THE CHURCH AND THE INDIVIDUAL CHRISTIAN
Introduction:
1. The failure to separate what the congregation, as such, can
do and what the individual Christian can do in the service
of the Lord continues to be the cause of much
misunderstanding in the church today.
2. There are two theories advanced:
(1) What the individual Christian can do, the church can do.
(2) What the church cannot do the individual Christian
cannot do.
3. These are two extremes, and they are both wrong.
4. Some have contended, down through the years, that if the in-
dividual can support a school in which the Bible is taught
along with secular subjects, then the church can do so out
of its treasury.
5. Others have contended that if the church cannot support a
school in which the Bible is taught along with secular sub-
jects, then an individual cannot do so.
6. Such misconceptions are based upon the fallacy that whatever
the Christian does, the church is doing.
7. In this lesson we shall note that there are many things
which the individual Christian must do in his individual
relationships in living the life of a Christian that the
church, as such, cannot engage in scripturally.
I. WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A CHRISTIAN:
1. It means more that simply subscribing to a system of
doctrine---though without the truth of God it is impossible
to be a Christian. Jn 8:32
2. It means more than simply believing. Surely, one must be a
believer. Heb 11:6; Mk 16:16. But it must be a faith that
works in love. Gal 5:6.
3. It means submission--OBEDIENCE-- complying with the will of
Christ in all relationships, in all manner of living.
1 Pet. 1:13-16; Jas 1:22-27
4. It certainly includes being a member of the body of Christ-
--THE CHURCH--but it includes more than just church member-
ship. One cannot be a Christian--one saved---without being
a member of the church. Acts 2:47, God adds the saved to
the church.
II. THE RELIGION OF CHRIST IS A WAY OF LIFE EMBRACING EVERY
RELATIONSHIP IN THE LIFE OF THE INDIVIDUAL CHRISTIAN.
1. It is just as necessary for a Child of God to please God
and do His will in the home, in the conduct of his
business, in his relation to the government, and in his
social contact with his fellowman as it is in the church.
2. A man who does not live in his home according to the
principles of righteousness, who does not conduct his
business according to righteousness, who does not fulfill
his duty before God toward the government under which he
lives, or who does not treat his fellowman as a Christian
should, IS NOT A CHRISTIAN, no matter how faithful he may
be in the work of the church or in its worship.
3. The life of the Christian and his duty embraces every
relationship in life. It is a 24 hour day--seven days each
week--job, and nothing in the life of the individual
Christian is exempt from it.
III. SOME INDIVIDUAL CHRISTIAN DUTIES THAT CANNOT BE PERFORMED BY
THE CHURCH:
1. A Christian is under obligation to make a living for his
family. He cannot shun this obligation and put it on the
church-- 1 Tim 5:8, 16.
2. A Christian is under obligation to bring his children up in
the nurture and admonition of the Lord. While it is
certainly right for the church to teach anybody, child or
adult, whenever it has the opportunity, the church cannot
take over the task of rearing our children for us- Eph.6:4
3. The individual is to engage in some sort of gainful
occupation to provide for himself, for those who have the
right to depend upon him, and in order to be able to give;
but the church cannot engage in business or economic
enterprises. 1 Thess 4:11; 1 Tim 5:8; 2 Thess 3:10.
4. The Christian is subject to the government under which he
lives as a citizen, but the church is not a political
medium and has no relation to the civil government.
1 Pet 2:13; Rom. 13:1-8.
5. The individual Christian has obligations to his community,
to the people with whom he works, among whom he lives, and
with whom he associates that is no part of the work of the
Lord's church in any sense. Rom 12:14-21
IV. SOME DUTIES ASSIGNED BOTH TO THE INDIVIDUAL CHRISTIAN AND THE
CHURCH:
1. In some work the individual Christian is to function both
in his individual capacity and as a member of the church,
a local congregation, in doing God's Will.
(1) Teaching -- Acts 11, An example of the individual
planting the seed in Antioch (vs 20) by preaching the
word, and also the church in Jerusalem sending out
Barnabas to assist in the work of preaching the word
there (vs 22-24).
(2) Benevolence -- in some instances an individual
obligation and in some instances it is the work of the
church. 1 Tim 5:16.
2. In no instance does the discharge of individual Christian
duty conflict with one's duty to God in the church. We must
do BOTH to the best of our ability, realizing that we have
many duties to discharge as individuals that cannot be
performed by the church, as such, and there are duties that
must be discharged in the church that cannot be discharged
through any other relationship.
V. EACH INDIVIDUAL CHRISTIAN IS RESPONSIBLE TO GOD FOR DOING HIS
PART OR WHATEVER GOD HAS MADE THE CHURCH RESPONSIBLE FOR IN
HIS SERVICE:
1. The church is to be built up by that which each member
supplies. Eph. 4:16
2. The body has many members. There is but one body, 1 Cor
12:12. Every member has its function to perform and is
needed. 1 Cor 12:14-26. All are to function in their
respective places and according to their ability in doing
the work of the church. Rom. 12:4-8. The arrangement in
the body is of God. 1 Cor 12:18.
3. The Corinthians church has an obligation for which they had
committed themselves in helping the Jerusalem saints. 2 Cor
8:10-11; 9:5. That "aforepromised bounty" was to be made up
by each one contributing his proportionate part on the
first day of the week. 1 Cor 16:1-4. So it is always in
financing the work of the Lord's church.
4. Each member is responsible for maintaining peace and
harmony in accordance with God's will in the local
congregation. Eph 4:1-3.
5. Each member of the body is responsible for its purity.
Eph. 4:17; 5:21.
Conclusion:
1. Thus, we can see that while the responsibility for making
the church what God wants it to be and for accomplishing
the purposes of God through it, rests upon the individual
member and he is obligated to do his part, determined by
his ability, of whatever God wants the church to do and for
making his efforts blend in with the efforts of other
members of the Body, yet his obligations in the work of the
church are not all of the personal responsibility which
rests upon him. He is responsible for doing the will of
God in all of the relationships of life.
2. What God has given the church to do must be done through
the church and what God has given the individual Christian
to do as an individual he must do as such and cannot avoid
his personal duty by trying to let the church perform it i
his stead.
3. Let the church be the church and let the church do the work
of the Church.
4. Each one who has reached a responsible age must come to
realize that God has commanded that he/she become a child
of God, thus a member of the body of Christ.
5. What is your state at this time. There are only two realms:
You are in Christ's Kingdom, or, you are in Satan's Kingdom
6. If you are not OF CHRIST, they why not now.
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