Bible Sermons Online

Archive for October, 2009

The Power of Ninety is not what it seems, think of it this way, ten is the 10 percent that we give in tithes. Ninety is the percent that is left and what we do with it is the power of Ninety! Or like David Green says, The power of ninety cents is greater than the dollar.

Tithing is expected from us to support the work of the Church, Giving is over and above the tithes and what we do with it can be powerful.
This story is about how God works through people who practice giving over and above. It is also about how God works through people like Oral Roberts, The Green family and Mark Rutland.

ORU in trouble:

Oral Roberts University was in financial distress, $70 million in debt and lawsuits pending. With rumors of misused funds the closing of ORU seemed close at hand.
In 1981 the City of faith Medical and Research Center opened with a 60-story hospital but closed in 1989 because of financial problems.
In 1986 the university closed its law school and gave the library to another Bible College.
And in 2007 Richard Roberts took a leave of absence over a lawsuit filed by former ORU professors.
The operation budget for 2007-2008 was more than $82 million and student enrollment is down.

Was Oral Roberts’ message from God wrong or  the wrong people in charge? Large schools and Churches are no different form large business when it comes to management. The larger the organization the harder it becomes to keep expenses and employees under control.
Just when you think all is lost and a vision gone, God steps in with a plan.

Hobby Lobby Executive:

Some have referred to Mart Green as An Angel for ORU and this may be true. Mart Green, and his brother Steve Green have stepped up to the plate to do Gods work at ORU.  Mart Green is now the Board Chair for ORU. And Steve Green, Hobby Lobby Executive is now a  member of the Board of Reference at ORU.
They have stepped in with aid to get Oral Roberts University out of financial distress and build a foundation of economic stability. The Green family donated $70 million to bail out ORU, but the
most important thing they bring to ORU is sound management skills that made Hobby Lobby what it is today.

David Green, father of Mart and Steve, started the art supply store Hobby Lobby in 1972. When the Oklahoma economy declined in 1985, David brought the family together to discuss the survival of the business. The company was built on sound financial and business plans plus a
faith in God that guides company decisions. David was the only child out of six that did not either become a minister or marry a  minister. However, David carried the example of giving
shown by his mother, Marie, into the business world. After some major changes and a decision to simplify its line of products, Hobby Lobby returned to record profits in 1986. Through endurance and faithful giving the company has grown in thirty-six years to 407 stores with 2007 sales of about $1.8 Billion. With Steve Green serving as president in their Oklahoma City headquarters.
In 1998 Hobby Lobby joined other Christian-owned stores in a policy of closing on Sunday. The company has donated property for hospitals, churches and other ministries. They also funded the
movie project, “End of the Spear,” and a follow up documentary, “Through Gates of Splendor.”

The Green family believes in supporting a few ministries well rather than giving a small amount to many.
but personal support as well. They had no prior connection with ORU and felt that the university was worth saving as an institution for building faith. Steve Green stated, “We don’t need fewer colleges or institutions building faith – we need more of them.”

Retired Missionary:

Successful business and institutions look for the best people to be in charge. The Green family found one of the best when they recruited Dr. Mark Rutland. During the last 10 years he has brought Southeastern University of Lakeland, Florida to one of the most respected and well known Christian liberal arts colleges in the world.
Part of the package was an additional $10 million donation to Southeastern University by the Green family.

Dr. Mark Rutland is the right man for the job. If you look at the web site for ORU, you will see a picture of the new president talking
with a group of the students. This is where you will find Dr. Rutland almost every day. He will get to know not only many of the students but all of the faculty as well. The Mission Statement for Southeastern makes this apparent, “Southeastern, a dynamic, Christ-centered university, fosters student success by integrating personal faith and higher learning. Within our loving Pentecostal community, we challenge students to a live time of good work and of preparing professionally so they can creatively serve their generation in the Sprit of Christ.”

He also brings the experience needed for the growth that is coming to ORU. God has been preparing Mark Rutland for just such a task. As a missionary and founder of Global Servants, with strong mission and evangelism efforts in Thailand and West Africa. With his wife, Alison, they have taken time to conduct Couples’ Conference on a regular basis. In a typical month in 2005 Dr. Mark Rutland preached in Canada, North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Maryland and South Carolina. And I know that the students at ORU will be hearing him preach at most of the chapel meetings.

Mark is well rounded with many interests, one is the love of music. He said, “Willie Nelson’s soulful rendition of Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain touches me any time I hear it. It is one of my favorite songs but one that is little known and even less appreciated.” He reads books on many subjects on a regular basis and plans ahead for future projects. He once told us that during his years as a minister he would lock himself into a Motel Room for a week and outline all of his sermons for the coming year.

As a manager, I cannot think of a better person to work for. I have heard many on the staff at Southeastern talk at length about working with him. He can and will make decisions, bring in the right people for the job at hand and bring the leadership that is required to manage the great university, Oral Roberts University.

Oral Roberts used his power of Ninety to establish ORU. The Green family used their power of Ninety to save ORU. Mark Rutland will use his power of Ninety to place ORU on God’s path for the future. When we give of our time and money over and above what is required, great things happen!
God brought these strong men and women of God together in order to continue the work that
affects thousands of students who attend Oral Roberts University. I can assure you from personal
experience that under the leadership of Mark Rutland, ORU will grow and prosper. I have seen that at Southeastern University, and at our own church, Mt. Paran North Church of God, during the leadership of Pastor Rutland.

Funeral eulogies are frequently one of those things that either folk remember for a while after they are given or that folks forget immediately. Naturally, sometimes they aren’t remembered for the right reasons. A bad eulogy or an eulogy that upsets someone will be remembered much longer than an eulogy that perfectly praised and recollected the deceased. If you say the inaccurate thing and hurt someone’s feelings, it can be catastrophic. Another thing to note about funeral eulogies is that not every religion allows them. Some other churches replace the eulogy with a reading from the Bible or with a short sermon. Instead, a number of folk close to the deceased may get up and talk about his or her life. Sometimes, the eulogy will be delivered by two or 3 folk either taking turns at the front of the church or standing together. If you end up asked to deliver a funeral eulogy at any time, you should be ready to put a good amount of thought and feeling into your speech. Many of the best funeral eulogies incorporate private stories, touching moments, and occasionally even a bit of humor. It’s OK to tell funny stories or talk about light hearted things that your beloved enjoyed. Funeral eulogies don’t always need to be heavy or extraordinarily reflective. Funeral eulogies are extraordinarily tough to both write and deliver. Some folk find themselves emotionally overcome while trying to speak of their loved one, while others find it more hard writing down their thoughts in an arranged way. In the final analysis, regardless of what occurs, funeral eulogies are about talking of the one that you love, and as long as you do that in the best way you can, you’ll have made him or her proud.

Eyes focused downward along your cheeks, you sit stiffly over the old wooden table. Hands open and laying flat, as though you would give them no chance to quiver. A photograph is dropped in front of you. It lands in the space between your statue like hands. A picture tells a thousand words. The picture tells you this…

There is calamity. The picture must have been taken at the exact moment tragedy struck. There, in the foreground, a pretty young lady stands beside a mailbox holding a letter in one hand, and the mailbox door with the other. She faces the photographer with a wide smile as she poses in an exaggerated gesture of placing the letter in the box. Her attention is focused on the camera and nothing else. Behind her, a busy street is met with chaos. To the right in the picture you see a delivery truck caught frozen in its attempt to avoid hitting a man who held a newspaper in front of his face while in mid stride, stepping blindly into the busy street. The picture was snapped, the delivery truck was held in time, swerving, inches before colliding with an on-coming mini-van. Both the drivers held expressions of contorted fear as they starred at each other. If it wasn’t for the seriousness of the outcome of this picture, those faces would have looked quite comical. The two vehicles will hit each other head on. The larger delivery truck will knock the mini-van into the air and send it towards a street light. Both drivers will need to be rushed to the hospital with injuries. Both will survive. The young woman in the picture will not. The street light is broken in two by the impact from the mini-van, it falls and lands across the mailbox and the woman who didn’t even try to move out of the way. It happened too fast.

A slight shaking in your right hand briefly betrays your efforts to keep still. Another photo is dropped in front of you. It lands on top of the first but only covers half of it. The half that still shows itself is the half with the smiling young woman holding the letter. No colliding vehicles; No impending doom. The second picture tells its story…

You see the inside of a church. There is a coffin closed at the front of the church and it sits where the priest stands to give his sermon. The picture was taken from somewhere near the back of the church on the right side of the room. The back of many heads are visible between the photographer and the coffin. All those heads are turned slightly to the left. There are many mourners. At the front of the church, just in front and to the left of the coffin, the priest is standing, slightly bent forward with his arm extended out and his hand on the shoulder of a man. In the priests other hand, he is holding a bible that is tucked between his ribs and arm. The priests face is vivid in an expression of sorrow as he looks to the face of the man. The man of whom the priest is trying to comfort is on his knees facing away from us with his both fist closed tightly and held in the air. His head is tilted back and he appears to be looking upwards…towards a stain glass image of Jesus on the cross over the priests podium…or maybe he is looking beyond that. His back is turned to us but it is obvious that he is caught between feelings of rage and grief and is unconsolable.

Absolutely still you sit. There is a heavy pounding inside of you. You feel it in your arms and legs and inside your head. Your eyes move from the coffin in the second picture to the smiling young woman in the first picture. A third picture is dropped. It lands on top of the smiling woman and the priest and the man. All that shows beneath it is the stain glass image of Jesus on the cross. The third picture tells this…

It is a photo of the profile of a man seated in a cafe. The man is holding a newspaper up in front of him about ten inches from his face. The man looks oblivious to his surroundings. He is sitting with his right leg folded over his left, and a coffee in a paper cup waits for him on the small round table to his right. He sits alone. The cafe is busied with people. A line of people at the counter disappears out of the photo and other people are visible sitting near similar little round tables while chatting with each other. The focus point of the photo is on the man with the newspaper. This is made obvious as an angry red circle was drawn around him by someone. The man is unaware that the picture was taken.

A wave of anger washes over you as you look at this man. Your left hand involuntarily clenches and unclenches. It tingles. You reassert your efforts to keep those hands still. You feel loathing towards the man in the picture. A fourth picture lands in front of you. As it lands, it scatters the other pictures. You see the smiling woman again in the first picture, the priests sorrowful face in the second, and the oblivious man in the third. The fourth picture tells…

The photo is horrible in its detail. It is in a dark room, maybe a cellar or an old basement. The man in the picture is the man who reads the newspaper and he is barely recognizable. He is tied at the wrists and hanging from a rope that is tied to something above him beyond the the edge of the picture. His head leans to the left and slightly back. It is held upright by his upward extended arms. His face is bloodied and broken. His eyes are swollen shut and are already blackened by untold blows to his face. He hangs shirtless and his torso is covered in red from the bleeding from his face. His ribs looked caved in on his right side and there are angry bruises all over him. He looks to have suffered through unimaginable torture. The place your eyes keep returning to his the mans mouth. It is jammed open. Although the blood makes it harder to figure out what has been stuffed into it, it becomes apparent that it is newspaper filling the mans mouth and a corner has unfolded, sticking out, making itself known.

You don’t feel sorry for the man. You stare at him and you feel hate. This man stole away from you the woman you loved more then anything… the woman you were going to marry. The woman who was mailing away the first invite to your wedding. It was addressed to her parents, you both thought it was the most perfect way to tell them… surprise them with the greatest of news. They had been asking for months when you two would tie the knot. This man and his damned newspapers took all of that joy and turned it into endless pain in seconds. Nothing any priest could say to you would ease that pain. Not a word or sign from God ever came to help either. Nothing was left in life anymore and it was this mans fault. Your soul was lost. You made him suffer. You hurt him over and over. When he passed out, you brought him to again so you could torture him more. He cried and begged and apologized endlessly. It didn’t matter. She was still dead and he killed her. You stare at the picture and rage and pain stab you with countless knives. He was made to suffer and you killed him back yet this pain still ravishes you. It is worse then before and grows stronger daily.

You are not alone in this room. The words that are spoken to you from the people who have been dropping the pictures sound far away and unimportant. Your hands start shaking and there is nothing you can do about it. There is a roaring sound in your ears and your throat closes tight. Your breaths come in rasps as stars begin to appear in your eyes. The woman you wanted to live life with and grow old with is gone, forever. You buried her… Your arm goes numb and there is a hot feeling inside your head. This man who took her from you is gone but the pain remains. It made no difference to kill him… The table in front of you seems to float away and the floor is suddenly laying against you. There is nothing anyone can do or say that will make you feel whole again… The room fades to black as feet scramble around you and faint shouting can be heard. She is gone from you and you no longer care… Your whole body is numb to you and the world fades away from your being. The pain stays…you hold onto that until the very end. There, just before the last part of your brain dies, her voice cries out to you aghast and horrified, revealing to you what a monstrous thing you allowed pain to make of you….”What have you done?!”

In the United States, an American went to work for the revival of Buddhism in a Buddhist country before Buddhism was introduced to America. This person was Colonel H.S. Olcott who went to Ceylon in 2423/1880, established the Theosophical Society, and worked for the revival of Buddhism, Buddhist culture and education in that country. His famous book “Buddhist Catechism” is a work of great clarity. In an attempt to outline the basic beliefs of the Buddhists to which the Theravada, Mahayana and all other schools could agree, Olcott wrote in 2434/1891 “Fourteen Basic Buddhist Beliefs” which was accepted by Buddhist leaders of several countries at a congress in Madras.1
In 2436/1893 Anagarika Dharmapala of Ceylon represented Buddhism at the World’s Parliament of Religions held in Chicago. It was at this time that Mr. C.T.S. Strauss declared himself a Buddhist by receiving the Threefold Refuge and the Five Precepts from Dharmapala. Strauss was probably the first American to become a Buddhist. It was also during this same period of time that the first Japanese Buddhist Mission was said to arrive in San Francisco and commence their activities in the United States. This can be regarded as the introduction of Buddhism to the United States.
In 2427/1884 Dr. Paul Carus published in Illinois his famous book, “The Gospel of the Buddha.” The book has gone through many printings and over one million copies of it have been sold since its first appearance. During this time, the Harvard Oriental Series was founded by Charles Rockwel Lanman and Henry Clarke Warren. Among the works included in this series were Warren’s Buddhism in Translations (2439/1896) and Eugene Watson Burlingame’s Buddhist Legends which is the English translation of the Dhammapada-Commentary (2464/1921). A Buddhist Bible by Dwight Goddard was also an American contribution to Buddhist studies. Goddard was born in Worcester, Massachusetts in 2404/1861. He accepted the message of the Buddha while he was a Christian missionary in China. Later he founded a brotherhood called “The Followers of the Buddha,” which became an inspiration to other American Buddhists. In the field of Sanskrit Buddhist studies, an American contribution was made by Professor Edgerton who compiled for Yale University the “Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Dictionary” published in 1953. However, in comparison with the numerous works produced in Europe, American literary activities of this early period were nearly beneath notice.
Generally speaking, it was Europe that played the central part in carrying the message of the Buddha to the West in the early period. Academic studies and scholarly research became characteristic of the Buddhist activities during these first hundred years. Names of Orientalists and Indologists, historians and philologists, along with their scholarly works, filled up the pages of the early history of Buddhism in the West. Names and titles cited above are only pioneers and some distinguished examples. A great number of other scholars, both pupils and colleagues of these leading figures, had their shares in this Western tradition of Buddhist scholarship and academic study of Buddhism. Some popular texts and works of importance have had many printings or were published in many versions. Among popular texts, the best known is the Dhammapada, which has been translated into many languages and of which not less than twenty versions have been published. Among the discourses of the Buddha, the Kalamasutta, rightly called the first charter of free thought, seems to be the best known and the most oftenquoted, the only possible exception being the First Sermon. Among post-canonical works the Visuddhimagga and the Abhidhammatthasangaha are next only to the Milindapanha in popularity and in publication statistics.

Not a single denominational church was built by Christ for he built his church, one and only, in the first century hundreds of years before any denominations came into existence.  The New Testament scriptures written after the gospels and Acts chapter 2 all refer to the church as a then existing organization.  Paul wrote to various churches.  Jesus in the book of Revelation instructs John to write to the 7 churches of Asia.  The real question men and women need to be seeking an answer to is not how do I get into this denomination or that one but how do I get into the church Christ built? 

One must understand that being in the church Christ built is an entirely different thing than being in a denomination.  One can readily be in a denomination and yet outside the church Jesus built.  If being in a denomination is the same as being in the church built by Jesus then the denomination has no reason for existence and should drop its denominational name and associations and just call itself what it would be under those circumstances – the church of God, the church of Christ, the church, or some other scriptural name or designation.  It would be “the church” and not “a denomination.”

In this article I am not concerned about how one gets into X,Y, or Z denomination but with how one gets into Christ’s church.  Certainly, there are steps to be taken as there are steps to be taken before one can enter any institution.  One must be made aware of the institution, what it does, and what purpose it serves before any desire can be created to join it.  So it is with the church Jesus built.

Many there are that say Jesus is all that matters, not the church.  Why do they say that?  Because they have a denominational concept of the church.  I am the first to agree that there is not a denominational church on earth that matters and everyone of them ought to cease their existence immediately.  But, that is a far cry from saying that the church Christ built does not matter.

The church built by Jesus matters so much that you cannot be saved outside of it, without becoming a member of it.  It is “the church of God which he purchased with his own blood.” (Acts 20:28 NKJV)  If you are outside that church it means you were never bought with the blood of Christ.  It means you are not a part of the body which he is saving.  “He is the Savior of the body.” (Eph. 5:23 NKJV)  What body?  “He is the head of the body, the church.” (Col. 1:18 NKJV)  The church is the spiritual body of Christ of which he is the Savior.

Christians are “members of his body, of his flesh and of his bones. (Eph. 5:30 NKJV)  “You (Christians – DS) are the body of Christ, and members individually.” (1 Cor. 12:27 NKJV)  One is either in that body or he is not, you are either inside or outside, and where you are makes all the difference for salvation.  Yes, the church matters.  It is not Jesus yes and the church no. 

The church is what Jesus gave himself for on the cross.  “Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.” (Eph. 5:25-27 NKJV)

Salvation is in Christ which is the same as to say in his body, the church.  “Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” (2 Tim. 2:10 NKJV)  In Christ one is a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17), a Christian, outside Christ he is not.  In Christ are found all spiritual blessings (Eph. 1:3), outside him none are found.   “In Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been made near by the blood of Christ.” (Eph. 2:13 NKJV)  That is in Christ and not out of him.  The list could go on and on but the point is that to be “in Christ” is absolutely essential to salvation but to be in Christ is to be in his body, the church.  The church is thus essential.           

One cannot join the church Christ built.  God adds the man or woman to it under certain conditions.  “And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:47 NKJV).  Who were added to the church?  Those who were being saved.  Who then is in the church?  The saved.  Who is outside the church?  The unsaved.

Does God just add whoever he pleases to the church unconditionally?  If so it would not be a man’s fault if he failed to obtain salvation.  There would be nothing he could do about it as it would be entirely in God’s hands.  It does not work that way.  At the close of the first gospel sermon ever preached Peter exhorted the crowd saying, “Save yourselves from this untoward generation.” (Acts 2:40 KJV)  Other more modern translations use the words “be saved” but the thought is the same.  It is up to the individual.  The individual has something to do.  Salvation is not unconditional and God does not save men adding them to the church unconditionally.

Does this mean that all who are in the church are saved?  No, for some go astray and live in sin and hypocrisy, in indifference and unconcern, without a deep abiding faith and love, who have fallen away.  It does mean, however, that you must be in the church to be saved for that is where those who will be saved are placed by God.

Upon hearing the gospel before one can be added to the church, before God will do the adding, one must believe what he has heard.  Paul defines the gospel by which we are saved if we believe in 1 Cor. 15:3-4, “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received:  that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he arose again the third day according to the scriptures.” (NKJV)  This correlates with Peter’s confession of Christ in Matt. 16 when Christ asked, “But who do you say that I am?” (Matt. 16:15 NKJV)  Peter’s reply was, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matt. 16:16 NKJV)  Jesus then says, “on this rock I will build my church.” (Matt. 16:18 NKJV)  It was by the resurrection that Jesus was “declared to be the Son of God with power … by the resurrection from the dead.” (Rom. 1:4 NKJV)  Thus one must believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died for our sins and was raised from the dead.

Jesus Christ as the Son of God is the foundation upon which the church was built “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (2 Cor. 3:11 NKJV)  He is the “chief cornerstone” (Eph. 2:20 NKJV) of the church (cornerstone being the rock upon which the church is built).  So a man must believe these things about Christ to be saved.  Faith then is essential.  We are “living stones” (1 Peter 2:5 NKJV) being built up as “a spiritual house” (church – DS) (1 Peter 2:5 NKJV) upon the foundation that has been laid – on Christ Jesus.

But, is this faith enough by itself?  No and all know it who will be honest.  Why do I say that?  Because on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 when Peter preached Jesus to the Jews he did not once command them to have faith in Jesus.  Why not?  He did not need to for their faith became evident when they cried out “to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’” (Acts 2:37 NKJV)  Make no mistake about it these Jews believed everything Peter preached that day in preaching Jesus.

Here is my point – why not dismiss the crowd and go home at that point in time?  If we are saved by faith alone there is no need for any further instructions as to how to become a child of God, a Christian.  No need for further instruction on what is necessary to be saved.  When the men ask “what shall we do” why not tell them to go home now and just continue to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and Savior of the world?

The answer is simple enough to an honest man.  Faith was not all that was necessary.  Peter tells them to, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.” (Acts 2:38 NKJV)  There are many who will say that yes they believe in order to be saved one must also in addition to having faith repent of his sins.  However, that is where they want to stop.  They want to separate repentance from baptism in the passage and gladly ignore the fact there is a coordinating conjunction there, the word “and,” that joins the two words making one just as essential as another.  (They do the same thing with the word “and” in Mark 16:16 and in John 3:5.)  It simply will not work.  Peter said they must do both.  If repentance is essential for the remission of sins the same passage that teaches that (this one) teaches also that baptism is.  Both are required. 

I grant you that denominations do not practice this nor do they believe it and you can get into a denomination without it (without baptism for the remission of sins).  But, remember this article is not about how to get into a denomination.  It is how to get into Christ which is the same thing as getting into his body, the church.  None of us should care how you go about getting into a denomination.  Who needs one?  It is the church Christ built into which one must enter for salvation.

The only man prepared to enter into Christ where salvation is found, to enter his body which is the church, is a penitent believer.  In the Great Commission the apostles were instructed to baptize only one group of people – those who were made “disciples.” (Matt. 28:19 NKJV)  One can only know whether or not a person who presents himself for baptism is a believer by asking him.

This brings us to another element essential for salvation – the confession of Christ.  “With the mouth confession is made to salvation.” (Rom. 10:10)  Timothy was said to “have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” (1 Tim. 6:12 NKJV)  It is the good confession Christ witnessed before Pontius Pilate (1 Tim. 6:13) which was that he was “the Christ, the Son of the Blessed” (Mark 14:61-62).  See also Acts 8:36-38.

Thus the steps into Christ are, in order, faith, repentance, confession of Christ, and finally baptism into Christ.  How does one get into the body of Christ the church?  “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.” (1 Cor. 12:13 NKJV)  “Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus ….” (Rom. 6:3 NKJV)  “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” (Gal. 3:27 NKJV)  There is no such thing as a Christian in the New Testament that was not baptized for the remission of sins.  Why do I say that?

(1) Baptism was for the remission of sins.  (2) It was into Christ.  (3) Christ commanded it (Mark 16:16, Matt. 28:18-20, John 3:3-5) (4) Peter commanded “every one of you” to do it.  No exceptions on the Day of Pentecost.  Paul said to the Corinthians “we were all baptized into one body” (1 Cor. 12:13 NKJV), no exceptions.  (5) The churches of Judea were “in Christ” (Gal. 1:22, 1 Thess. 2:14).  A church can only be in Christ as the membership is in Christ and that comes by way of baptism.

The individual who complies with the conditions that God gave will be added by God to the church for the same process that makes one a Christian adds him to the church when done from the heart.  Only God can know whether or not one truly believes in Jesus from his heart.  Only God can know if a man has repented from the heart of his sins.  These things being true a man can by all appearances go through the steps essential to salvation but God only knows the sincerity of the heart.  I cannot add you to the church even if you by all appearances seem to meet God’s qualifications.  Since I cannot know or judge your heart I have to assume your sincerity and honesty and accept you as a child of God, a living stone in God’s church.  I would want the same treatment from you.  A faithful Christian will never deny such a one the right hand of fellowship.

I would remind the reader in closing that to be in Christ is the same as being in his body, in his church, and that is where salvation is found, in the body of Christ.  “He is the Savior of the body.” (Eph. 23 NKJV)  How does one get into the church Christ built?  The Bible gives the answer, not the local denomination.