A Bride's Purity

“To adulterate the church is to pollute a well, to pour water upon fire, to sow a fertile field with stones. May we all have grace to maintain in our own proper way the purity of the Church as being an assembly of believers and not a nation, an unsaved community of unconverted men.” – C.H. Spurgeon

I remember very well the day that Deanna and I joined Moorestown Bible Church. We were newlyweds and wanted to begin our married life by being grounded in God’s Word and fellowshipping regularly with a local body of believers. And so, we started looking around the area for a good Bible-believing church.

God quickly led us to Moorestown Bible Church where – not coincidentally, but providentially – my former college and career pastor was now the senior pastor. We immediately felt at home and began attending services every Sunday morning and evening as well as prayer meeting on Wednesday night.

When it came time to officially join the church, it wasn’t a simple process. Instead, we had to meet with the deacons, who asked us a series of probing questions about our conversion experience and our current relationship with the Lord. They also asked if we were in agreement with the church’s doctrinal statement and if so, to sign a statement indicating as such.

That may sound like overkill to some people, but looking back almost 40 years later, I appreciate those deacons doing their due diligence. You see, a church is not a social club or a community organization that you join on a whim. On the contrary, it is a local extension of the body of Jesus Christ, which means in order to join, a person must be a true Christ-follower.

These days, church membership has been watered down in many places to inflate membership rolls and increase revenues. I think that is both sad and unbiblical. After all, Revelation 20:15 says that anyone whose name is not found written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will someday be thrown into the lake of fire for all eternity. And so, if nonbelievers will not be allowed into heaven, they should not be permitted to join a church here on earth until they trust Jesus as their Savior.

Of course, non-Christians should always be welcome to attend church services in order to hear the gospel and experience God’s love. However, church membership is the exclusive right of the bride of Christ, and Jesus is our Bridegroom.

“All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they shared with anyone who was in need. With one accord they continued to meet daily in the temple courts and to break bread from house to house, sharing their meals with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” Acts 2:44-47 (BSB)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President