How should a godly church look like? What should mark its commitments? A quick survey through the Book of Acts will be worth our time to answer these vital questions. While the early church, as described in Acts, was not perfect by any means and is not given as a pattern for us to follow, I think, in general, we would agree that the early church was a godly church and there is much we can learn from their actions.

Through a series of 3 posts, starting with this first one, we will look at 12 commitments that marked the early church. I believe these 12 would be a worthwhile pursuit for any present-day church that seeks to be a godly church.

[Note: Here is the link to a sermon that addresses all the 12 commitments in one message]

Commitment #1.  Saved Membership

While all were welcomed, only those who had accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ were taken into membership. That is evident from Acts 2:41. The prior verses tell us that Peter preaches the gospel and urges them to turn to Christ. And then we read in verse 41, “Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.” Notice that they were saved before they were added to the church. The Holy Spirit had come upon all of these people. They were indwelt by the Holy Spirit, which happens only when one accepts Jesus as Savior and Lord.

Whatever method a church adopts regarding membership structure, it should ensure people are saved before they are recognized as members.

Commitment # 2.  Growing in Bible knowledge

Saved people will be marked by a deep love for God’s word. And that is what we see in the early church. Acts 2:42 says, “they devoted themselves to apostles’ teaching.” The word “devoted” has the idea of a continual commitment to a task—in this case, the task of learning God’s word as the apostles taught it. Acts 2:46 says, “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.” You can be sure there would have been teaching going on as they met. They were hungry people—hungry for the word of God.

And the apostles were also committed to teaching them sound doctrine. They were not interested in entertaining the flock but in feeding them with the pure milk of God’s word. The apostles also knew Jesus’s prayer in John 17:17, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” They knew the Holy Spirit uses the word to cleanse a person from sin in the initial sense at the time of conversion, but it is also God’s word that continues to keep that person clean.

Growing in Bible knowledge should be a vital commitment of a godly church. Believers should commit to being present not only when the word is preached from the pulpit but also through other avenues such as bible study groups and hearing sermons from godly teachers. And qualified teachers should also labor in God’s word to teach it to the people.

Commitment # 3.  Practicing Ordinances

The church has two ordinances that God has ordained. One is baptism, and the other is partaking of the Lord’s Supper, also called as Communion or breaking bread.

Ordinance # 1: Baptism

Jesus, in the Great Commission, commanded the church to make disciples by going and preaching the gospel and then baptizing them upon accepting the good news and then teaching them all things [Matt 28:18-20]. In obedience to that, Peter not only preached the gospel on the Day of Pentecost but also urged the hearers to get baptized after genuinely repenting from their sins, “Repent and be baptized” [Acts 2:38]. And Acts 2:41 says that in response to this call, “those who accepted the message were baptized.”

Clearly, these people first accepted Christ in their hearts and immediately testified of their faith publicly through the waters of baptism. In other words, the Bible only knows of a believer’s baptism, i.e., the baptism that follows only after hearing and responding positively to the gospel.

A godly church should encourage those who have repented of their sins and placed their faith in Jesus to testify publicly through water baptism of their commitment to follow Jesus without much delay. True faith always results in obedience to Jesus’ commands—with the first command being baptism. One should not delay in this act of obedience.

For a more detailed understanding of baptism, read this article.

Ordinance # 2:  Lord’s Supper

Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, also gave the church another ordinance to practice. While baptism is a one-time ordinance for the church to practice, the Lord’s supper, whereby the church remembers Jesus’s death, resurrection, and second coming as well as their love and commitment to one another, must be a regular practice. Luke tells us in Acts 2:42 tells us that the church “devoted themselves…to the breaking of bread.” The term “breaking of bread” refers to a meal. And typically, the Lord’s Supper was held, most likely, at the end of a meal.

While the frequency of the Lord’s Supper is not explicitly stated in the New Testament, it is safe to say that it should be done regularly. Initially, it seemed to have been done daily—verse 46—“Every day they…broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.” Later in Acts 20:7, it seems like they had the Lord’s Supper every week. (My preference is for a church to have the Lord’s Supper weekly since this solemn yet joyful act reminds us of Jesus’s great sacrifice for us. What an excellent way to reflect on this every Lord’s Day when the church comes together as one body!)

Commitment # 4.  Fellowship

Acts 2:42 says, “They devoted themselves to…fellowship.” The word fellowship has the idea of a shared life, a life with common interests. And that makes sense since they were all united with the Lord Jesus and shared a common life with him. That fellowship led them to spend time together, and as Acts 2:46 says, they “ate together with glad and sincere hearts.”

The New Testament also talks about several one-another commands that believers should practice, which can happen only when people are in fellowship with one another. If we don’t spend time with one another, how can we apply the one-another commands? One cannot say they are committed to fellowship as the Bible describes if all they do is show up for Sunday service and run out quickly! The church leadership should strive to create situations where believers can come together to study the word, encourage one another, and sometimes, even have a meal together. And believers should cooperate with the leadership, not only by showing up but also by taking on tasks to facilitate these gatherings.

So, we have seen the first 4 of the 12 commitments in this first post, namely:

(1) Saved Membership
(2) Growing in Bible Knowledge
(3) Practicing Ordinances and
(4) Fellowship.

We will see another 4 in the NEXT post. Until then, why not prayerfully reflect on how you can help your church strive to be a godly church?