Many Christians today question whether it’s necessary or even biblical to join local churches. Some think joining a church will rob them of personal freedom and independence. Others believe they may attend several different churches without ever committing to just one. Some even believe they don’t need to be part of any particular local church, but that they may stay at home, pray privately, and watch sermons on the internet for their personal edification. I once met someone who said that his “church” was his personal circle of Christian friends.
But all of these attitudes are a novelty in church history, and they reflect the radically individualistic and autonomous spirit of our age. Such beliefs are contrary to the clear teaching of Scripture, orthodox theology, and the historical witness of the church.
Some Historical and Confessional Witnesses to Church Membership
The great prince of the Puritans, John Owen (1616-1683), wrote, “It is the duty of everyone who professes faith in Jesus Christ, and takes due care of his own eternal salvation, voluntarily and by his own choice to join himself to some particular congregation of Christ’s institution.”
The early English Particular Baptist, Benjamin Keach, in his magnificent work, The Glory of a True Church, wrote:
A Church of Christ, according to the Gospel-Institution, is a Congregation of Godly Christians, who as a Stated-Assembly (being first baptized upon the Profession of Faith) do by mutual agreement and consent give themselves up to the Lord, and one to another, according to the Will of God; and do ordinarily meet together in one Place, for the Public Service and Worship of God; among whom the Word of God and Sacraments are duly administered, according to Christ’s Institution.
The most influential confession of faith among English Baptists and early American Baptists, the Second London Confession of Faith 26.6, says:
The members of these [local] churches are saints by calling, visibly manifesting and evidencing (in and by their profession and walking) their obedience unto that call of Christ;[12] and do willingly consent to walk together, according to the appointment of Christ; giving up themselves to the Lord, and one to another, by the will of God, in professed subjection to the ordinances of the Gospel.[13]
12. Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:2
13. Acts 2:41,42, 5:13,14; 2 Cor. 9:13
The Second London Confession is not alone. Other Reformed confessions speak of church membership, including the Second Helvetic Confession (XXI, XXX), the Savoy Declaration (Institution of Churches), and others. Having looked at parts of the church’s historical and confessional witness to church membership, we now need to consider what it means to join a local church.
What Does it Mean to Join a Local Church?
To join a local church, a credibly professing believer must enter into a covenant with a local church as a whole. Church membership is a bilateral covenant in which individuals make promises to the church as a whole, and the church as a whole makes promises to individual members. A covenant is a formalized agreement, or commitment, by which two or more parties make promises to one another. The basic promises between individuals and churches in a church covenant include:
- Individual Promises. Each individual church member promises the whole church to trust and obey the Lord Jesus Christ together, to love other church members, to attend faithfully and participate in the life of the church, to receive the means of grace, and to be in submission to the pastors and to the church as a whole for the sake of growing in the knowledge of Christ for His glory.
- Church Promises. The church as a whole and her pastors promise to trust and obey Christ, to love individual members in their midst, to foster a community of truth and love, to maintain biblical orthodoxy and godly character, to administer the Word and sacraments, and to watch over the souls of individual church members for their growth in the knowledge of Christ for His glory.
A church covenant is bilateral (a two-way commitment), and it is breakable, which means one party may break the covenant, such that individual members may be disciplined for heresy or gross unrepentant sin, or individuals may call the whole church to account for heresy or gross unrepentant sin.
Some question whether a church has authority to make such a covenant. But the Bible provides examples of human beings making covenants with one another to keep the Word of God (Neh 9:38; 10:28-32ff). Church covenants are valid because churches are formed, not on the basis of any historical succession of churches or apostolic succession, but only on the basis of the Word of God. The Word of God forms a church when a group of Christians agree together (covenant together) to believe and obey the Bible and to be a church together.
Why is Joining a Church Necessary?
Consider seven important reasons that joining a church is necessary: (1) for the church’s existence, (2) for the church’s purity, (3) for pastoral ministry, (4) for church discipline, (5) for congregational government, (6) for growth in love, and (7) because church membership is implied by the New Testament.
1. Joining a church is necessary for the existence of a local church.
A local church (ekklesia) is a “gathering” or “assembly” of credibly professing believers. That which distinguishes one local church from another is the mutual agreement of credibly professing believers to be a church together. Thus, for a particular local church to exist at all, it must be an assembly of credibly professing believers, who have agreed to be members of one particular local church, rather than another.
The New Testament teaches that local churches were well-defined local assemblies. It uses language such as “the whole congregation” (Acts 6:5), “the church in Jerusalem” (Acts 8:1), “the disciples in Jerusalem” (Acts 9:26), “in every church” (Acts 14:23), “the whole church” (Acts 15:17). A church is a known and specified group of professing believers in a local assembly (1 Cor 5:4; 14:23; and Heb 10:25).
1 Corinthians 14:23 says, “If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds?” This passage identifies a well-defined local assembly as “the whole church.”
But it also recognizes two other categories of people, who may be present in the assembly but are not part of the church: outsiders and unbelievers. The term “unbelievers” clearly refers to people visiting the church who do not believe in Christ. The term “outsiders” likely refers to believers who are not members of the church of Corinth. This implies that to be a Christian or member of one local church does not make a person a member of all local churches. If a Christian is a member of one church, he’s still an “outsider” to all other local churches.
Therefore, for a local church to exist at all, it must be composed of credibly professing believers who have agreed, or covenanted, either implicitly or explicitly, to be a part of that local church. An explicit membership covenant makes the people of a particular local church clear to all.
2. Joining a local church is necessary for the church’s purity.
True churches are composed of people who credibly profess to be “saints” (Rom 1:7; 1 Cor 1:2; 2 Cor 1:1; Eph 1:1; Col 1:1; Phil 1:1, etc). A “saint” is a Christian, someone whom God has declared holy (sanctified) and given a holy (sanctified) or regenerate heart. When Paul wrote to the church of Corinth, he noted that the people of the church were rich in “all speech and all knowledge” of Christ (1 Cor 1:5). He knew they were rich in all speech and knowledge because “the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you [meaning the church as a whole]” (1 Cor 1:6). That is, those who wanted to join the Corinthian church were first required to give a credible “testimony” of conversion to Christ. Then their testimony had to be confirmed, or certified as valid, by the whole church, proving that they were rich in all speech and knowledge of Christ.
Confirming the credible testimonies of membership candidates is a necessary precondition of joining a church because it guards the church’s purity of membership for the sake of her worship, mutual edification, as well as her witness to the world. Any candidate who lacks a credible professions of faith must be excluded from church membership, so that the church will be a pure church. Therefore, church membership is necessary to guard the purity of the church, that is, to ensure that the church is only composed of credibly professing believers.
3. Joining a local church is necessary to have a pastor.
Pastors are shepherds of particular local churches, and they have responsibilities to the churches they pastor. Consider Hebrews 13:17, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.” This passage gives instructions both to pastors and to the churches they lead.
First, pastors are to keep watch over souls and they will give an account for their ministries (Heb 13:17). But how does a pastor know whether or not he will give an account for a particular Christian’s soul, unless that Christian agrees that a particular pastor is his pastor? The pastor of one church is not responsible to shepherd souls in another church. Every pastor is not responsible to shepherd all Christians everywhere. Pastors can only give an account for the spiritual well-being of his church, if he knows who belongs to his church. A pastor can only shepherd a flock if he knows who is a member of the flock and who is not a member.
Second, the Bible requires Christians to obey their pastors and submit to them (Heb 13:17). But how can a Christian possibly obey this passage unless he knows who his pastor is? How does a believer know which pastors to obey? Christians are certainly not required to obey and submit to all pastors everywhere. A believer will only be able to obey this biblical command, if he has joined a particular church and agreed for a particular pastor (or pastors) to be his pastor(s).
4. Joining a local church is necessary for church discipline.
Church discipline is not possible, unless the church knows exactly who is part of the church and who is not part of the church. Does a church have the right and responsibility to discipline any Christian who happens to come on Sundays? How long would a person have to come to a church before he is eligible for discipline? The only way to know that a person is part of a particular church, and therefore subject to discipline, is if the person agrees by way of covenant to be a member of that church. Church discipline is only possible, therefore, if the church knows who is part of the church.
In Matthew 18:15-17, our Lord Jesus outlines the process of church discipline for private sins.
“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
Unless the church is a well-defined assembly, it is not possible to obey Christ’s teaching to “tell it to the church.”
1 Corinthians 5:11-13 provides the procedure of church discipline for public sins.
But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For 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.”
Churches are only to discipline those inside the church and not those outside the church. But there is no way to identify who is “inside” the church and who is “outside” the church, unless Christians agree to be “inside” one particular local church, rather than another.
A church is only authorized to discipline Christians who are “inside” that particular church, not all churches. The fact that the final stage of discipline requires a church to “purge [remove or expel] the evil person from among you [plural, the church]” implies that a person was once a member of a church, and as a result of the process of discipline, is now no longer a member. Church discipline of individual Christians is only possible, therefore, if a church knows who is inside the church and subject to the church’s discipline.
5. Joining a church is necessary for congregational church government.
Congregational church government means that the church as a whole decides the most important matters in the church, such as the church’s confession of faith, constitution and bylaws, membership, elders and deacons, cases of church discipline, churchly associations, and the church’s budget.
The Bible gives us a theology of congregational church government in various passages. For example, Matthew 18:15-20 teaches that the church as a whole has ultimate authority to excommunicate members. Acts 6:1-7 teaches that the whole church chose the first deacons from among themselves to care for the Hellenistic widows. In Acts 13:2-3, the church chose Barnabas and Saul to be missionaries to the Gentiles. In Acts 15, at least two whole churches, Jerusalem and Antioch, worked together by sending messengers to an associational meeting to collaborate on an important doctrinal difficulty that had arisen among them. In 1 Corinthians 5:4-5 Paul instructs the whole church of Corinth to excommunicate a sinful man. In 2 Corinthians 2:6, we see that the majority of the church voted to excommunicate that sinful man, but that it should also vote to welcome him back after his repentance.
Congregational church government is not possible, however, unless the church knows who is part of the congregation and who is not. How can a congregation govern the church, if no one knows exactly who is part of the congregation?
Only credibly professing believers, who have voluntarily covenanted with a church, and who have been accepted into membership, have the right and responsibility to vote on matters of church government. It would greatly damage the church if random visitors, unbelievers, or marginally committed long term church attenders had an important role to play in the government of the church. Thus, congregational church government implies a well-defined church membership.
6. Joining a local church is necessary for growth in love.
When a believer joins a church, he binds himself to the rich and the poor in that church, to the old and the young, to people with families and without families, to the sick and the healthy, to introverts and extroverts, to people of higher education and lower education, to those with white collar jobs and blue collar jobs, and to believers of varying levels of sanctification. Joining a church means covenanting to love a diverse group of people because of mutual communion with Christ.
Historically, Christians who sought holiness in isolation from the church became puffed up in pride and self-righteousness. The Bible teaches that the only way to learn to love like Christ is to be covenantally bound to a local church in love. When a believer covenants with one local church, he renounces membership in all other local churches and prioritizes the people of his church. It means he does not choose preferred social groups or people to whom he is most naturally fitted over the Christians in his church.
The only way a believer can be more and more conformed to Christ’s image is by learning to forgive church members who sin against him. He grows in Christ by learning patience toward those who try his patience, by rejoicing with those who rejoice, and by weeping with those who weep. He becomes more like Christ, and thus, grows in the knowledge of God, in subjective union with Him, and in participation in the divine nature, when he keeps the nursery, wipes the tables, attends funerals, celebrates at weddings, goes to the hospital to pray for a brother before surgery, and takes a meal to a sister who just lost a loved one.
He does these things, not because he necessarily naturally likes all of these people, but because he is covenantally committed to loving them from the heart by virtue of church membership, and in that way, he actually learns how to love others from the heart like Jesus. Believers can only learn to obey the New Testament’s teaching about Christian love by joining a particular local church and being committed to its people.
Consider some of the “one another passages” of Scripture, which teach this doctrine of committed love for a particular local church. Each of these texts is directed to a local church, not to individual Christians. Their application is to the local churches to which they were written. Romans 12:10 says, “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.” 1 Corinthians 12:25 asks, “that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.” Galatians 6:2 says, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Ephesians 4:32 says, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Colossians 3:16 says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11 says, “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” Hebrews 10:24 says, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works. James 4:11 says, “Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.” 1 Peter 5:5 says, “Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’”
It is only possible to fulfill these commands to “one another” if we are part of a local church where we know who the “one another” are.
7. Joining a local church is implied in the New Testament.
The New Testament knows nothing of independent Christians who are not members of local churches. Consider that many of the letters in the New Testament are addressed to particular local churches. For example, Paul wrote Ephesians to the whole church at Ephesus. He knew the people at Ephesus, and he wrote with that particular local church in mind. The same could be said of Romans, Philippians, and others. The Bible assumes Christians will commit themselves to a particular local church, rather than another, that they will be under its ministry and authority.
Scripture teaches that new converts were baptized and added to a specific local church (Acts 2:41, 47; 5:14; 16:5). They were then “added to the number” of members in these local churches, showing that there was a definite and known number of members in local churches (Acts 2:41, 47; 16:5).
The New Testament also implies church membership when the member of one church is commended to another church when he or she moved or traveled (Rom 16:1; Col 4:10; cf. 2 Cor 3:1-2). Passages like this are the basis of the “letter system” in Baptist churches, where a church gives a letter of commendation for one of its members, who is seeking membership in a different church.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the very existence of a local church requires individual members to join. Many of the doctrines of a local church assume a clear and well-defined membership. These doctrines include regenerate church membership, pastoral ministry, church discipline, congregational church government, and committed love for others in the church.
For these reasons, faithful teachers and confessions of faith throughout church history have consistently taught that individual Christians should join themselves in covenant to a particular local church. This doctrine of church membership runs contrary to the autonomous spirit of our age, but it is nothing less than biblical Christianity.
