Why is "Joining Your Local Church" a Sin?

What is the great sin in "joining a local church?" The answer to that question is simply answered with another: Is the church something that can be joined? If the Church that is Jesus' body on earth can be "joined", then it is sin NOT to join it. But if the church is something that can NOT be joined, then it is sin to infer that such a thing is possible.

God's people are encouraged everywhere to "join" the fellowship, sect, or denomination they attend. By many, it is wrongly called "joining the church." Most ministers will tell people that "joining their church" will not save a person, or that "their church is not the only church"; our cry is not to be a part of ANY church that will not save your soul! If your church is not the ONLY church - get out! Jesus doesn't want you to "join" anything that fosters such religious error and confusion!

Calling any building or organization the "church" has wrought such confusion, that the saints today, by and large, do not know what the "Church" is! So first let us look at the church, and then show you why anything you "join" that calls itself a "church" will hinder you spiritually, and has divided and done great harm to the body of Christ on earth.

"And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matt.16:18).

Friends - what is the meaning of the Word, "Church"? What did Jesus have in mind when he said he would build his "Church"?

The word, "church", comes from ekklesia, a Greek word which means "called-out ones"; and that is exactly what the church is: people called out of the darkness of sin into the light of holiness. Many in our time call the building in which they worship "the church"; but the word "church" refers only to God's earthly family, and it should never be used in reference to a building built by men. The church is the earthly dwelling place of God's Spirit, as Paul stated, "your body is the temple of the holy Ghost" (1Cor.6:19).

Peter described the church as "living stones", forming "a spiritual house", a place "to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ" (1Pet.2:5). The church, then, is the people of God, and NOT a building. As the man of God said, "the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands" (Acts 7:48).

In the Old Covenant, God's earthly dwelling place was not called "the church"; rather, it was frequently called "Zion". Isaiah prophesied concerning Zion, "Thou shalt be called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord shall name" (62:2). This prophecy remained unfulfilled until the Lord Jesus came and spoke the words of our text, "I will build my church". This was the time and place that Zion received directly from "the mouth of the Lord" its new name: CHURCH.

The church has no other name. It is a name in itself. "Church" is the New Testament name for the called-out people, or "body of Christ" as it is often called. Yes, my friend, the word church, without any prefixing or suffixing, is sufficient. We do find that the New Testament writers deemed it helpful at times when speaking of the church to use descriptive names such as: Mount Zion (Heb.12:22), God's Building (1Cor.3:9), The Household of God (Eph.2:19), The Church of God (Acts 20:28), The Church of the Living God (1Tim.3:15), and many others too numerous to record here. But, just as in the case of the holy Spirit, though there be a hundred different descriptive titles for it, "there is only one" (Eph.4:4).

In order to lend credibility to their sects, certain groups have picked out for themselves one of the titles given to the church in the Bible. Others chose to add names to the word church which are not used in its connection in the Bible, such as, Baptist, Methodist, Episcopal, Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, and many others. God condemned such divisive practices at their inception (1Cor.1:10-13). Still, we should be more concerned with whether or not we are in the church than what its proper name might be, for only those in the safety of the church will be saved in the end.

Moved by the Spirit of prophecy, the Psalmist declared (Ps.87:5,6), "And of Zion [the church] it shall be said, `This man was born in her'. And the highest Himself shall establish her. The Lord shall count [note], when He writeth up the people that this man was born there." One must be born into the church because it is a divine family; it is not a club which can be joined. If your fellowship promotes any form of church membership by "joining", you do despite to the Spirit of grace and teach the saints a wrong idea about God and His kingdom. In Old Testament Zion, it was by a natural birth that one became a member of God's family, but in this New Covenant it is a by spiritual birth. This is why Jesus said to Nicodemus, "Ye must be born again" (Jn.3:3-7). The following three verses reveal, in New Testament terms, how one enters the church:

1. ROMANS 6:3: "Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?"
2. GALATIANS 3:27: "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ."
3. 1 CORINTHIANS 12:13: "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body. . . ."

Regardless of how good a person appears to be or how lofty his religious title, if he has not received the baptism of the holy Ghost (with the evidence of speaking in other tongues), he is not in the church of Jesus Christ. The church is comprised only of Spirit-baptized people. Some of these saints are obedient and some disobedient, but no one else is in the church, though many may yet enter in.

Not all who are born into the church will be faithful to God. Therefore, the church, as a whole, is not perfect. Nor was it perfect in the days of the apostles. Ananias and his wife Sapphira, for example, were anything but exemplary believers. From its beginning, the church has been a mixed multitude, some good and some bad; but Jesus will purge the church of its ungodly members before his return (Mt.13:36-43). Until then, it is vital that we understand who the church actually is. It is ONLY those who have the Spirit of God, and have been baptized into the body of Christ, by Jesus himself. Believing and living this truth is the only way to build and edify the true Church now!

Sin is disobedience to truth. When we offer "church membership" we are planting seeds of confusion, doubt, and unbelief in any person who receives it. If you are going to a place that offers "membership", the question must be asked, "are the people doing this being led by the Spirit?" The answer is NO. Because men offering "membership" to the church is not something Jesus leads men to do... We must wait on the Spirit of God to declare one "admitted", or not! If you are in the midst of "sin", come out of it. God will join you together with those who are seeking the truth without compromising it. The sure sign of the rebellious is when one hears the truth and then says something like: "oh, we know you can't join the church, but we have church membership because . . . " In their hearts they are really saying, "we know what obeying God means, but we don't want to!"

"Without holiness no one shall see the Lord." This is not a cliche - it is the requirement of all who will inherit eternal life. Obey God, and begin to grow again in Christ Jesus. He wants you to see many more things - He's just looking for you to obey Him.

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