Some people believe that as long as they sincerely believe in Jesus and become part of the invisible church, that is enough. They do not need to become members of a local church in order to be saved and enter the kingdom of heaven. Others argue that the Bible contains no verse that directly commands church membership, so we do not need to take church membership so seriously; attending Sunday worship, Bible studies, and fellowship gatherings should be sufficient.

Contemporary Reformed theologian Guy Waters, in his book How Jesus Runs the Church, and Mark Herzer, in his paper “The Church: A Covenant Community,” both point to the necessity of church membership. Although the phrase “church membership” does not appear in the Bible, becoming a member of the church is nevertheless a biblical teaching. In the same way, the term “Triune God” does not appear directly in Scripture, yet the principles of Scripture clearly reveal the doctrine of the Trinity. Drawing on the views of these two theologians, this short essay summarizes five biblical teachings that demonstrate the necessity of church membership.

First, “union with Christ” gives believers not only a personal relationship with Christ, but also union with the body of Christ.

Mark Herzer writes, “when a person becomes a Christian, he is immediately united to other believers.”

When believers are united with the body of Christ, this also means that they are joined to the church, because the church is the body of Christ. Therefore, whenever believers are united with Christ, they are also organically united with one another as members of the same body: “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it” (1 Corinthians 12:27).

Mark Herzer writes, “when a person becomes a Christian, he is immediately united to other believers.” Herzer understands the relationship among believers precisely through the doctrine of union with Christ. When a person is born again, he does not walk with Christ in isolation. Regeneration means not only that he has a personal relationship with Christ, but also that he is immediately united with Christ’s body—entering into spiritual union with the other members of the church (Ephesians 4:25).

This invisible spiritual union needs to be expressed through visible relationships among the members of Christ’s body—specifically, through membership in the visible church. When we willingly join a church and become members, we humbly put the doctrine of “union with Christ” into practice within the communal life of faith.

Second, the New Testament’s teaching concerning our commitment to “one another” also implies the necessity of church membership.

Union with Christ brings us into union with Christ’s body—a spiritual union with the members of the church. This union becomes even more evident in the New Testament’s many commands concerning our responsibilities toward “one another.”

Paul writes in Colossians 3:13, “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Similarly, Colossians 3:16 teaches, “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.”

Scripture also commands believers to be kind to one another (Ephesians 4:32), submit to one another (Ephesians 5:21), bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2), be united with one another (1 Corinthians 1:10), serve one another through love (Galatians 5:13), encourage one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11; Hebrews 3:13; 10:25), admonish one another (Colossians 3:16), welcome one another (Romans 15:7), consider how to stir one another up to love (Hebrews 10:24), not speak evil against one another (James 4:11), have unity of mind and sympathy toward one another (1 Peter 3:8), and show hospitality to one another (1 Peter 4:9).

In all these “one another” relationships, believers are not merely giving themselves for the good of others; they are also receiving the blessings that others provide. Church membership clearly provides a natural context in which these mutual commitments and responsibilities can be lived out. Without becoming members of a church, it is difficult for us to commit ourselves fully to these relationships within the body and to experience the grace and spiritual formation that come through them.

Third, the doctrine that the Old and New Testament churches are one church also presupposes church membership in the New Testament.

The Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 25, Section 2, states: “The visible Church, which is also catholic or universal under the Gospel (not confined to one nation, as was under the law)….” In other words, Israel under the law was also the visible church. Indeed, the entire nation of Israel in the Old Testament constituted, in Mark Herzer’s words, one enormous visible church.

Within this Old Testament church, when Israelites entered this covenant community, circumcision marked their inclusion. Their identity as members of the nation was also their identity within the visible church—in other words, it functioned as their church membership.

Within this continuity of the covenant, when New Testament believers enter the covenant community of the church, they likewise become members of the same church through baptism, demonstrating that they belong to the same covenant people of God.

This is why Peter declares in 1 Peter 2:9, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God.” Peter sees the New Testament church as the fulfillment of Exodus 19: “and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6).

By becoming members of the church, we publicly declare that we belong to the people of God and to His covenant community.

Fourth, the New Testament’s teaching concerning the responsibilities of elders also presupposes church membership.

Hebrews 13:17 says, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.” Here, the author of Hebrews emphasizes both the congregation’s responsibility to “obey” and “submit” to its church leaders and the leaders’ responsibility to “give an account.” This mutual relationship presupposes a formal and clearly defined relationship between elders and the congregation.

Without clearly defined church membership—and therefore without a clearly defined relationship between the congregation and its leaders—it would be difficult to faithfully carry out the congregation’s responsibility to “obey” and “submit,” as well as the leaders’ responsibility to “give an account.”

Fifth, church discipline also presupposes church membership.

As John Calvin famously expressed it, “Those who have God as their Father must also have the Church as their mother.”

In Matthew 18, Jesus says: “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, so that every matter may be established by the testimony 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.” (Matthew 18:15–17)

Here we see that the exercise of church discipline requires a clearly defined relationship between an individual believer and the church. If the person who “refuses to listen even to the church” has no formal relationship with that church, on what basis does the church have authority to address his sin?

Paul describes a similar situation in 1 Corinthians 5:2, where he instructs the Corinthians to “let him who has done this be removed from among you.” To “be removed from” implies that a person who once belonged to a particular community is now being removed from that community. If the individual does not belong to the church or has no clearly defined relationship with it, how can church discipline meaningfully be exercised?

Church membership, therefore, makes church discipline possible. When believers become members of a church, they are also genuinely expressing that they belong to Christ and are willing to be governed by Christ within His visible church through His Word.

Although the Bible does not contain an explicit sentence saying, “We must become church members,” the biblical principles discussed above show that Scripture does indeed call believers to commit themselves to one another and, within a clearly defined relationship—the relationship of church membership—to experience the rule and shepherding of the risen Lord Jesus Christ.

There is also another spiritual benefit to becoming a member of the visible church. Since true believers who belong to the invisible church ordinarily live out their faith within the visible church on earth, membership in the visible church serves as one of the simplest outward signs identifying believers truly as God’s children (Mark Herzer).

This does not mean that every member of the visible church is necessarily saved. Rather, true children of God will seek to be shepherded within the household of the visible church. As John Calvin famously expressed it, “Those who have God as their Father must also have the Church as their mother.” Therefore, we should not overlook the importance of church membership in the spiritual growth and formation of believers.