Checking the Connection (1 John 4)

Morning Service – 01 Mar 2009

How do you describe a pecan nut to someone who has never seen one? You can talk about it in terms of its casing’s texture and colour, or of the skin layer, or you talk about the kernel. There are different layers you can peel back, each is part of the nut and can be used to describe the nut and to enable us to distinguish them.

What about church membership? Well with the local church we can say also that there are different levels of membership:

We can describe church membership in general terms as all who have a loose association with the church, perhaps by regular participation in a ministry  from which they find some help, some will even regularly attend worship, others may even be seeking the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ. In a census or at the hospital admission these will say ‘we are a part of this or that church’.

We would, secondly, include those who have come to faith in Christ Jesus but have not yet sought out formal membership of the church, or who for whatever reason have associated with this church though they have been previously received as and still are professing members of another local church. These may be called adherents or associate members.

We would also, thirdly, in light of the covenantal teaching of both the OT and NT, include the children of believers as part of the church and entitled to some external privileges of church membership. We might call ‘small-m’ membership.

But more specifically, we talk about church membership in its narrowest and truest sense as being that group of people who on the basis of a credible profession of their faith have been welcomed into ‘capital M’-membership of the local church.

It is in this latter sense that I want to use the term church membership which we have been exposed to today as 4 people have been brought into Communicant Membership of the is church – 2 by profession of faith and 2 by reaffirmation of faith in Jesus Christ. When we speak of ‘communicant membership’ we mean professing membership but are putting an emphasis on the fact that these are entitled to the full privileges of membership including and symbolised in admission to the Lord’s Supper or Communion as it is sometimes called.

To whom is church membership in this later sense open?

The biblical position is that church is not open to all; there is a condition of entry. It is available only to those who have experienced the saving grace of God.

From the very first instance of church membership in the NT we see that it is only those who have experienced the saving grace of God who voluntarily identified themselves with the church.  So we read in Acts 2:41 that it was those who “gladly received and were baptized” who were “added to the church.”  In v.47 we read that the “Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved”. That is it was only available to those. In 4:42 the church is described as “the multitude of those who believed”, and in 5:14 we read “And believers were increasingly added to the Lord.”

The requirement to be met for church membership, in other words, is clearly the same as entry to heaven, not more but also not less – repentance from sin unto God through faith in Jesus Christ alone. That’s why when people join this church they profess or reaffirm their faith – they are declaring that God has indeed done a work of grace in their lives evidenced in genuine repentance and faith.

Church membership is open to all who demonstrate the grace of God in their lives, but only to those. Others can come to church, participate in some of its activities and benefit from its influence by means of a friendly association, but you ought not be brought into membership nor allowed to participate in member’s privileges apart from a work of the grace of God.

So, in any discussion of the Bible’s teaching on church membership the first question we ought to reflect upon is this: Have I experienced a genuine work of grace? This is the question which as Pastor I seek to exp[lore with those seeking admission into the membership of the church, as we explore the Bible’s teaching on the nature, privileges and responsibilities of membership in the membership classes. This is the question the elders consider of those who make application for membership, and the reality of which is professed or reaffirmed before the assembled body of church members.

Why do we need to examine this question and make it the key consideration in the church? Because the Bible tells us that there are many people who through their involvement and activity appear to be valid church members yet may not be. Of this Matt 7:21-23 stands as a perpetual warning. It speaks of great activity and apparent usefulness in gospel work, yet Christ repudiates such workers saying, “I never knew you; depart from me you who practice lawlessness!” Consider also Rev 3:1 which speaks of the church at Sardis of having a reputation of being alive but Jesus declares the reality that they are dead! Then in the parable of the sower Jesus speaks of the rocky ground hearer shows that there is a temporary faith which despite its initial appearance does not save – therefore, time is the real test of genuineness (hence the need ongoing assessment of members).

This point is highlighted in what is claimed to be a true story: A Canadian minister tells how a friend was having a cleaning bee at their church. Several ladies showed up with vacuum cleaners to clean the sanctuary. After an hour of hard work one lady noticed that her machine wasn’t working. She flicked the switch and nothing happened. She turned to notice that the whole time she had been working so hard her vacuum cleaner was not plugged in but she hadn’t noticed because all the noise of the other machines! Needless to say, the pastor who related this story had a very good sermon illustration that Sunday! Even though there is a lot of noise around and hard work, it doesn’t mean a thing if YOU are not plugged into the power source!

So from the outset it is important to ask whether there is a reliable test for the reality of salvation. Jesus said, “by their fruits you shall know them” – but what are these ‘fruits’ which we should look for when coming into or for maintaining church membership?

In 1 John 4 we are given certain tests by which we can identify a true teacher, but which also as a result we can use to see 4 marks of a genuine work of grace.

1. Christ-exalting (v.2-3)

John begins the testing the spirits with their view of Jesus Christ. John expresses a high view.

This is seen by the “having come” which suggests He was pre-existent as well as truly human. Also “in the flesh” speaks not only of His humanity but also of all that related to that humanity including His death – notice v.9, 10, 15.

In short a true believer has an exalted view of Jesus Christ. The Christian is concerned to honour Christ in all His glory, in His full deity and full humanity, in His 3-fold office of Prophet, Priest and King, in His righteous life meeting the demands of God’s holy law, and in His substitutionary death.

At the same time the Christian is concerned to reject and resist any teaching that minimizes Christ and is concerned to see Christ glorified in their life, in their meetings whether times of worship or business for the maintenance of church life.

Brethren do we know something of this exalting of Christ in the church, in our lives, and particularly by us? This is a mark of grace. Those who have been saved by Christ love the One who has saved them, and long for Him to be identified in His glory as the Saviour Lord before others. Is the Christ we claim to believe the Christ revealed in the Bible? Beware of those who have a pared down version of Christ – a particularly worrying trend is the new moralists – those who teach a practical “life management” Christ who is concerned to provide people with coping skills than to present them faultless before the throne of God’s glory. There is far more to Christ and His work than this.

2. Sin-hating (v.4-5)

Christians are not indifferent to sin – their own or in others, including the attempts of sinners against them. John says they “overcome” by the Holy Spirit. They overcome the enemy of their souls, he who is on the world. We see that through Christ the power of sin has been broken. What this means is that believers recognize and reject sin, including the one behind and using them.

It is not true that unbelievers necessarily have no consciousness of sin (ie, a seared conscience). Even before a person becomes a Christian where there is a consciousness of sin, yet there is also a rationalizing away of sinful thoughts, attitudes, and actions.

The Christian, however, now finds each sin to be as intolerable as a sharp stick in their eyes. They no longer are able to take comfort in the popular ‘carnal Christian’ teaching, which holds that one can be truly saved and continue to live in sin, a teaching that can hardly claim to operate against the interests of satan’s kingdom.

John isn’t saying that true believers are perfect, but that they can and do resist temptation and sin. When Jesus said, “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matt 6) this is what He was talking about. Where sin is present in their lives they feel disquiet then shame over sin, they “mourn” and are driven afresh to Christ. They also “mourn” over sin in the church and the world and feel constrained for the glory of the Lord to respond to it in some way.

Brethren, do you know something of this spirit? This is the mark of grace in those who seeing the fact and horror of their sin, their just judgement, and that this was met with through the cost of Jesus’ death, have inevitably such a hatred of sin.

3. Bible-revering (v.6)

They “hear us” says John. True believers give attention to the apostolic witness which we now have in the NT. The response to the Bible becomes a discriminating test by which we can see who are of God, who operate according to the spirit of truth. The spirit of error always devalues the Bible by denigrating its truth or denying it outright, or at times by pushing one truth to such a degree that its balance with other is lost. The Christian handles the Bible with care!