FrontLine: Membership Matters
FrontLine May/June 2018 | VOLUME 28 | NUMBER 3
Membership Matters
Church membership, graphically portrayed here as a flock of sheep under their shepherd, is one of the most important and practical areas of theology. Church is where almost all the rest of the “-ologies” are put into practical function. Paul declared that the church—and in the context it is clearly the local church—is the “pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15). The church is the only institution authorized by God to carry out the Great Commission and celebrate the ordinances. The newly converted are to be baptized and brought into a local church, where they are nurtured and educated. That church then becomes the base of operations for believers, old and new, to win others and repeat the process.
Church membership is a New Testament teaching. Some today see no necessity in “joining” a church, but the New Testament demonstrates the need to commit to the authority of a church. The New Testament also teaches a regenerate church membership. Unlike many other denominations, Baptists seek to maintain a pure church consisting only of believers. Church membership is critical to the spiritual growth and maturation of the members of the body. Church discipline is the natural outgrowth of maintaining a New Testament church, for this is the methodology God gave to the church to maintain its purity. Finally, these elements of Baptist church membership have been held historically by Baptists, especially by the Baptists in America.
The faculty at Maranatha Baptist University trust that these articles, focusing on Baptist church membership, will be a blessing to you and your church as together we seek to be obedient to the New Testament.
Larry Oats
FEATURES
Church Membership
Larry R. Oats
Why is church membership so important to Baptists?
Regenerate Church Membership
Marty Marriott
Reformed denominations confuse the gospel by baptizing and admitting infants into their assemblies.
The Importance of Church Membership
Bryan Brock
Where is membership found in the Bible?
A Disciplined Church Membership
Fred Moritz
Examine the Scriptures to understand the strategy of the church as it faces sinning members.
Historic Church Membership
David Saxon
In all three regions that practiced infant baptism, nominal Christianity had become prevalent by the 1730s.
Dr. Earnest Pickering on the Dangers of Celebrity Christianity
Kevin Schaal
DEPARTMENTS
Mail Bag & News from All Over
On the Home Front
Wit & Wisdom
David Atkinson
Are We Listening?
Trisha Brown
Regional Reports
Notable Quotes
Robert Condict
On Language & Scripture
Mark L. Ward Jr.
At a Glance: Select Studies in Isaiah—Chapter 14
Layton Talbert
The Skies of Vietnam
LCDR Tavis J. Long, CHC, USN
The Sufficiency of the Lord in Difficult Times
Jerry Sivnksty
Our sincere thanks to Dr. Larry Oats for coordinating this issue of FrontLine magazine.
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