Doctrine is Not Enough
All true Christian experience must begin with sound doctrine. That is why elders are given the responsibility to “teach sound doctrine and rebuke those who contradict it” (Tit. 1:9). The church must be “a pillar and buttress of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15). Orthodoxy must be championed and all heresy, and even false teaching that does not quantify as heresy but is harmful to the flock, must also be vanquished from the church. The spiritual lives of the sheep depend upon it. Pastors are to “preach the Word” because it is the truth that changes the soul (2 Tim. 4:1, 2; Heb 4:12).
Yet, despite the guardrails being in place, the doctrinal “T’s” being crossed, and the “I’s” dotted, it is still possible to be an unregenerate person or even a cold, dead church (a body filled with orthodox unbelievers). Remember James’ warning, “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” (Jas. 2:19). In other words, even the demons believe in orthodox doctrine. That reality should be a sober reminder to us. Orthodoxy is the beginning, middle, and end of the Christian life, yet it is not all of the Christian life. What is left, you might ask? In the words of Jesus to Nicodemus, “You must be born again,” or you could translate it, “You must be born from above” (John 3:3). Just as important as the doctrine is the reality of what God does in our heart with the doctrine.
The Necessity of Christian Experience
The spiritual birth of the Spirit comes through the powerful work of the Word of God in our souls (Rom. 1:16; Jas. 1:21; 1 Pet. 1:23). It creates a new affection and orientation in our souls. Even though we are still the ‘same person’ to an extent, we have a completely new drive, so much so that the Apostle Paul says we are a “new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17).
The first manifestations of this new life are repentance and faith. In terms of repentance, it is a coming to the end of ourselves. As Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, “It is the realization not just that we were wrong, but that we are wrong” (emphasis added). Jesus put it like this:
Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life (John 12:25).
Faith is putting all your trust in the person of Christ rather than yourself. Jesus described faith as looking completely to Him rather than yourself:
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life (John 3:14, 15).
It is the new birth and its immediate effects, repentance and faith, that cause someone to enter the Kingdom of God. It is only these people who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. It is only these people who are able to exercise spiritual gifts. It is only these people who are true disciples. Their motivations are different. Their ethic is different. Their message is different. Everything about them becomes different. The single driving focus of a born-again Christian is leveraging their life for Christ’s glory (John 17:1-5; 1 Cor. 10:31). In particular, that means that they would rather die than live outside the will of the Lord (Matt. 7:21; Rom. 12:2).
The Catalyst for the Church
In order to have a vibrant church, your church must be filled to the brim with this type of person. It is not about the size of the church; it is about the spiritual life of the professors within the church. If the church is large but filled with people who have not been born again, they will not desire to submit to the Lordship of Christ. They will sow division in their flesh. They will be territorial. They will not exercise spiritual gifts (because they do not have them). Inevitably, the church will become worldly because it is part of the world. To put it bluntly, the reason why so many churches are dying or already dead is because they were filled with unbelievers.
The secret of a vibrant New Testament church is that it: (1.) teaches the Word in every ministry (thus creating opportunities for people to be born again); (2.) it is very guarded about its membership, ensuring that those who enter its ranks not only believe sound doctrine but also exhibit the marks of being born again.
Learning from the Methodist Societies
The Methodist societies were started within Anglicanism for this reason. John Wesley and George Whitefield believed that much of the church at the time was dead. What was needed was the born-again experience. They designed a Methodist society to exclude those “Pharisees and unbelievers” who had not exhibited signs of the new birth experience. George Whitefield said:
The only end which I hope you all propose by your assembling yourselves together, is the renewing of your depraved natures, and promoting the hidden life of Jesus Christ in your souls. … None but those who have experienced it, can tell the unspeakable advantage of such a union and communion of souls. I know not a better means in the world to keep hypocrisy out from amongst you. Pharisees and unbelievers will pray, read, and sing Psalms; but none, save an Israelite indeed, will endure to have his heart searched out.[1]
The purpose of these society meetings was to fan into flame true Christian experience within those who had actually been born again. It was so that people could experientially apply the Word and not merely be hearers of the Word (Jas. 1:22). In order to enter such a society, Welsh Methodists put together a list of questions to evaluate a person’s spiritual state. They are as follows:
Have you been convinced by God’s Spirit to see yourself … the chief of sinners?
Have you been awakened by grace to see that you can never know God savingly, nor yourself, except your mind is enlightened by a supernatural operation of the Holy Spirit?
Have you been taught by the Lord to know that sin has poisoned your whole nature … and that you are unable to rescue yourself from this condition
Do you believe and prove that it is through the imputation of Christ’s righteousness alone that we are justified, and that it is received by faith, and that the Holy Spirit alone can work that faith in us?
Do you find that the Holy Spirit has made your affections willing to part, for Christ’s sake, with all that was before precious and pleasurable to you
Have you secretly counted the cost … [of following Christ]?
If as yet you have not received the testimony of the Spirit to witness with your spirit that you are a child of God, is it your desire at all times to seek God with all your heart, seeing nothing but him?
Are you uneasy … until you prove that Christ is in you … and your heart has been broken … truly to hate every sin; until you have received the Spirit of adoption crying Abba, Father, within you?
Do you believe and assent to the fundamental truths; the Trinity, election, original sin, justification by faith, perseverance in the state of grace, etc.?
Is it Christ’s love which constrains you to join us?[2]
Practical Steps
In our ministries, we must minister as Jesus ministered. We must press upon people the necessity of the new birth. We must preach the cross. And the resurrection. But we must always declare to people as our Lord did, “that you must be born again to see the Kingdom of God” (John 3:3). This presses upon people the need for repentance, without which no one can be saved. Our ministries should not be merely doctrinal, but the doctrine must be fanned into flame into true Christian experience. And Christian experience must be expected.
Moreover, questions like the ones above should be used in membership interviews. Is the person who desires to join your church truly born again? Have they demonstrated the graces of the Holy Spirit in their life? Are they walking in a manner worthy of the gospel? If so, then joyfully admit them to membership. If not, you will be protecting the sacred work of the Holy Spirit within your midst by not admitting them to membership. Again, the life of the Church is not gauged by the number of its members but by its love for Christ and faithfulness to His truth. “You must be born again.” Are you?
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[1] As quoted by Eifon Evans from Letter to Religions Societies. Eifion Evans, Daniel Rowland: And the Great Evangelical Awakening in Wales, Retypeset 2023 (Edinburgh, UK; Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1985), 100.
[2] Eifion Evans, Daniel Rowland: And the Great Evangelical Awakening in Wales, 221
