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A Member of His Church
By Roger Rush
Some surveys indicate that as many as 96 out of
every 100 Americans believe in God. However, when one looks at statistics
regarding church membership and involvement, another picture begins
to take shape. Many who consider themselves believers want nothing
to do with organized religion. Their response is “Yes”
to Jesus, but “No” to His church. The fact is, we can’t
have one without the other. To reject the church is to reject Christ,
and to reject Christ is to reject His church.
Membership in His church is essential to a right
relationship with the Lord. The importance of the church is apparent
from the following:
First, Jesus shed His blood to purchase the church.
Paul charged the elders of the church at Ephesus: “Take heed
therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which
the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God,
which he hath purchased with his own blood” (Acts 20:28).
Second, Jesus loved the church and died for it
(Ephesians 5:25). He would not have died for something which was
unimportant or irrelevant to the salvation of mankind.
Third, it is in the church that man is reconciled
to God. Through his death on the cross he made it possible for Jews
and Gentiles to be reconciled unto God in “one body”
(Ephesians 2:16). The one body is the church (Ephesians 4:4).
Fourth, man cannot be saved outside of the church.
All of the saved are added to the church by the Lord (Acts 2:47).
The church is too important for it to be casually brushed aside.
It was important enough that Jesus was willing to die for it. It
should be important enough for us to actively serve the Lord as
members of it. Those who deny the importance of the church are seeking
all of the blessings of Christianity without any of the responsibilities.
It won’t work!
Are you a member of His church?
Copied from Sixth & Washington Streets Bulletin,
Marietta, Ohio
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