How do I become a Member of the Church?

When Peter made his good confession, in response to Jesus' prompt, "Who do you say that I am," he said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!" Jesus responded"...on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overcome it!" See Matthew 16:13-20.

In Luke 24:45-53 Jesus tells his little band of disciples to wait in the city until they had been clothed with power from on high.

In the book of Acts the story of the church unfolds, as the Holy Spirit falls on that little band of disciples and the gospel is preached with power. That very day about three thousand people were baptized "and were added to their number." Acts 2:41

See Acts 2:47 "...And the Lord added to their number those who were being saved."

See Acts 4:4. "But many who heard their message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand."

According to God's Word, we are added to the church by the Lord. The Biblical model is one of men and women coming to Christ and thus being saved. When one is saved, he or she is a member of the church of Christ.

And how should I go about being saved? The Bible models this for us throughout the book of Acts. The book of Acts records the actions of the church as moved by the Holy spirit in those first 35 years or so of the early church. It is our goal to cling to the Biblical model of coming to Christ. To regain the teaching and spirit of the early church is the goal of churches of Christ everywhere.

When asked by the crowd "Brothers, what shall we do?" the Apostle Peter responded, "Repent and be baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off--for all whom the Lord our God will call." Acts 2:38, 39.

See Acts 5:14 "...more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number." It is the Lord who adds, and without faith in Him no one is added to the community of believers, aka, the church.

Take a look at Acts 6:7 "So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith."

See Acts 8:12 "But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women."

Now read Acts 826-40

Philip and the Ethiopian

26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian[a] eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”

30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.

31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:

“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.”[b]

34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” [37] [c] 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

These are only a few examples of people coming to faith in Jesus Christ. When you are in Christ, you are a member of the body of Christ, his church. Next time, I'll go into this in more detail, but I hope this provides food for thought. Read God's Word, think about it, and ask questions! Jesus encourages us in Matthew 7:7, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."