I believe that being a part of a local church is very important. Obviously some have physical reasons for not being able to attend in person, but there are people who can go that choose not to. There are wonderful benefits to being part of a church body that some miss out on, saying that they do not have to go to church to go to heaven.
The Bible tells us not to neglect meeting together (Hebrews 10:25), so we should make it a priority. On the other extreme are those who think they are going to heaven simply because they go to church. Often I ask people about their relationship with the Lord, and they tell me they go to church. Those are two completely different questions. It is possible to go to heaven without going to church, and it is possible to go to church and not go to heaven. I would not recommend either of those options!
I want to address those that might think their church attendance will get them into heaven someday. Please allow me to point out two occasions in which Jesus spoke to those who regularly attended church. In Luke 4 Jesus spoke in His hometown synagogue, and if I may paraphrase the message, Jesus basically compared Himself to the prophets Elijah and Elisha, two men who specifically helped Gentiles (a poor widow and a general with leprosy); He was sent by God to help people who were in need. By implication, He was comparing the people in the synagogue to those desperate Gentiles. The point was that just being religious Jews was not enough to put them in good standing with God. They still needed to repent of their sins, recognize their need for a Savior, and put their trust in Jesus, not in what they were doing.
How did the people respond? “And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff (v.29).” They wanted to murder Jesus because of His words, so they understood that He didn’t view their attendance as being enough to save them.
Another time Jesus spoke to a church was in Revelation 3 when delivering a message to the church at Laodicea. These church members were affluent because of the industry in their town, and they thought their prosperity was a sign that God was blessing them, so they must be all set spiritually. Jesus told them the opposite: “For you say, ‘I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked (v.17).’”
Is it possible for you to go to church every Sunday and not be a Christian? Absolutely. Your attendance is great, but you must understand that is a good work, and good works do not save (Ephesians 2:8-9) because we can never do enough of them to counteract the sin we have already committed against a holy God. The only thing to do is follow the advice Jesus gave that church at Laodicea: “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent (v.19).” Repent—that is, change your mind, realize you cannot save yourself by your good works, and recognize that Jesus already did all the work to save you. Put your trust in Him, and then you wont just be a church attender, you will be a real part of the Body of Christ.
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