Page 25 - The Church and Education PDF Pro

On the day of Pentecost, Peter preached a sermon to all those who observed the event. There must
have been several thousand people listening to his sermon. After hearing the gospel and being
convicted of sin, here is what Peter said to the crowd when they asked, “What shall we do?”

Acts 2:38 Peter replied, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of
Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit.

John Macarthur in his notes on this verse comments, “…for the forgiveness of sin.
This might better be translated “because of the forgiveness of sins.” Baptism does
not produce forgiveness and cleansing from sin. The reality of forgiveness precedes
the rite of baptism.” (Macarthur Study Bible, p. 1603)

However, in this verse, faith resulted in forgiveness of sins and an immediate response to proclaiming
faith by the act of baptism. As the narration continues, many of those who heard Peter responded to his
message, trusted Christ as Savior, and were immediately baptized. It was a symbol of their genuine
faith in Christ; and act of obedience and a willingness to openly confess Him as Lord. As these new
believers were baptized, they were saying that they were saved.

Acts 2:41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to
their number that day.

Wow! Three thousand believed and were baptized and were added to the church. Notice that the
Scriptures does not say “a large crowd” believed and were baptized, but the actual number of those
who were saved is recorded. In Acts 1:15, there were 120 members of the church. In this passage, the
church added 3,000, and again added 5,000 more (4:4). Daily, people were responding to the Gospel of
Grace, and daily people were added to the church (2:47). Because the actual numbers were recorded,
evidently the church was keeping track and recording names of those who accepted Christ, were
baptized, and were being added to the church (roll).

Again, we do not build doctrine on historical events in the Bible. But we can note what the early church
did in response to a clear biblical declaration from Peter. They expected those who were entering the
church would be baptized. Today the local church that makes baptism a requirement for becoming a
member of the church has a good basis for creating that condition.

Some local churches require church membership to be able to teach or minister within the church. Is
this biblical? Churches that require this are only verifying that the person who is involved (representing
the church) in a teaching or ministry role has met the basic requirements of membership. This is to
insure that those who are in any leadership role within the church are believers who have given clear
testimony of their faith verbally and by baptism. While there may not be a chapter and verse to support
such a policy, it certainly is a logical and legitimate plan which is in harmony with the Word of God.

Local churches might have a list of various other steps or conditions that a person must take to “join” as
members. While perhaps these conditions may not be supported directly by the Bible, the local church
is at liberty to create policies, as long as those who wish to join the church are willing to abide by them.

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