Repentance.

The Lord Jesus Christ tells us why He came; it was not to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.  repentance is not for good people, but for bad people, sinners. It is not for upright people, but for the rebellious. The call of the Saviour is directed to specific types of people - sinners.  The Bible through Paul tells us that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," therefore all are sinners.

What does that tell us?  That true repentance is a crucial part of the religion, not of an innocent person, but of a sinner. The call to repentance is of no avail to those who see themselves as totally innocent. It has no bearing on them whatever.  It is something that is produced in the heart of the sinner which is utterly indispensable to the character of the true Christian.  Since the Christian sins daily, continually, he needs to be repenting of his sin daily, continually.

If this is so, why is this not required before people are accepted into full church membership?  Why is it that they only have to say they are Christians i many places for them to be accepted as such by the eldership?  No repentance, no church membership.  Would your church tolerate such a biblical stance?