Bible Question:
I would appreciate some feedback to this question. And, I am asking you NOT to identify your denomination. How important is your specific church in your personal relationship with Jesus? Scale: 1 preferred, but not really 'needed' 10 extremely important - must have Comments are optional, but I would appreciate as many responses as people are willing to share. Thank you |
Bible Answer: Church membership and salvation are not viewed by Scripture as being two entities; they are one and the same. We can no more join a church than we can save ourselves. When a person is saved, he doesn't have an option of whether to "join" a church. God adds him to the church (Acts 2:47), the body of Christ (Eph.1:23). The church was purchased by the blood of Christ (Acts 20:28; Eph. 5:25). Every regenerate believer belongs to the body of Christ, the church. Therefore, it is totally inconsistent with Scripture for a regenerate believer to say, "I'm a Christian but I'm not a member of the church." It is impossible to rate the importance of the church in our lives without at the same time rating the importance of Christ in our lives. It is equally impossible to be saved without being a member of Christ's church. There exist today, as they have existed for some 2,000 years, groups that call themselves churches that bear little, if any, resemblance to the church that Christ died for. It is quite possible to become a member of these counterfeit organizations and not be saved. These we join on our own. God does not add us to them. They deserve to be rated "zero" on our scale of importance and avoided as the deceivers they are. --Hank |