Confirming the People of God

One of the great questions running through Scripture is this: Who are the people of God?

In the Old Testament, Israel was marked off by circumcision and covenant. God’s people were identified by a sign, a shared life, and a common commitment. In the New Testament, that question has not disappeared. We still need to know who belongs to Christ and who does not. But the markers have changed.

Today, baptism is the God-ordained entry sign. It is how a believer publicly identifies with Christ’s death and resurrection, and how the church affirms, “Yes, this person belongs to Him.” Baptism is not an optional extra for the especially committed. It is the front door of the Christian life. Peter did not preach, “Repent and keep your faith private.” He preached, “Repent and be baptized” (Acts 2:38).

But baptism is not the whole picture. In Scripture, baptism always leads into membership in a local church. Those baptized in Jerusalem were “added to their number” (Acts 2:41). To be baptized but never joined to a church is as strange as a wedding ceremony without a marriage. The sign is meant to lead into a covenant life together.

Membership, then, is how we know who the people of God are in a given place. It is the church saying, “These are the ones we are responsible for. These are the sheep Christ has entrusted to our care.” Without membership, discipline is impossible, shepherding is unclear, and the witness of the church to the world is confused.

We live in an age that wants spirituality without structure, belonging without boundaries, Christ without His body. But God has given us clear markers: baptism and membership. Through these, we know who the people of God are. Through these, the church displays to the watching world what it means to belong to Christ.

If you have trusted Christ but have not been baptized, the next step is clear: obey Him in the waters of baptism. If you have been baptized but have not joined a church, take the step of membership. If you are a member already, renew your joy in this truth: you are part of the people of God, known, loved, and bound together in Christ.

May we, as a church, continue to treasure these markers, not as lifeless rituals, but as gracious gifts from God to confirm and display who His people are.