Every person who accepts Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of his life must immediately become part of the body of Christ in a local congregation to establish unity in the church. Attending a church will allow you to be indoctrinated and baptized in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and then become a member in full communion. The Word of God clearly teaches that every Christian has duties and disciplines for Unity In The Church, responsibilities towards God, and towards himself.
It also indicates that the church is able to establish certain discipline that must be obeyed by each of its members so that there is harmony in the congregation, so that each believer grows spiritually and gives a good Christian testimony to the world.
- If you have been born again, the first thing you should do is find a way to grow in the Lord.
Rather, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
2 Peter 3:18
- Every Christian must learn to trust the Lord as a child trusts his Father.
3. One of the essentials of the Christian life is learning to talk to the Lord and communicate with Him through prayer.
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it will be opened to you. Because everyone who asks receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, it will be opened. Matthew 7:7-11.
4. As a child of God, the believer has to be obedient to the Word of the Lord and allow his life to be directed by the Holy Spirit.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the children of God.
Romans 8:14.
5. One of the main duties of the believer for Unity In The Church is to share with others the blessings of salvation that have been given to him. That is, participate in the work of evangelization.
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6. Christians must consecrate Sunday to the Lord for the worship of God, the study of the Word and the Service of the church. The New Testament clearly marks the first day of the week as the day observed by the Christian church from its beginnings.
4 Reasons to meet on that day and not on the Jewish Sabbath:
- The abrogation of the Sabbath in the new covenant, Hosea 2:11. This quote makes it clear that the abrogation included both annual Saturdays (holidays or special solemnities). Like the weekly Saturday
But now, knowing God, or rather, being known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and poor rudiments, to which you want to enslave yourselves again?, you keep the days, the months, the times and the years. Galatians 4:9,10.
- Although the propagators of the doctrine of the observance of the Sabbath insist that the Lord Jesus Christ kept that day, we must keep in mind the following:
- The Lord Jesus Christ was born under the law
And when the days of their purification were fulfilled, according to the law of Moses, they brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. (As it is written in the law of the Lord: Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord,
Luke 2:22,23.
- He ministered under the law, because the Word of God indicates that on the Sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue, according to his custom, and got up to read the Scriptures.
- He was crucified under the law. On the day of the crucifixion the Jews said: We walk under a law, and according to this law he must die, because he said of himself that he was the Son of God. John 19:7.
With his atoning death he concluded or consummated the dispensation of the law and established a new covenant because, in the same way, after having dined, he held the cup, saying: This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which was made for you. spills. Now, free from the law, we can exclaim. Well, we are not under the law, but we are under grace.
- In the book of Acts Paul appears preaching Christ in the synagogues on a Saturday (Acts 9:20). It is evident that Paul is preaching to the Jews who usually congregate on that day, but let’s see the reason why they met with them:
I have made myself to the Jews as a Jew, to win over the Jews: to those who are subject to the law (although I am not dominated by the law) as a subject to the law, to conquer those who are subject to the law.
1 Corinthians 9:20.
In that same book of acts and in the epistles we find that Christian meetings are held on the first day of the week.
On the first day of the week, the disciples gathered to break bread, Paul taught them, having to leave the next day; and he dragged out the speech until midnight.
Acts 20:7
- Why does the Christian church give more importance to Sunday as the first day of the week?
- In Mark 16:9, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is recorded on the first day of the week.
- On the first day of the week Jesus appears to the disciples who were on their way to Emmaus. Furthermore, that same day he met with the disciples (Luke 24:36-43).
- The women who had gone to the tomb worshiped him on the first day of the week (Matthew 28:1, 9,10).
- He strengthened and commissioned his disciples on the first day of the week
When night came on that same day, the first day of the week, while the doors were closed in the place where the disciples were gathered for fear of the Jews, Jesus came, and standing in the midst, said to them: Peace to you. And when he had told them this, he showed them his hands and his side. And the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Then Jesus said to them again: Peace to you. As the Father sent me, so I send you. And having said this, he breathed, and said to them: Receive the Holy Spirit. To whom you remit the sins, they are remitted; and to whom you withhold them, they are withheld.
John 20:19-23.
- On the first day of the week, the church that has been baptized by the Power of the Holy Spirit is born with power (Acts 2:1-4).
- That same day the first great harvest of souls arose.
So, those who received his word were baptized; and there were added that day about three thousand people.
Acts 2:41.
- The prophecies of the book of Revelation were given, which are of such importance for the church
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet. Revelation 1:10.
- And, on that very day when we find the church holding its main meetings.
As for the offering for the saints, do you also in the way that I ordered in the churches of Galatia. Every first day of the week, each one of you puts aside something, as it has prospered, keeping it, so that when I arrive, offerings are not collected then.
1 Corinthians 16:1,2
Duties of the Christian towards the Church
- Faithfully attend the services and other activities of your church to grow and mature spiritually.
Not failing to gather together, as some have out of habit, but exhorting each other; and all the more so when you see that day drawing near.
Hebrews 10:25.
2. Love the other members of the church and pray constantly for them (John 15:12-17).
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3. Pay your tithes faithfully and give generously as the Lord has prospered you
For I, Jehovah, do not change; therefore, sons of Jacob, you have not been consumed. From the days of your fathers you have departed from my laws, and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you said: What shall we return to? Will man rob God? Well, you have robbed me. And you said: In what have we robbed you? In your tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, because you, the entire nation, have robbed me. Bring all the tithes to the storehouse and there is food in my house; and test me now in this, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you, and pour out blessing on you until it overflows.
Malachi 3:6-10.
- Contribute to the evangelistic and missionary projects of the local church.
5. Respect the Pastor and the other leaders of your church as a sign of humility and submission before the Lord.
We beseech you, brethren, that you recognize those who work among you, and preside over you in the Lord, and admonish you; and that you hold them in great esteem and love because of their work. Have peace among yourselves.
1 Thessalonians 5:12,13.
6. Submit to the regulations and discipline that the church establishes and whose authority is imposed above all on those who do not walk according to the regulations adopted in accordance with the teachings of the Word of God.
7. Stick to the correct norms established in the Word to fix the offenses and personal differences between the other members of the church in order to grow Unity In The Church.
Therefore, if your brother sins against you, go and rebuke him between you and him alone; if I hear you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, he still takes one or two with you, so that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be recorded. If I will not listen to them, tell the church; and if he does not listen to the church, consider him a Gentile and a publican. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
Matthew 18:15-17.
8. Participate and get involved in projects to help those in need in the community.
Pure and spotless religion before God the Father is this: Visit the orphans and widows in their tribulations, and keep oneself unspotted from the world.
James 1:27.
Problems to Avoid in the Lord’s Church
- Lawsuits between brothers in faith and relatives.
Not serving the eye, as those who want to please men, but as servants of Christ, from the heart doing the will of God.
1 Corinthians 6:6
2. Contests and divisions, since these break the Unity in the Church. (Romans 16:17).
3. Acts of immorality. (1 Corinthians 5:1)
4. Disorderly conduct.
But we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to separate yourselves from every brother who walks disorderly, and not according to the teaching that you received from us.
2 Thessalonians 3:6
5. False doctrines.
Anyone who strays, and does not persevere in the doctrine of Christ, does not have God; He who perseveres in the doctrine of Christ, this if he has the Father and the Son.
2 John 2:9
What is the reason for the discipline?
The discipline, established by the church, on the basis of the Word of God, has as its main objective to serve as a means for the restoration of any believer who has failed. The process consists of bringing to repentance every member who has made a mistake and offering him a plan by which he can reach a spiritual, moral restoration and within the congregation so that Unity In The Church does not dissolve again.
He who despises discipline despises his soul; But the one who listens to the correction has understanding.
Proverbs 15:32.