Is the 9Marks series biblically sound?

Answer

The 9Marks series is a valuable resource for pastors seeking to establish a church grounded in the Bible or for Christians in search of such a congregation.

9Marks is an organization that aims to advocate nine marks (or characteristics) of a thriving church, rooted in biblical teachings. The organization originated from the ministry of Mark Dever, the pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. When Dever arrived at Capitol Hill in the early ’90s, the church was experiencing a decline. Instead of following the typical recommendations of church growth experts (such as conducting surveys in the community, addressing perceived needs with new programs, etc.), Dever focused on rebuilding the church based on the principles he observed in the New Testament. Subsequently, Dever authored a booklet titled “Nine Marks of a Healthy Church,” which proved beneficial to many pastors. The approach advocated by Dever gained popularity, leading to the expansion and publication of the material by Crossway Books, with endorsements from prominent Christian figures like John Piper, John MacArthur, D. A. Carson, and Albert Mohler.

In 1998, Dever established the Center for Church Reform, later rebranded as 9Marks. The mission statement of 9Marks (as stated on their website) is: “9Marks is a ministry committed to equipping church leaders with a biblical vision and practical resources to manifest God’s glory to the nations through healthy churches.” These resources encompass books, articles, book reviews, conferences, and recorded interviews.

The nine characteristics (summarized from the 9Marks website) are described as follows:

1. Expositional Preaching – An expositional sermon involves taking the primary message of a Scripture passage, making it the focal point of the sermon, and applying it to contemporary life.

2. Biblical Theology – Firm doctrinal beliefs; correct understanding of God; faith in accordance with Scripture.

3. The Gospel (This point is provided in the next section.In the greatest detail on the 9Marks website.)

a. The one and only God, who is holy, made us in His image to know Him (Genesis 1:26-28).

b. However, we sinned and cut ourselves off from Him (Genesis 3; Romans 3:23).

c. In His great love, God became a man in Jesus, lived a perfect life, and died on the cross, thus fulfilling the law Himself and taking on Himself the punishment for the sins of all those who would ever turn from their sin and trust in Him (John 1:14; Hebrews 7:26; Romans 3:21-26; 5:12-21).

d. He rose again from the dead, showing that God accepted Christ’s sacrifice and that God’s wrath against us had been exhausted (Acts 2:24; Romans 4:25).

e. He now calls us to repent of our sins and trust in Christ alone for our forgiveness (Acts 17:30; John 1:12). If we repent of our sins and trust in Christ, we are born again into a new life, an eternal life with God «For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. », (John 3:16).

f. He is gathering one new people to Himself among all those who submit to Christ as Lord (Matthew 16:15-19; Ephesians 2:11-19).

4. Conversion – A biblical understanding of conversion recognizes that only God can save, and that He saves individuals by enabling them to respond to the gospel message through repenting of

Sin and trusting in Christ.

5. Evangelism – Simply telling non-Christians the good news about what Jesus Christ has done to save sinners and urging them to repent and believe.

6. Membership – A commitment every Christian should make to attend, love, serve, and submit to a local church.

7. Discipline – In the broadest sense, church discipline is everything the church does to help its members pursue holiness and fight sin. In a narrower sense, church discipline is the act of correcting sin in the life of the body, including the possible final step of excluding a professing Christian from membership in the church and participation in the Lord’s Supper because of serious unrepentant sin.

8. Discipleship – A live Christian is a growing Christian, and we grow not only by instruction but by imitation. Churches should exhort their members to grow in holiness and help others do the same.

9. Leadership – Each local church should be led by a plurality of godly, qualified men called elders.

The 9Marks series is a series of books that expands and expounds each of the nine points above.

Of course, no organization is perfect, and no church is perfect. Over the years, there have been some who have complained that pastors who have been influenced by 9Marks become heavy-handed in trying to change their churches. However, Dever cautions that pastors need to move slowly when making changes to avoid becoming a “9Marxist.”

Churches who identify themselves as in agreement with 9Marks can register with the organization. A “church search” service allows people looking for that kind of church to find one in their area. (Of course, no church will perfectly emulate all of the nine characteristics, and some will be further along than others.) Most churches that identify with 9Marks are Baptist or non-denominational, but some are Presbyterian.