Five Principles of Membership

Vows are Needed the Most when You Want them the Least (Nanny McPhee Principle)

Vows are Minimalistic

Vows are Voluntary

God Takes Our Vows Seriously

Vows Require Uncomfortable Surrender

A Necessary Vow

Hebrews 13:17—“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

Matthew 18:12—“What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?”

Matthew 16:19—“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (cf. Matthew 18:18; John 20:23)

1 Corinthians 5:9-13—“I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.””

Genesis 17:14—“Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

Worship

Hebrews 10:24-25—“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

Exodus 20:8-11—“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

Genesis 2:3—“So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.”

Service

Romans 12:5—"So we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” (1 Corinthians 12:25; Ephesians 4:25)

1 Peter 4:10—“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.”

Ephesians 4:28—“Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.”

Discipline

1 Corinthians 5:12-13—“For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. ‘Purge the evil person from among you.’” (cf. Matthew 18:15-20)

1 Corinthians 6:3-7—“Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?”

Abhorring Yourself? (Isaiah 6:1-5; Luke 5:1-8)

Isaiah 6:5—“And I said: ‘Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”

Luke 5:8—“But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.’”

Repenting

Trusting in Christ Alone (Galatians 5:2-4)

Galatians 5:2-4—“Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.”Membership Vows

#3—Repentance & Faith

Do you confess that because of your sinfulness you abhor and humble yourself before God, that you repent of your sin, and that you trust for salvation not in yourself but in Jesus Christ alone?

Abhorring Yourself? (Isaiah 6:1-5; Luke 5:1-8)

Isaiah 6:5—“And I said: ‘Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”

Luke 5:8—“But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.’”

Repenting

Trusting in Christ Alone (Galatians 5:2-4)

Galatians 5:2-4—“Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.”

When “God” is not Enough (Psalm 19; Exodus 34:5-7)

Exodus 34:5-7—“YHWH descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of YHWH. YHWH passed before him and proclaimed, “YHWH, YHWH, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.””

The Trinity (Isaiah 45:18; 46:9; Deuteronomy 6:4; John 1:1-3; 4:20; Acts 28:25)

Isaiah 45:18— “For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it empty, he formed it to be inhabited!): “I am the LORD, and there is no other.”

Not Optional (Isaiah 45:18; 46:9; Deuteronomy 6:4; John 1:1-3; 4:20; Acts 28:25)Membership Vows

#2—The Trinity

Do you believe in one living and true God, in whom eternally there are three distinct persons—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit—who are the same in being and equal in power and glory, and that Jesus Christ is God the Son, come in the flesh?

When “God” is not Enough (Psalm 19; Exodus 34:5-7)

Exodus 34:5-7—“YHWH descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of YHWH. YHWH passed before him and proclaimed, “YHWH, YHWH, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.””

The Trinity (Isaiah 45:18; 46:9; Deuteronomy 6:4; John 1:1-3; 4:20; Acts 28:25)

Isaiah 45:18— “For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it empty, he formed it to be inhabited!): “I am the LORD, and there is no other.”

Not Optional (Isaiah 45:18; 46:9; Deuteronomy 6:4; John 1:1-3; 4:20; Acts 28:25)

The Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21)
2 Timothy 3:16-17—“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
2 Peter 1:20-21—“Knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
The Doctrine of Salvation (Matthew 16:26; Galatians 1:6-9)
Matthew 16:26—”For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?”
Galatians 1:6-9—“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.”

Motivation

1 Corinthians 9:24—“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.”

Colossians 2:18—“Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind.”

2 Corinthians 4:17—“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.”

Hope

1 Peter 5:10-11—“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever.”

Psalm 46:2-3—“Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.”

Psalm 46:1—“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

Perspective

In love, God sovereignly protects and preserves all those to whom he gives eternal life so that not one will be lost.

Defending Perseverance

Romans 8:28–39—“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”

John 5:24—“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”

John 6:37–40—“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.””

John 10:27–30—“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”” (John 10:27-30)

Philippians 1:6—“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

Promotes Laziness?

Galatians 6:9—“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”

Hebrews 10:36—“For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.”

Revelation 3:11—“I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.”

What about those who Fall Away?

1 John 2:19—“They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.”

Matthew 13:20-21—“As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.”

Glorification (Colossians 3:10; Ephesians 4:24; Genesis 1:26; 1 Corinthians 15:49; 1 John 3:2)