Believe and Belong Lesson 1

Believe and Belong??Lesson 1

Salvation and Church Membership

Text:?Acts 2:41-42 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added to the church about three thousand souls. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

What is a church? Many consider it a building. For example, they might say: The Temple Baptist Church is located at 1700 West Beaver Creek Road in Powell, Tennessee. However, the church is not a building, but a called-out group (ekklesia) of believers. Pastor Sexton defines the church as “a local assembly of baptized believers who have voluntarily joined themselves together to carry out the Great Commission.”

Believe: In our text, Peter had just preached the gospel of the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Three thousand individuals heeded the message, were saved and baptized and joined the church. Over centuries, churches have ignored the necessity of belief and the new birth, but that is not biblical. The Ethiopian eunuch asked what hindered him to be saved. Phillip said that he must believe first. After he confessed his belief in the Lord, he was baptized on the spot. Paul had already accepted the Lord but was blind when Ananias visited him, healed him through the Lord, and then immediately baptized him. A few years later, the Philippian jailor was saved when Paul and Silas were freed by an earthquake but still in prison. He asked: What must I do to be saved? Paul answered: Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, and your house. He baptized his household the same night. Thus the pattern is to hear the gospel, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and follow by baptism.

Belong: With baptism, individuals are identified with the local church. When Paul fled from Damascus shortly after he was saved, he attempted to join the group of believers in Jerusalem. He wanted to be identified with them, but they did not believe that he was a true believer. Barnabas took him to the apostles and told them of Paul’s conversion, after which he was accepted by them. God does not want believers to live as a “Lone Ranger.” We are part of the body of Christ, and members of the body. To survive and function properly, we must become a part of the body. We discover that the believers participated together in the apostle’s doctrine (teaching), in fellowship, in the breaking of bread (especially the Lord’s supper), and in prayers. This body of believers is truly a church.

Behavior: A true Christian possesses the life of Christ, which is eternal life.?John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.?When Christ lives in us, as we yield to Him, our lives change. I remember what happened to me in Liberia, West Africa when I was saved at age 36. I was still Professor of Medicine in the medical center. My wife, children, house, and vehicle were unchanged. But I was different inside. I had always been a good physician technically, but now I truly cared for patients as individuals. Soon people recognized a change, which was due to Christ in me. My attitudes toward others were changed, as were my priorities.?

This lesson is so simple, and yet so important. Many individuals identify a church with a building or an ethnic group or nation, yet the individuals are unsaved and on the way to hell. The church ends up being a mixture of saved and unsaved individuals and cannot function properly as a body. Church members may live lives that fail to reflect Jesus. When we follow the simple steps outlined by God’s word, we see a church which can function under the power of the indwelling Christ to impact our world in a God-honoring way.