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| What a farce! |
Isn't it a farce* to baptize in the
name (authority) of Christ but not bring the baptized under the authority of
Christ vested in a local church?
*farce - noun, an empty or patently
ridiculous act, proceeding, or situation. (Webster)
Yet there are those who gladly baptize
in the name of Christ but reject the need to bring the baptized under Christ's
authority vested in His church!
This is Christ's command to His
Apostles:
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all things
whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the
end of the world. Amen. Matthew 28.
Teaching the baptized to observe all
things whatsoever Christ has commanded the Apostles takes place in the CONTEXT
of the NT local churches established. The issue of membership is always related
to baptism; it's presupposed in the command in Mt 28:19-20 itself.
Acts 2 tells us how the Apostles
understood and obeyed the command of Christ:.
v5 ¶And there were dwelling at Jerusalem
Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven...
v37 ¶Now when they heard this, they were
pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles,
Men and brethren, what shall we do?...
v41 Then they that gladly received his
word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three
thousand souls.
This Apostolic example set the
precedent in the NT church; hereafter - those baptized are added to the church or
are gathered into churches.
All those baptized by the Apostles on
the day of Pentecost were ALSO added to the Jerusalem church - even though the
vast majority of them were from cities scattered throughout the vast Roman
Empire.
Someone opposed to both
baptism/membership and non-resident membership inquired:
Someone questioned: in Acts 2:40 ff, what
happened to the 3000 added into the Jerusalem church? Did they report back to
the apostles to inform them of their well-being? Just curious.
A reply:
Most of the 3000 added to the Jerusalem
church were mainly devout Jewish men (Acts 2:5) from many different places
throughout the vast Roman Empire (Acts 2:8-11)
After the Pentecost Feast was over,
they returned to their respective homes scattered throughout the Roman Empire.
They likely returned to observe those annual feasts for some years ( some up to
70AD) and meet up with the Jerusalem church.
DEVOUT Jews come to Jerusalem THREE
TIMES each year to observe the three annual feasts commanded by God. There are
three annual feasts that the Lord commanded all of Israel to celebrate in
Jerusalem — Passover, Pentecost and Feast of Tabernacles.
Remember that there were TWELVE
Apostles in the Jerusalem church; what were they doing? Just like what Apostle
Paul was doing among the Gentiles; many of them were visiting the scattered
Jewish believers (non-resident members of the church in Jerusalem), and making
converts and, establishing churches in those places.
Act 9:31 “Then had the CHURCHES rest
throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in
the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.”
- How did those churches throughout all
Judea, Galilee and Samaria come about? How did they happen? The Apostles
from the Jerusalem church were also busy following up with the scattered Jewish
believers and establishing churches in those cities and further away.
Thus, there was communication between
the non-resident members and their church in Jerusalem... until they became
members of the churches established in their cities through the ministry of the
Apostles.
If you have any further questions, feel free to
ask.
p/s
A man once sarcastically said,
"The evangelist Philip added the Ethiopian eunuch to the Desert Road
Baptist Church," mocking the Apostolic teaching that baptism and
membership with a local church belong together.
