:8), https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-2-who-needs-church-matthew-1618-ephesians-525-38
