A Biblical Theology of Church Membership

The Biblical Necessity of Church Membership

Some people will argue that in the early NT church there was no such thing as church membership- especially like the membership we practice today. There was no membership list, people did not join the church membership like we do today. So, they view being a member of a local church as unimportant.

I would argue that a proper understanding of Scripture, not only teaches church membership, but teaches the absolute necessity of church membership.

Church membership is necessary because of the responsibility of every believer to hold one another accountable and even to exercise discipline over one another.

What is the instruction for church discipline?

1 Corinthians 5:1 ESV

1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife.

I Cor. 5 is instruction for church disciple when the church is dealing with public sin. There was a man in the church who was participating in fornication with his father’s wife (stepmother). This was a public sin, and it was so scandalous that even the Gentiles (unbelievers) knew about it and were shocked. This kind of thing was not done even amongst the unsaved! So, Paul instructed the church to take specific action against this man.

1 Corinthians 5:2 ESV

2 And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.

Paul insisted that this man should already have been taken out of the church. Also notice that Paul lays this responsibility and decision on the church itself. Paul does not use his own authority to remove this man engaged in scandal but instructs the local church in Corinth, “Let him who has done this be removed from among you.”

1 Corinthians 5:3–4 ESV

3 For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. 4 When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus,

So again, Paul instructs the church- “when you are assembled in the name of the Lord”. Notice the significance Paul places on the authority of the local church when it assembles and passes judgment! This is so significant. When the church assembles and when they operate according to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that is they are following the commandments laid down by Jesus Christ in His Word, when they do this, they operate with the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, the judgment of the assemble church is incredibly significant, it is very weighty!

1 Corinthians 5:5 (ESV)

5 you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh,

They were to remove this man from the church, and place him outside the church, and in placing him outside of the church they would be, in effect, delivering him unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh. In other words, when they removed this man from the church, he would be removed from the protection of being part of the church and would be open to physical chastisement brought about by the wiles of Satan himself.

What is the purpose of church discipline?

Purpose #1- Church discipline brings people unto repentance and reconciliation

1 Corinthians 5:5 ESV

5 you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

This was not a malicious act, in fact this was a redemptive act, the purpose of such a judgement was so that this man’s spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus-

Purpose #2- Church discipline maintains a good testimony of the church among the unsaved

1 Corinthians 5:6 ESV

6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?

Even a little leaven leavens the whole lump. The public sin of this man was polluting the whole church, especially in the eyes of the Gentiles.

Purpose #3- Church discipline halts the spread of sin

1 Corinthians 5:7 (ESV)

7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened.

It causes others in the church to be careful in their walk with the Lord- to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling. (Sourdough starter spreads to the whole dough)

Purpose #4- Church discipline maintains the clarity of the gospel and the purity of our fellowship with Christ

1 Corinthians 5:7–8 ESV

7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

In the end of v. 7 Christ is called our Passover lamb sacrificed for us. What happened in the first Passover? It was the occasion where God killed the firstborn in every Egyptian household, but He spared the firstborn in Israel through the blood of the sacrificial Passover lamb. Here Paul says that Christ has been sacrificed as the Passover lamb for believers. Because of His death on the cross, we have been liberated from sin. Since that is true, what would it look like if we placed ourselves back under sin, especially this kind of scandalous public sin? It would be a serious betrayal of the gospel! It would introduce an element of pollution, or leaven, into our relationship with Christ Himself. This pollution is eliminated when the offending party is removed from the membership of the congregation.

Who are you responsible to practice church discipline with?

1 Corinthians 5:9–10 ESV

9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.

Distinction #1- Paul does not mean unbelievers

In v. 9 Paul articulates a particularly important distinction to our discussion of church membership. In v. 9 Paul gives a simple command- do not associate with sexually immoral people. But he clarifies what he means in v. 10. He is not talking about the unsaved, that would be impossible. If we are to make disciples of all the world, we must put ourselves into the company of fornicators, of greedy people, of swindlers, and with idolaters. Because if we never associate with unsaved people like that, we would need to be taken out of the world. But we are to be in the world, just not of the world. This is an important distinction. This is who Paul is not talking about, he is not talking about the unsaved. Who is he talking about?

Distinction #2- Paul does include believers

1 Corinthians 5:11 ESV

11 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.

Paul is talking about not keeping company with any person who claims to be a believer and yet practices certain kinds of sins. Here Paul lists sexual immorality, greed, fraud, idolatry, verbal abuse, and inebriation as offenses that require some kind of response. Now these sins do not make up a comprehensive list. Rather, this list gives us guidelines for what kinds of sins necessitate this kind of church discipline. And I think we can break these sins into two categories: 1). These sins are incompatible with a profession of the gospel. 2). These sins constitute public scandals.

So if one claims he is saved (he is called a brother), and he is participating in such a scandalous sin (like fornication) that is incompatible with his profession of the gospel, and it is a public sin or a public scandal (personal sins and church discipline are handled differently- Matt 18), then the church is to institute discipline.

Distinction #3- Paul only includes some believers

1 Corinthians 5:12 ESV

12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?

Not only is Paul talking about people who profess to be believers, who are living in public sin, but also professing believers who are not without, but within. It is not the responsibility of the church to discipline other believers who are without, they are only responsible to judge those that are within. Without and within what? It is the church.The authority of the local church to discipline other believers only extends to other believers within the church.

1 Corinthians 5:13 ESV

13 God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”

God is responsible to judge those who are without the church. The believers in the local church in Corinth were responsible to judge other fellow believers within the church, and even to exercise church discipline against them- therefore, Paul says, “purge the evil person from among you.”

Right here in I Corinthians 5, I think we find Biblical evidence of the necessity of church membership. Clearly Paul believed that some people were inside the church at Corinth while others where outside of it. Those inside were accountable to the whole congregation for their conduct. The congregation possessed the authority to expel anyone whose error was sufficiently grievous. This authority was mediated through the assembled church, not through private individuals or subgroups of the congregation.

Implications from this passage

Implication #1- Clearly there was some mechanism that existed to determine who was in the church and who was not. There had to be some mechanism to decide who should participate in a congregational decision and who should not. Some way had to exist to distinguish those who were bound by this relationship of accountability from those who were not. In other words, whether written or unwritten, formally or informally, some kind of list must have existed.

Implication #2- The truth is that the church at Corinth displayed a relationship of mutual accountability and discipline between individual believers and the entire congregation. This relationship is exactly what we would call church membership, and why I call church membership a Biblical necessity.

Implication #3- To become a member of a church, an individual deliberately submits to this relationship. Christians who take this step become accountable to the congregation as a whole. Since they are a part of the congregation, they also participate in holding one another accountable.

Joining a church membership is a deliberate and voluntary choice on the part of the individual. It never happens accidentally; it never happens simply by attending a church. The only way in which Christians become members of a NT church is by agreeing to submit to that congregation’s accountability and spiritual oversight.

Implication #4- If a believer has not taken that deliberate voluntary choice, then he or she is outside of the accountability and spiritual oversight of the church. The church body has no authority over that individual other than the personal exhortation of Scripture. But there is a severe void of accountability and spiritual oversight when one has not agreed, when one has not made a promise to a body of believers to hold each other accountable. In other words, each member accepts certain responsibilities toward the congregation, while the congregation accepts responsibilities toward the members. Becoming a church member involves a solemn agreement, a promise that church members make to one another. And every believer needs this kind of relationship in their lives!

The Biblical Responsibilities of Church Membership

I believe that the responsibilities of church membership are best defined in the “one another” passages of Scripture.

What are the “one another” imperatives in the New Testament?

1. Church members are obligated to show family-like love and affection for one another, to prefer one another (consider better, or to esteem more highly), to honor one another, and to help take care for each other’s material needs.

Romans 12:10–13 ESV

10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

2. Church members are to avoid judging one another- imposing man-made standards and judgments upon each other- rather allowing God’s Word to be the standard and the judge. Church members are to take care not to trip one another up.

Romans 14:13 ESV

13 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.

3. Church members are to be loving and welcoming to each other. There should not be cliques or elite groups that exclude another person inside the church.

Romans 15:7 ESV

7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

4. Church members have the responsibility of making disciples. We must all help one another grow into Christlikeness. This takes on several different obligations- instruction, teaching, admonishing, stirring up, not neglecting, and encouraging.

Romans 15:14 ESV

14 I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another.

Colossians 3:16 ESV

16 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.

Galatians 6:2 ESV

2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Hebrews 10:24–25 ESV

24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

5. Church members have the responsibility of treating each other like close family

Ephesians 4:2 ESV

2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

Ephesians 4:32 ESV

32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Colossians 3:13 ESV

13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 ESV

11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

That means that instructed church members need to know the nuts and bolts of congregational living. They need to know how to address conflicts. They need to know what loving confrontation looks like and feels like, both in terms of confronting and being confronted.

They need to know how to deal with a soul about salvation. They should know the basic forms of counsel, encouragement, and warning. They should know how to read the Bible and understand it for themselves, and they should know how to pray effectively.

Because activities like confronting, counseling, encouraging, warning, disciple making, evangelizing are not the sole responsibility of spiritual leaders. These kinds of things are the duties and privileges of all the members of our church. These are the kinds of things that ordinary saints must learn to do if we are going to progress toward being a church that is biblical.

Being a church member is not just about voting in a business meeting or partaking in the Lord’s supper- it is much more. Do we really think about it this way? Do we each of us view these duties and privileges as something I must do. Or is this something the mature believers or the pastors or the deacons should do, but not me?

The truth is that we, all of us who are members, have willingly entered into this agreement with each other about what it means to be a church, and it is our promise to each other that defines what our responsibilities actually are.

Just imagine what our church could become when all of us take this responsibility with the utmost seriousness!

The Biblical Qualifications of Church Membership

What are the two qualifications for church membership?

Acts 2:40–41 ESV

40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.