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What are the Marks of a Healthy Church?

Question
What are the assurances and marks of a transformed life? What does it look like in church (especially church), family, and work? I know it is all inter-related, but what are some of the things to look and strive for.
Answer
There is no way to give a complete answer to this question. We attend different churches, have different families, and work at different jobs. Therefore, I will state things in a general way and those only very briefly.

The answer to this multifaceted question involves the assurances of salvation. God desires His children to have assurance of salvation. He states in Hebrews 6:11, "We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure." This involves self-examination (2 Cor. 13:5) as assurance will diminish if concealed sin is present (Ps. 32:3). Assurance comes from continuing to hear and responding to the Word of God (Rom. 10:17; John 20:31), focusing on the sufficiency of the Cross (Heb. 10:21-22), and prayer (Eph. 1:18-19). Moreover, assurance is a gift of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:16; 1 John 5:10-11). Assurance is not properly maintained in personal isolation (1 Cor. 12:21), but in community (Heb. 10:25). Assurance is not ‘destroyed' in God's displeasure and discipline (Mic. 7:8-9), but your temporary absence from its presence leaves a void (Ps. 51). Assurance of salvation is therefore something to maintain and to fight for (Eph. 6:10-18; Phil. 3:7-15; 1 Tim. 6:12; 2 Tim 4:7), while relaxing in the grace of it (2 Thess. 3:3; Jude 24-25).

What does this look like in everyday life may be answered somewhat differently for each individual. However, in general the transformed life will include, in varying levels of maturity, the following (adapted from the University Presbyterian Church, Orlando, FL, Discovery Class):
1. Enjoying God in Worship.
  • Attending church services.
  • Practicing personal and family worship weekly.
  • Living with an attitude of worship which permeates all of life.
2. Engaging in God's Word.
  • Having a meaningful, consistent, prayerful, and relational devotional life.
  • Learning and has a knowledge of the Bible.
  • Learning and is sharing the Gospel with others.
3. Living by God's Promises.
  • Preaching the Gospel continuously to yourself.
  • Continually demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit.
  • Finding joy and security in one's relationship with God.
4. Appling the Gospel of Grace in Relationships.
  • Understanding and loving others where they are at.
  • Resolving conflicts with others biblically.
  • Reaching out beyond our comfort levels to love others.
5. Investing Time in your Local Church and Community.
  • Participating in the ministries of the church — being careful not to over extend ourselves.
  • Helping others experience authentic community.
  • Serving in our church according to our gifts.
6. Fulfilling Our Church Membership Vows.
  • Living as a faithful follower of Christ throughout the week.
  • Supporting the church with our time, spiritual gifts, and tithes.
  • Submitting to the government and discipline of the church.
7. Exercises Your Gifts in All of Life.
  • Knowledgeable of our strengths and weaknesses.
  • Serving the church, family, and community with our gifts.
  • Exercising gifts with a Kingdom perspective.
8.Practicing Biblical Principles of Financial Stewardship.
  • Living on a realistic budget (supporting the family).
  • Giving generously to the church and other Kingdom causes.
  • Using all resources responsibly.
9.Sharing Our Faith and Hope in Christ with Others.
  • Ministering (within our giftedness) in the mission field of the world.
  • Praying and sharing one's faith.
  • Investing in other's lives and inviting them to Christ, into our family, and church.
I would point out that one is not a Christian because they engage in these works, but rather one should engage and have an excitement to serve Christ in these areas because they are saved (Eph. 2:8-10).

Furthermore, one's church may hinder one from fully serving Christ as shown above. In a healthy church the healthy Christian should shine forth with their brightest light (Matt. 5:13-16). A healthy church will consist of, but not be limited to (from Mark Dever's 9Marks): (1) expositional preaching, (2) biblical theology, (3) the biblical understanding of the Good News, (4) the biblical understanding of conversion, (5) the biblical understanding of evangelism, (6) the biblical understanding of church membership, (7) the biblical understanding of church discipline, (8) promoting biblical discipleship and maturity, and (9) the biblical understanding of church leadership. I would add to these (as they are not apparent in the 9marks list) a biblical understanding of prayer, the family, gifts, stewardship, the sacraments, serving the community (the homeless, nursing homes, etc.) and foreign missions.

Answer by: Joseph R. Nally, Theological Editor, on behalf of the staff at IIIM. The opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily the "official position" of Third Millennium Ministries.