The Lord Added Me to His Church—What’s Next?
by Bryan Gibson
In the previous article, we focused our attention on Acts 2, where souls were “added to the church,” the same church Jesus had earlier promised to build (Matthew 16:18). These people had asked what they needed to do to be saved (Acts 2:37). They were told to “repent…and be baptized in the name of the Jesus Christ for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38). The obedient were saved from their past sins and added to the Lord’s church (Acts 2:40-41, 47). But what did they do next? That is the focus of this article.
Look carefully at Acts 2:42: “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers” (v. 42). This verse describes what they did together, or collectively. God’s plan is clear. When one becomes a Christian, God wants him to join together with other Christians, so that they might work and worship together. We see the beginnings of this in Acts 2, and then the further development in later New Testament passages (Acts 11:26; 20:7; 1 Corinthians 11:17-34; 1 Corinthians 14; Hebrews 10:25).
For a time, the church was confined to Jerusalem, meaning that all the saved remained there after the events of Acts 2. That all changed in Acts 8 when many Christians in Jerusalem were scattered by persecution. Those who were scattered took the gospel with them, preaching it wherever they went (Acts 8:4). Soon people were being saved in other cities. Now, what were these people going to do? Travel all the way back to Jerusalem and meet with those left behind there? No, passages like Acts 15:41 and Acts 16:5 tell us what happened (notice the word “churches” in these passages). Instead of one group of Christians, there were now many, scattered in different places. In other words, when people were saved in these other cities, they did just what those in Jerusalem did, back in Acts 2. They assembled together for worship, and they did the work appointed to them by the Lord.
Some see the word “churches” in the passages mentioned earlier, and think of different denominations. But that was not the case at all. These new groups of Christians were just like the group back in Jerusalem, and for one important reason. It was said of the church in Jerusalem that they “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine.” So did all these others; at least they were supposed to. And if they were all following the apostles’ doctrine, their teachings and practices would have been the same (unlike the situation in denominations today). Being guided by the Holy Spirit, the apostles certainly would not have contradicted each other. They would not have taught one thing in one place, and then something entirely different in another place. We know that the apostle Paul personally visited many of these churches, and as he points out in 1 Corinthians 4:17 and 7:17, he taught the same thing in every church.
But did any of these churches ever stray from the apostles’ doctrine? Yes, they did, but when they did, they were severely rebuked (see Galatians 1:6-9; Revelation 2:14-15). These churches had been given a pattern to follow, and they were warned not to stray from this pattern. What about the situation in today’s religious world? It is clear that many churches have strayed far from the apostles’ doctrine. The Lord’s attitude has not changed. He is not pleased with churches that stray from His teaching.
In the next article, we will learn more about these churches that were following the apostles’ doctrine. We will see what they were called, how they were organized, the work they did, and what their worship was like. They serve as a pattern for us today. Those who respect the Lord’s authority will want to follow that pattern down to the last detail.