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What We Believe:

 

How do I become a member of the church of Christ?

 

 

 

 

The New Testament tells us that the Lord adds to the church daily those who are being saved (Acts 2:40, 41, and 47).

We are saved when we simply believe in Jesus Christ and do the will of His Father; this is how we have everlasting life and enter the kingdom of heaven (John 3:16 and Matthew 7:21).

We do the will of the Father when we obey these essential elements of salvation:

1. First, we must actually hear the Gospel, which is the Word of God (John 10:27 and Romans 10:17).
2. We must believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God (John 8:24 and Acts 16:31).
3. We must confess our belief in Christ before men (Matthew 10:32 and Romans 10:10).
4. We must repent and turn away from our sins (Luke 13:3 and Acts 17:30).
5. And we must be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ in water for the remission of sins (Mark 16:16 and Acts 2:38, 8:38, and 22:16).

However, we should understand that being added to the church is only the beginning of a life of complete submission to Christ (Matthew 16:24 and Luke 9:62). 

We must remain faithful until death, always walking in the light as He is in the light (Revelation 2:10 and I John 1:7).

 

 

 

 

What Does The New Testament Say About Baptism?

 

Buried into His Death

 

The word “baptism” in our English Bibles is the usual rendering of the original Greek noun “baptisma”, which means “dipping”, “immersion”, or “making fully wet”.

Several different baptisms are mentioned in the New Testament, but there is “one baptism” that every person must choose to receive. (Ephesians 4:4 through 6)

Yet, before we can fully understand our need for baptism, we must first understand our predicament:  All of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)

Because of our sins, we are separated from God, and we have no hope of spending eternity with Him. (Isaiah 59:2, and Ephesians 2:12)

But we also need to know that God so loved us that He provided the solution to our problem by sending His Son Jesus Christ to die as the sacrifice for our sins. (I John 4:10)

Therefore, Christ died for us on the cross, He was buried in a tomb, and then He rose to life on the third day. (I Corinthians 15:3 and 4)

And we must also understand that we may receive the benefit of His sacrifice by being buried with Him into His death through baptism. (Romans 6:3)

And this is why He told His apostles to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all things that He has commanded. (Matthew 28:18 through 20)

But before we may receive baptism, we must hear the Word of God so that we can realize what Jesus did for us. (Romans 10:17)

This means that we must have both the age and the mental capacity to understand the Word and to be obedient to the faith. (Acts 6:7)

Then we must believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, confess our faith in Him publicly, and turn away from practicing sin. (John 3:16, Matthew 10:32, and Luke 13:3)

In the New Testament, those who heard the Word of the Lord and believed were immediately baptized, at that same hour. (Acts 16:31 through 33)

This was the same response that was seen when Peter preached the first Gospel sermon, telling those present that they must repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. (Acts 2:38 through 41)

When we obey that form of doctrine, God sets us free from sin, we become enslaved to Him, and we have everlasting life. (Romans 6:17, 18, and 22)

But we should also know that baptism requires our complete immersion in water; that is what the word means. (Acts 8:38)

It is when we die with Christ in baptism that He washes us from our sins in His own blood. (Romans 6:7 and 8, and Revelation 1:5 and 6)

This is how we “wash away” our sins, and this is how we are now saved through the water of baptism. (Acts 22:16, and I Peter 3:20 and 21)

We are washed, we become holy, and we are deemed to be righteous in the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God. (I Corinthians 6:11)

 

Raised Up to Meet Him

 

Therefore, it is in baptism that we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, who now dwells in us. (Acts 2:38, and Romans 8:9)

This is what Jesus was talking about when He told Nicodemus that we must be born anew of water and the Spirit to enter the kingdom of God. (John 3:3 through 5)

God saves us through this washing of rebirth and renewing of the Holy Spirit. (Titus 3:5)

We become children of God through faith in Christ Jesus because we have put on Christ by being baptized into Christ. (Galatians 3:26 and 27)

Now that we are in Christ, we are a new creation, we are called to be saints, and we are a royal priesthood. (II Corinthians 5:17, I Corinthians 1:2, and I Peter 1:2 and 2:9)

In baptism the Lord adds us to the church, we become members of the body of Christ, and we enter into His kingdom. (Acts 2:41 and 47, I Corinthians 12:13 and 27, and Colossians 1:13 and 14)

So when the Lord returns again at the trumpet of God, those of us who are in Christ will rise up to meet Him in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. (I Thessalonians 4:16 and 17)

 

 

 

  

What Does The New Testament Say About The Lord's Supper?

 

 

The Passover Lamb

 

The communion table was first called the “Lord’s Supper” by the apostle Paul. (I Corinthians 11:20)

However, it was our Lord Jesus Christ who established this memorial during His last Passover meal with His twelve disciples. (Mark 14:12 through 26)

To better understand the significance of this observance, we need to go back to the first Passover when the Egyptian Pharaoh held the people of Israel in bondage and refused to let them go. (Exodus 5:2)

After sending nine plagues on Egypt, the Lord decided to bring a tenth plague where all the firstborn among Egypt would die. (Exodus 11:1, 4, and 5)

To protect the children of Israel from this plague, the Lord commanded the head of each household to select from his flock a one-year-old male lamb that was without blemish. (Exodus 12:3 and 5)

Then at twilight on the fourteenth day of their first month, they were to kill the lamb and put its blood on the doorposts and lintels of their houses. (Exodus 12:6 and 7)

The Lord said that when He saw the blood of the lamb on their houses, He would “pass over” them and spare the lives of their firstborn. (Exodus 12:13 and 23)

The people of Israel were to roast the lamb and eat it in haste with unleavened bread and bitter herbs,   and they did just as the Lord commanded. (Exodus 12:8, 11, and 28)

That night at midnight the Lord went through the land and struck all the firstborn, so the Pharaoh rose up and ordered the children of Israel to leave Egypt. (Exodus 12:29, 31, and 32)

The Lord commanded the people to keep the Passover as a memorial feast throughout their generations, and any man who failed to keep it at the appointed time would be guilty of sin. (Exodus 12:14, and Numbers 9:13)

 

Do This in Remembrance of Me

 

That brings us to the New Testament, almost 1500 years later, and on the very day that the Passover lamb must be killed, Jesus told Peter and John to go and prepare the Passover. (Luke 22:7 and 8)

And that evening, at the appointed time, Jesus sat down with His twelve disciples to eat the Passover meal, just as God had commanded. (Matthew 26:19 and 20)

During the meal Jesus instituted His memorial supper by first taking the unleavened bread that was required to be eaten with the Passover. (Matthew 26:26 and Exodus 12:8)

He gave thanks, broke the bread, and gave it to His disciples, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” (Luke 22:19)

Next, He took the cup of the fruit of the vine, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you.  For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” (Matthew 26:27 and 28)

Then Jesus said, “I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” (Matthew 26:29)

And then He said, “This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” (I Corinthians 11:25)

Later that night Jesus was arrested, and the next day He was crucified, He died, He was buried, and then He rose to life again on the third day. (John 18:12, 19:17 and 18, and I Corinthians 15:3 and 4)

From the very beginning, the church began to observe the Lord’s Supper, continuing steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the “breaking of bread”, and in prayers. (Acts 2:42)

We know that the practice of the church was to assemble on the first day of the week, which was the same day that Jesus had risen from the grave. (I Corinthians 16:2, and Mark 16:1 through 6)

And the reason the disciples came together on the first day of the week was “to break bread”, or to partake of this memorial supper. (Acts 20:7) 

 

His Body and His Blood

 

When we observe this remembrance, we are proclaiming the Lord’s death until He comes; we are looking back to His crucifixion and also forward to His appearing a second time. (I Corinthians 11:26, and Hebrews 9:28)

By partaking of the unleavened bread, we are remembering that Jesus Christ sacrificed His body once for all time to put away sin. (Hebrews 9:26 and 10:10)

And by partaking of the fruit of the vine, we are remembering that we have been saved by the shedding of His blood, which is required for the forgiveness of sins. (John 19:34, Romans 5:9, and Hebrews 9:22)

Through this feast, we are demonstrating that we have been purchased with the precious blood of Christ, who was as a lamb without blemish and without spot. (I Peter 1:18 and 19)

Jesus was always obedient to His Father, and He was without sin, therefore His blood can save us just as the blood of the unblemished lamb saved the children of Israel. (Philippians 2:8, Hebrews 4:15, and Exodus 12:13)

So Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and Christ is our Passover who was sacrificed for us. (John 1:29, and I Corinthians 5:7)

The Passover lamb was only the shadow of the good things to come, but Jesus Christ is the very image of those things. (Exodus 12:6 and 7, and Hebrews 10:1)

 

Communion with Christ

 

Therefore, the unleavened bread is the communion of the body of Christ, and the fruit of the vine is the communion of the blood of Christ. (I Corinthians 10:16 and 17)

This is the communion, or fellowship, that we must have with Jesus Christ, just as those very first disciples had. (I John 1:3 and 7, and Acts 2:42)

But before we can be in communion with Christ and partake of His memorial supper, we must be in Christ, rather than outside of Christ. (I Corinthians 10:21, II Corinthians 6:15, and Galatians 3:27)

We enter into fellowship with the sufferings of Christ when we are baptized into His death, being washed in His blood. (Philippians 3:10, Romans 6:3, and Revelation 7:14)

So then, we realize that we must examine ourselves when we eat of the unleavened bread and drink of the fruit of the vine. (I Corinthians 11:28)

We know that we must discern the Lord’s body in this memorial supper and partake of it in a manner that is worthy of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us. (I Corinthians 11:27 and 29)

Today, the New Testament church follows in every particular the commands and the examples given by Jesus through His apostles as we assemble on the first day of the week to partake of the Lord’s Supper. (I Corinthians 11:23)

 

 

 

 

What Does The New Testament Say About The Worship Assembly?

 

 

Where Two or Three Are Gathered

 

Jesus told His disciples, “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:20)

(I Corinthians 14:33 through 40, Galatians 3:28, and I Timothy 2:11 and 12)

 

Breaking Bread on the First Day of the Week

 

One of the common elements of worship in the New Testament church was their practice of coming together on the first day of the week, which John called “the Lord’s Day”. (I Corinthians 16:2, Acts 2:1, and Revelation 1:10)

 

Praying and Singing

 

When the disciples came together, they prayed to God the Father through Jesus Christ with the help of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 12:12, John 14:13 and 14, and Romans 8:26 and 27)

 

Preaching, Teaching, and Giving

 

Jesus preached the gospel, or “good news”, of the kingdom of God, and He likewise instructed His disciples to preach to everyone, teaching them to observe all things He had commanded. (Mark 1:14 and 15, Mark 16:15 and 16, and Matthew 28:18 through 20)

(II Timothy 3:14 through 17)

 

The Word Confirmed Once for All

 

We should recognize that in the first century, the Holy Spirit had given certain miraculous gifts to the apostles, or to those on whom the apostles had laid their hands, to confirm that the message they were preaching was from God. (Acts 1:4 through 8, Acts 8:18, and Hebrews 2:3 and 4)

Now that we have the entire Word confirmed once for all in the New Testament, such gifts of the Spirit are no longer needed.  These gifts have passed away with the death of the last apostle. (Jude 3, and I Corinthians 13:8 through 10)

As the New Testament church, we strive to worship the Lord only in the way He has already given us in His Word, and we teach and practice only the sound doctrine found in His Gospel message. (John 12:48, I Corinthians 14:37, and Galatians 1:8 and 9)

We heed the warning of Jesus not to lay aside the commandment of God in order to keep the traditions devised by men, therefore we do not add to His Word anything that we would prefer to do, and we do not take away from His Word anything that we would prefer not to do. (Mark 7:6 through 9, and Revelation 22:18 and 19)

WHAT DOES THE NEW TESTAMENT SAY ABOUT CHURCH LEADERSHIP?

By Inspiration of God

Jesus Christ, through His apostles and by the Holy Spirit, has given us the perfect pattern in the New Testament for the structure of the church leadership. (John 14:25 and 26, II Timothy 3:16 and 17, and Galatians 1:11 and 12)

The church is not a democracy; it is a kingdom with Christ as the Head of the body, whose leaders serve by the will of the Holy Spirit. (Colossians 1:13 and 18, and Acts 20:28)

Each congregation has its own separate leadership, and except for the apostles of the first century and those they appointed, no one else has any earthly authority over the local church. (Acts 16:4, Philippians 1:1, and I Timothy 1:1 through 4)

Jesus serves as the foremost example for church leaders, the primary virtue being that of humility, because the leader is the servant of the flock and not their master. (I Peter 2:21, Matthew 20:26 through 28, and John 13:12 through 17)

Those chosen as leaders should be selected with the input and the consensus of the congregation, and they should enjoy widespread support and respect, both inside and outside the church. (Acts 6:3 through 6, and I Timothy 3:7 and 5:17)

Each one of us has been given different graces in this temporal world, so we each must serve Christ according to our various gifts; however, women may not exercise any authority over men. (Romans 12:4 through 8, and I Timothy 2:12)

Four of the offices prescribed in the New Testament for the body of Christ are: elder, deacon, evangelist, and teacher. (Ephesians 4:11 and 12, and I Timothy 3:1 and 8)

Elders

The title of “elders” is given to the church leaders who have the overall earthly responsibility for the congregation; they are also called “overseers,” which may be rendered as “bishops,” and they are called “pastors,” from the same Greek word that describes their work, which is to “shepherd” the church. (Philippians 1:1, Ephesians 4:11, and Acts 20:28)

The equivalency of these terms in identifying the same group of men can be seen in several New Testament passages, with each congregation always having a plurality of elders, that is, more than one. (Acts 20:17 and 28, I Peter 5:1 and 2, and Acts 14:23)

An elder must be the husband of one wife and rule his own house well, having believing children in submission and reverence, who are not accused of being wild or unruly, because the conduct of the members of a man's household indicates his ability to guide the members of the church. (I Timothy 3:2, 4, and 5, and Titus 1:6)   

The man must desire the work, and he must be blameless, self-controlled, sensible, modest, hospitable, gentle, a lover of good, just, and holy, but he must not be given to wine, or be violent, greedy of ill gain, quick-tempered, covetous, or self-willed, and he must not be a novice. (I Timothy 3:1 through 6, and Titus 1:6 through 8)

Elders must be able to teach, to encourage others by sound doctrine, and to refute those who contradict, so that they may shepherd (or “pastor”) the church and be examples to the flock. (I Timothy 3:2, Titus 1:9, and I Peter 5:2 and 3)

The first job of elders is to take heed to themselves, and to watch out for those who would speak perverse things and draw disciples astray, because the elders watch over the souls of those for whom they must give account. (Acts 20:28 through 31, and Hebrews 13:17)

And an important duty of the elders is to pray over the sick so they may be saved and raised up, and to pray for those confessing their trespasses so they may be healed and have their sins forgiven. (James 5:14 through 16)

Deacons

The Greek word “diakonos” has been translated into English from the plural form as “deacons,” as “ministers,” and as “servants,” depending upon which version of the Bible is consulted. (I Timothy 3:12, and II Corinthians 3:6 and 6:4)

It is clear that any disciple of Christ, either a man or a woman, is also His “minister” or “servant” ('diakonos'), but there are two passages in the New Testament that refer to “deacons” as a specific church office. (John 12:26, Romans 16:1, Philippians 1:1, and I Timothy 3:8)

Similar to elders, deacons must be reverent, holding the mystery of the faith with a clean conscience, be blameless after being tested, and be husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their households well, but they must not be double-tongued, be given to much wine, or be greedy of ill gain. (I Timothy 3:8 through 12)

If the appointment of “the seven” is an indication of their qualifications, then deacons must also be men of good reputation, and full of the Holy Spirit, wisdom, and faith, and as the name implies, their duty is to “minister” or to “serve” the church. (Acts 6:3 and 5, and I Timothy 3:10 and 13)

In addition, deacons' wives must also be reverent, temperate, and faithful in all things, but not slanderers. (I Timothy 3:11)

Evangelists

The Greek word for “evangelist” refers to a “preacher of the good message,” and the two men in the New Testament who are identified with this term are Philip and Timothy. (Ephesians 4:11, Acts 21:8, and II Timothy 4:5)

Philip the evangelist, who was “one of the seven,” went down to Samaria and “preached” the gospel about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, resulting in men, women, Simon, and the Ethiopian all being baptized. (Acts 21:8, 6:5, and 8:12, 13, 35, and 38)

So, the primary reason to “preach the gospel” is to convince those who hear the message that they must be baptized, as were Lydia and her household. (Mark 16:15 and 16, and Acts 16:10, 14, and 15)

In charging Timothy to “do the work of an evangelist,” Paul told him to be ready in season and out of season to preach the Word, to convince, warn, and encourage with patience and teaching, and to be watchful in all things, enduring hardship and fulfilling his ministry. (II Timothy 4:1, 2, and 5)

Evangelism, or “preaching the gospel” of peace and of good things, is accomplished by those who are “preaching,” who have been sent out to “preach” by the Holy Spirit, and who may derive their living from this work. (Romans 10:14 and 15, I Peter 1:12, and I Corinthians 9:14)

Paul said that he had not failed to declare the “whole counsel of God,” and that if anyone, including himself or an angel from heaven, should “preach a gospel” different from what he had already “preached,” that person is to be accursed. (Acts 20:27 and Galatians 1:8 and 9)

Teachers

Jesus told His apostles to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and “teaching” them to observe all things He had commanded, which they did. (Matthew 28:16 through 20, and Acts 5:42 and 18:11)

God through Christ has given some in the church to be “teachers”, a work closely related to the work of evangelists and pastors, and if we have been given the gift of teaching, then we must use it to teach. (Ephesians 4:7 and 11 through 16, and Romans 12:6 and 7)

A servant of the Lord must mature to the point that he is able to teach the truth with patience and humility, and one way we teach each other is through the singing of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. (Hebrews 5:12, II Timothy 2:24 and 25, and Colossians 3:16)

Older women have a duty to teach and train the younger women in the good things of the Word of God. (Titus 2:3 through 5)

And finally, we are warned that there will be false teachers among us who will bring in destructive heresies, and that people will turn away from sound doctrine and the truth to listen to the myths that they want to hear. (II Peter 2:1 and II Timothy 4:3 and 4)