“Closer Look” is a weekly blog meant to encourage Christians by providing biblical answers to questions we have regarding theology, biblical passages, ethics, and more. The goal is that God would be glorified, the saints edified, and that the world would bear witness to the sufficiency of Scripture!

Is Church membership in the Bible?

(Published: March 5, 2025)

Q: Is church membership a Biblical concept?

A: Yes, despite the absence of the explicit command to join a local Church, Church membership is built into the framework of the New Testament. [1] Specifically, when the reader examines the Biblical requirements for certain Church offices, administrative and disciplinary functions of the Church mandated by Scripture, and the Biblical description of how Christians are to interact and serve one another, the reader finds that the only reasonable way to truly obey these commands of Scripture is to publicly commit to, and serve in, a local covenant community of believers (i.e., join a local Church). As Mark Dever explains, “it may seem like a stretch to say that local church membership is a biblical concept–that is until we actually start looking for it in the bible”.[2]

Church discipline

New Testament passages describing how the Church is to exercise church discipline demonstrates that joining a local Church is a biblical concept because these procedures make little sense if there is not a visibly distinguishable group of believers who voluntarily submit to one another for accountability and service (i.e., a local church).[3] In First Corinthians, Paul cites to the Church discipline of ex-communication: “[f]or what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. ‘Purge the evil person from among you’” (5:12-13). Unless there is a visibly distinguishable gathering of believers who submit to one another for accountability, then this measure of discipline would be of little utility to the Church then or now.

Similarly, Jesus speaks of confronting a brother who sins against you before “two or three witnesses” before telling it “to the church” (Matt. 18:15-17). Like the procedure described by Paul to the Church in Corinth, this procedure is only possible if there is a visibly distinguishable “church” to “go and tell” whereas disciplined members are voluntarily held accountable.

In Second Corinthians 2:6, Paul writes that “punishment by the majority is enough, so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him”. This passage leaves the reader asking who is the majority if not a majority of those people who have set themselves apart from the community at large as the believers in Christ. This passage makes sense only if the believers in Corinth had set themselves apart, visibly, from the community at large in local gatherings that met regularly and whose members voluntarily submitted to one another for accountability through the use of administrative procedures, which in this case was “punishment by the majority”.

Therefore, we see that passages discussing church discipline make little sense unless the discipline takes place in the context of a visibly distinguishable group of like-minded people who submit to one another in accountability and for service (i.e., a covenant community of believers– a local Church).

Church officers and administrative functions

Secondly, several passages describing various administrative procedures in the Church demonstrate the Biblical warrant for membership in a local Church. Specifically, the procedures discussed below can only be reasonably obeyed if a group of believers willfully submit to one another in a visibly separate group for purposes of accountability and service (i.e., a local church).

For example, church membership is implied in the passages discussing the qualifications of elders and deacons (See 1 Tim. 3:1-13; Tit. 1:5-9). Overseers and/or Elders over whom? Appointed by whom? If there is no administrative structure with accountability and oversight then these officers could not practically be appointed let alone perform their functions as overseers, shepherds, and deacons. Who decides the one who will serve as elder? What if there is disagreement among individuals? What does it mean to be an overseer if no one willfully submits to spiritual oversight? Hence, these passages, and the offices they describe, make best sense in the context of a covenant community of believers who willfully submit to one another for accountability and in service–a local church.

In First Timothy 5:9 Paul instructs Timothy to “[l]et the widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband”. The fact that Paul instructs someone to be “enrolled’ implies that there must have been a list of widows –a written list—kept by the Church. In other words, there is the necessity for administrative functions in Church life that only make practical sense if there is a local Church wherein believers publicly affirm membership (i.e., have their names placed upon a written “roll” or “membership list”).[4]

Likewise, there is the Church council that resulted in a decision decreed by the apostles and the elders and delivered to the Church in Antioch (See Acts 15:1-35). The First Church Council, its decree, and its resulting letter, would be of little practical use if there were not a visible Church whose members willfully subjected themselves to the apostles and elders (church leadership) for accountability and with the expectation of covenant, community life.

The Lord requires His Church to appoint officers, maintain rolls (rosters), and to engage other administrative functions. As demonstrated above, none of these instructions can be effectively implemented unless believers join together in a covenant community known as the local Church.

Doing life together

Thirdly, Church membership is supported by New Testament passages describing how the Church is exhorted to do life together. In other words, publicly submitting to fellow believers in accountability and service is the most reasonable way to practically apply Bible passages that describe ethical behavior between fellow believers.

Perhaps the most thorough treatment on how the Church is to do life together is found in Ephesians 4:1-32. Here, Paul instructs those in Christ to do the work of the ministry, which is building one another up in love into spiritual maturity, into Christlikeness (Eph. 4:16).

First, in these verses, is the emphasis on maintaining the unity created by the Holy Spirit’s work of uniting us to Christ. Secondly, is the expectation that the Church must serve one another, which includes a life committed to sticking together (i.e., bear with one another”) and building one another up in word and deed. These ethical imperatives necessitate the commitment of every believer to enter some kind of community life that will bring about interaction, relationship building, and service.

While this could be attempted in many different context, such as two believers who work in the same building for twenty years, it only makes practical sense that this kind of cross-bearing life is done among a group of people who (a) live close enough to meet together; and (b) who meet together regularly enough to make these types of relationships both organic and meaningful. Therefore, covenant commitment to a local gathering of believers for accountability and service is the most practical way for believers in a given locality to obey imperatives such as those described in Ephesians 4:1-32.

Thus far we have examined New Testament passages describing Church discipline, administrative procedures in the Church, and the overall design for how the Church is to “do life” together. These passages lead to the conclusion that joining a local Church is warranted because (i) they demonstrate that the Church in Paul’s day had a way of visibly distinguishing (i.e., demarcating) themselves from the community at large, which is accomplished by public affirmation of joining a local Church; and (ii) these procedures, structures, and ethics seem most efficacious when carried out in a visible, gathering of believers in covenant community (i.e., a local church).

Some red-herrings

Undisputedly, Church membership is not necessary for salvation. Only the finished work of Christ accomplishes our salvation. By repenting and believing this gospel, alone, we are saved. Yes, one can be a Christian and not a member of the local Church. Yes, one can be a member of the local church and not be a Christian. Also, yes, it is true that one can be a member of a local Church and yet live like they are a member of the world. Conversely, one can live outside of a local Church (i.e., not join a local Church) and seemingly do the work of the ministry of building up the saints more faithfully than their nominal, Christian neighbor. However, our view of Church membership should not be built upon our performance in light of others, or our performance despite others. Instead, our view of Church membership should be built upon . . . I’ll use the technical phrase . . . because the Bible tells me so.

What does the Bible tell us about church membership? As discussed above, the overwhelming evidence of Scripture supports joining a local Church. When the data of Scripture is put on the scales, as demonstrated above, the evidence is overwhelmingly in support of joining a local Church, versus not, as the most logical way of making sense of passages like the ones discussed above.

A final appeal

The last argument–I prefer to call this a plea– I’ll submit in support of why one should join a local church is the most exciting to consider: the wonderful, inexpressible benefits that come with being a covenant community member of the local gathering of Christ’s Church. Unpacking this point stretches beyond the word-count of this post, which is already long enough! An explanation of the benefits even stretches beyond our comprehension because it dives into the deep, beautiful, and rich mystery of being “in Christ”. For one, each Christian is in Christ individually and collectively. As His body, we bear witness to Christ's work in each other's lives. We experience the fruit of the Spirit from the hands and feet of our brother and sister who serve us in Christlike humility. This is one means of grace through which, when we “meet together”, we are stirred to love and good works (Heb. 10:24-25). We bear witness to the glory of God in each other (the sanctification of other believers); we testify to the glory of God to one another (our sanctification); we serve one another Christ-exalting, life-transforming gifts of grace in the Spirit (works of ministry, exercising our spiritual gifts) and we praise God for His glory revealed in the gospel as it is preached; expressed in song, and lived out in deed in Christlike service. John Piper describes the God-glorifying activity of the local Church gathering for worship and service wonderfully:

“Therefore, when human beings with diverse ethnicities, backgrounds, tastes, expectations, desires, priorities, peeves, admirations, and needs join their hearts and minds and voices and actions in unified worship of the one true God through Jesus Christ, a reality has come into the world that is beautifully fitting–it befits the power and the worth of God, whose glory can win such humble, self-forgetting praises from a diverse people."[5]

So the question should not be “should I join a local Church”. The question, in light of this good news, should be . . . why not?

ENDNOTES:

[1] See Gregg R. Allison, Sojourners and Strangers: The Doctrine of the Church (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), 127.

[2] Mark Dever and Paul Alexander, The Deliberate Church: Building Your Ministry on the Gospel (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2005), 60-61.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] John Piper, Expository Exultation: Christian Preaching as Worship (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2018), 35.