Interesting Questions-29
"Membership by merely believing"
Letter to the Editor:
GOD'S MESSAGE, March 2010, p.4
I'M SORRY, but I beg to disagree with
one of your ministers who, in the Bible exposition I attended, kept
on mentioning the Phrase "true Church." does not
appear in the Holy Bible, so it is better not to
add "true" to the word "church" lest be punished by the Lord
(Rev. 22:18-19).
Believing that Jesus is the Christ is sufficient
for a person to be a member of His body or Church (Matt. 16:16-19;
I John 5:1; John 20:31; I John 2:21-25). Many religions,
especially the various Protestant and 'born-again' denominations,
preach that Jesus is the Christ so all of them are His "called out"
(translated "church").
Nino Ambrocio
Fresno, California, USA
Editor's reply:
In stressing an important point in our discourse, like
the one you heard, we do make use of the phrase "true Church".
Usually, the qualifier "true" is used in the context
that today, unlike during Christ's
ministry on earth, many
false religions introduce themselves as Christ's Church. Hence, to
distinguish the Church that belongs to Christ from those which only
claim as such, we use the phrase "true Church." This is not
adding to the Scriptures but only serves to magnify the biblical
truth as we relate it to the presents situation. Christ Himself made
mention of "true worshipers" (John 4:23) as opposed to those who are
not (Matt. 15;9).
What actually is a gross twisting of the
Scriptures is the statement that "believing that Jesus is the Christ
is sufficient to be a member of His body or
Church." While the verses you enumerated (Matt. 16:16-19; I John
5:1; John 20:31; I John 2:21-25) do teach the importance of
"believing that Jesus is the Christ," neither one of them states
that it is "sufficient" to become part of Christ's body.
In John 8:31, Jesus Himself ''said to
those Jews who believed Him, 'If you
abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed'" (New King lames
Version). Jesus here was talking not to people who have no
faith in Him but to those "who believed Him." Hence, He taught them
the condition they should meet for them to be His disciples: "If you
abide in My word, you are My disciples
indeed."' Therefore, one cannot be Christ's disciple or a member of
His Church by simply believing in or professing faith in Him—he
should also obey Christ's words or commands.
One of Christ's commands is to enter His fold. In
John 10:9, the Savior pronounced, "I am the door;
anyone who comes into the fold through me will be safe"
(Revised English Bible). The fold or flock that is referred to,
according to Apostle Paul, is the Church of Christ (Acts
20:28, Lamsa Translation). Therefore, only those who
have joined Christ's fold by listening to the Gospel as
preached by God's messengers (Mark 16:15; Rom. 10:15),
believing in them (Mark 16:16), and
receiving baptism into one body
(Mark 16:16; I Cor. 12 13) are the true members of the Church
of Christ (Col. 1:18; Acts 20:28, Lamsa Translation)
The Church is called
the body of Christ (Col. 1:18). There are not many
bodies or churches of Christ but only one. This truth emanates from
the fact that Christ founded only one Church (Matt.
16:18). Therefore, the true believers in Christ are not
found in many different religious organizations for they are
baptized into just one body (I Cor. 12:13) or Church which,
as described by the Holy Scriptures,
is professing just "one faith" (Eph. 4:4-6). As various
Christian-professing religious
groups nowadays espouse opposing sets of doctrines and practices, it
would be unbiblical and illogical to believe that they all compose
the true Church of Christ.
Conclusively, one should listen to the words of
God from His messengers (Rom. 10:15), believe in them, and be
baptized in order to be saved. In being baptized, he joins the
Church where those called by God are gathered
together (I Cor. 12:13; Col. 3:15). But, as he
enters the Church, he can only be assured of salvation if he would
remain in the Church, faithful to the commandments of
God, that is, leading a righteous life based on the teachings of the
Bible (II Con 5:17; II Tim.
3;15-17), and endure until the end (Matt. 24:13). These biblical
teachings prove, among others, that merely believing in Christ does
not make a person a member of Christ's body or Church,
much less become worthy of salvation. The Savior Himself declared:
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord' shall
enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father
in heaven." (Matt. 7:21, NKjV)
___________________