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The one excuse most often given is, "I don't have the time. I am just too busy to
attend church on a regular basis." I know a family that farms 1,000 acres of land.
They take care of 1500 hogs and several hundred head of cattle. It would be
difficult, if not impossible, to get any more pressed for time than is this family. Yet,
they never miss a church service and often as not they are the first to reach the
meeting house so they can welcome visitors and prepare the building for the
assembly. Everyone is allotted the same 24 hours each day. How we choose to
use the time God has given us is a personal decision and obligation. If we set our
priorities according to the scriptures we will find time for worship.
"Must I go to church in order to be saved?" Please read the following pages
carefully. In view of the scriptures cited, decide for yourself.
I must go to church in order to obey the command to assemble with other
Christians.
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but
exhorting one another and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching
(Heb. 10:25).
"Not forsaking" is the same thing as saying, "Do not forsake the assembling of
ourselves together." Thayer defines assembling (page 244) as, "a gathering
together in one place." Forsake means, "to abandon, desert, to leave in straits, "
(ibid page 166).
The command is simple. The passage is easy to understand. Please notice the
word "ourselves." Even though the Hebrew writer was writing from a distant place,
he included himself in the command, "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves
together." Each Christian is taught to feel an individual responsibility to seek out a
local assembly and join it on a regular basis for worship. This must have been the
habit of the writer since he included himself in the command.
The frequency with which Christians are to assemble is not found in this verse.
This is taught in other places in the scriptures. However, some how, some place, at
some time each Christian is to assemble with other Christians. Christians must go
to church in order to obey Hebrews 10:25.
I must go to church in order to follow the example of the early church.
And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break
bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow (Acts 20:7).
This passage standing alone is sufficient to bind a weekly assembly upon every
Christian. No other passage is necessary to prove that Christians must meet each
first day of the week to break bread. However, the passage need not stand alone
for several other passages back up the weekly assembly concept.