One cannot claim to be a member of Christ's universal body unless he is also in
fellowship with a local congregation of that body. The marks of the true church are:
the Word rightly preached
the sacraments rightly administered
church discipline rightly exercised
Therefore, the marks of the true Christian are:
the Word believed
the sacraments received
and deference to legitimate discipline*
Guido de Bres, in the middle of the sixteenth century, wrote in the Belgic
Reformed confession, "We believe that since this holy assembly and congregation
is the gathering of those who are saved and there is no salvation apart from it,
no one ought to withdraw from it, content to be by himself, regardless of his status or condition."
The end (goal) of church attendance is not legalistic adherence to a "perfect
attendance" record at the end of the year, but regular instruction, fellowship,
and reception of Holy Communion. Without these activities, we die on the vine,
languishing for the nourishment necessary to sustain the Christian life. As any
honest person knows, it is difficult enough to be Christ's disciple, even with
the church to guide and preserve us along the way. But to abandon this imperfect
institution is to parachute alone into a desert wilderness where death is the only way out.
*(Church discipline as a necessary mark of a true church has been a distinguishing
feature of the Reformed, rather than Lutheran, side of the Reformation tradition.)
From "Members Only", Michael S. Horton, Modern Reformation
http://www.modernreformation.org/mr93/novdec/mr9306members.html
By Permission of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, 1716 Spruce Street,
Philadelphia PA 19103, www.ModernReformation.org.