Membership in the Visible Church
Photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some (Hebrews 10:24-25)
Introduction
The last article in this series considered the foundational principle that there was, and is, and always will be one people of God—the church. Yet, we distinguish between two characteristics, the invisible church and the visible church.
This article wants to consider the importance of the visible church, and particularly why membership in the visible church is so important.
Unfortunately, membership is not widely recognized or valued in churches today. Many people hold to a view of church membership that says, “I have Jesus, but I have no need for the Church.” Or, “I love Jesus, he’s great. But I don’t care about the church.”
If we reword this sentiment using the theological categories we’ve discussed previously, what such arguments are really saying is that “I can be a member of the invisible church without needing to be a member of the visible church.”
In other words, the claim being made is that one can have faith in Christ without being a member of a local body of believers. The major flaw in this way of thinking is that such a concept is found nowhere in Scripture. The New Testament nowhere describes a Christian who is alone and without the church.
Rather, passage after passage testifies to the central importance of the church in the Christian’s life.
In Acts chapter 2, for example, we are told that the new believers who came to faith after Peter’s sermon were “added to their number” (2:47). That is, to the church.
In 1 Corinthians 16 and Acts 20, we see how believers would gather on the Lord’s Day—Sunday, the first day of the week—which is the Christian sabbath day. Christ was raised on Sunday, and now God’s people, the church, worship him as the risen Lord on the Lord’s day, together.
There are many other passages that emphasize the importance of corporate worship, of believers belonging to one another, and fellowship as the church in membership.
In this article, I want to consider one particular passage in more detail, Hebrews 10:19-25. Then, after working through the passage, I want to offer some more arguments for church membership that arise from this passage, and from Scripture taken together as one unified whole.
Hebrews 10:19-25
The author of Hebrews has just finished summarizing what Christ, as the greater priest and the greater sacrifice, has accomplished compared to the Old Covenant sacrificial system. In contrast to what came before, Christ’s sacrifice was once for all. His blood truly accomplished the forgiveness of sins and cleansed his people from their guilt.
In verses 19-21, then, he summarizes the blessings of union with Christ through faith:
19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
The word ‘since’ indicates the causal relationship he is forming between these verses and what comes next.
The Christian is able to draw near to God because of the blood of Jesus, the perfect sacrifice that accomplishes salvation. According to his office and his sacrifice, Jesus serves as the great priest. But, who is it that receives his priestly work? Verse 21 tells us that he is the great priest “over the house of God.” It is the household of God that receives his priestly benefits.
And “since” all these things are true, the author then makes a series of imperatives. Because of what Jesus has done in verses 19-21, therefore verses 22-25 ought to be true of Jesus’ people:
22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 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.
There are three imperatives (“let us”) in these verses:
Let us have full assurance that we do have saving faith, that we are sprinkled clean by Christ’s blood.
Let us hold fast to the confession of our faith.
Let us consider how to stir up one another.
It can be easily missed but it must be stressed that these imperatives are given to the corporate church, not to the individual Christian. This is evident from the plurality of the imperatives. He writes “let us.” These actions are corporate actions.
The second imperative commands that we hold fast to the confession of our faith. Here, the author is not referring to faith as the instrument of salvation, but faith as the content of religion. There is one true religion, one book of Holy Scripture, and it belongs to God’s people, collectively.
Further, the third imperative does not make any sense apart from the corporate body of believers. The command is not to stir up oneself, but one another. And this stirring up is to take place together as verse 25 says not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some.
That is the corporate reality of the Christian faith. We are to gather together, so that we can encourage one another, edify one another in our calling toward love and good works, and hold fast to the common confession of our Christian faith.
Now, certainly this kind of corporate gathering can and should be done throughout the week. But even though it can include more than just Sunday, it can never be less than Sunday.
The Sunday gatherings of the body of Christ are inseparable from the Christian’s life. If one belongs to the household of God through faith, then he must never neglect meeting together with his fellow believers.
In this passage, then, we begin to see the importance of joining oneself as a member to the visible church. In the rest of this article, I want to offer a few additional arguments for the importance of church membership.
Why Church Membership Is Important
Even after working through Hebrews 10:19-25, many still might wonder why exactly church membership is necessary. To some it might feel like I am trying to fit a rubric of church membership into a passage of Scripture where it doesn’t actually belong.
Many are simply skeptical about church membership. There is underlying suspicion that the church must have some ulterior motives.
Others continue to wonder why it is necessary. Like the question posed earlier, “If I already belong to Jesus, then why do I need to go through the formal process of belonging to a church?”
What complicates matters further are churches who have made errors in both of those directions. There are churches who hold very strict membership requirements that put legalistic burdens upon their people contrary to the Word of God.1 And there are churches who do not value membership much, if at all, and by their own example have demonstrated an apparent lack of necessity to church membership.
With those considerations in mind, and with the context of Hebrews 10:19-25 already laid out before us, let’s consider some more biblical arguments for church membership.
The New Testament Assumes Church Membership
It is true, there is no Bible verse that says, “Thou shalt be a church member” (if there was, I would have started with that!). This is not, however, how we read our Bibles. To require an explicit verse or passage in order to believe any point of doctrine is a biblicist way of doing theology. But this is not biblical exegesis. Rather, we submit ourselves to the whole counsel of God—everything necessary for our faith and life that is either explicitly stated in Scripture, or “by good and necessary consequence may be deduced” from it.2
The argument for church membership does not rise or fall upon explicit proof texts. Rather, when we read the New Testament, especially the doctrinal and instructive sections of the letters, we see that church membership is assumed throughout.
For example, 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 says, We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work.
Paul is talking about the elders in the church. How can elders be “over” someone, to labor among them and admonish, without there being some sort of formal relationship between elder and member in the church?
Or, consider Hebrews 10 again. Who are the readers and hearers of this letter to gather together with? Who are they to encourage and stir up? What are they to confess, if not a shared faith with a shared group of people to whom they have committed themselves?
Likewise, the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) assumes that those who are saved by the preaching of the gospel would be joined into a local body of believers. That is why the commission is to go and make disciples, not converts. Disciples are those who grow in their faith, which must be done within the church.
To this we can add the passages mentioned in the introduction: Acts 2, 20, and 1 Corinthians 16. In all these passages, and more, church membership is an assumed reality.
Church Discipline Requires Church Membership
In Matthew 18, Jesus gives instructions for what to do when someone sins against us. The offended party is to go first to the offending individual and seek to win him to repentance. If he is unsuccessful, then he is to bring one or two others along with him. Finally, if that also fails, the third step is to go and tell the church (18:17).
Who does Jesus have in mind when he says to tell the church? Is he suggesting the offended person make an announcement Sunday morning to the entire congregation about what happened? That certainly does not seem to be the case.
By church, Jesus does not not mean the entire congregation, but he’s referring to the elders of the church. That is, the assembly of those in authority within that congregation. Thus, If the first two stages of reconciliation fail, then the matter is brought to the elders of the church. Now, there are times when grievous public sin happens that requires the elders to disclose it to the congregation. Paul discusses such a situation in 1 Corinthians 5:1-13.
But the scope of this article is not about how the church handles cases of discipline when they arise; this topic will be discussed again in later articles.
Rather, I mention church discipline here to point out that such discipline must occur within the context of the church. The elders have no spiritual authority over those outside of the local church to which they are called and elected. There is an extent to which pastors and elders can provide counsel and prayer and advice to any who might seek it, but they have no spiritual oversight except for those who belong as members of the church.
Consider Hebrews 13:17 that provides more insight into the relationship between pastor/elder and member, Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account.
Members are to lovingly submit to their leaders, because the leaders of the church are those who will one day give an account over each of the souls entrusted to their care. This is a high and serious calling.
At Christ the King, we take this calling seriously. It is an immense privilege and a sacred duty that there are souls entrusted to our care as undershepherds of the Good Shepherd. Every PCA church is required to keep a list of who is on their membership roll. And there is a day coming when we, the elders of CTK, will have to give an account for every name that is on our list.
But, how can we be good shepherds if we don’t know who belongs to us? And how can we give an account for those who have not taken that step in saying that they belong to us, and we to them? That is what church membership does.
The Sacraments Are Given to the Church
Another reason why church membership is important is because of the Sacraments given to the church. When we see the Lord’s Supper taken in the New Testament, it is within the context of the church. This corporate participation of the Sacrament makes sense because it is the meal that Jesus gives to his people, collectively.
We see over and over that believers would gather together on Sunday, and they would break bread, which is a way of saying they took communion together. It is not a meal that we are to take apart from one another, or apart from the church.
This is also why it is not appropriate to take the Lord’s Supper at home, by yourself or with family (even if you are watching a service online) because it is to be done in communion with the church, with one another. That has unfortunately become a common practice, especially with live online services. But it shouldn’t be done.3
In fact, the Corinthians made this mistake. In chapter 1 Corinthians 11:20-21, Paul addresses this error in their administration of the Sacrament, 20 When you come together, it is not the Lord's supper that you eat. 21 For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal.
Now, like with many things, they had gone to an extreme that some were even getting drunk on the wine of the meal, while others went without completely.
But notice the important implication of the text. We are not to go one ahead of the other. And we should not partake individually, or as groups divided up within the church. It is one meal, and we are one family, one church, and we partake together. The sacraments are given to the church.
We are not at liberty to participate in the Sacraments (baptism or the Lord’s Supper) apart from the church. Further, there are requirements for what it means to partake of them properly. And it is given to the elders, as the stewards of the means of grace given to the church, to admit their members to the Sacraments. Such an attitude goes against every inclination of the individualistic American ideal. But it is nonetheless biblical. To participate in the Sacraments properly, one must be a church member.
Membership Is a Commitment
There are many other reasons why membership is important. One final point is that membership keeps us accountable, which is something we all need. Membership is a commitment that is so valuable in a culture that doesn’t put any value on commitment in any way. But I hope you see, from all of this, that membership is necessary and biblical, because it is how Jesus has instituted his household, his church, to be.
If you are a member of CTK, I hope that this article helps explain in more detail why we value church membership so highly. If you attend our services but are not a member with us, I hope this will encourage you to consider joining us in membership.
For anyone reading this who isn’t in the Joplin area, my prayer is that you would belong in membership to some local church where the gospel is faithfully preached, the Sacraments properly administered, and church discipline lovingly carried out. No Christian was created to walk in faith alone; we all need one another. For our good, Jesus gives us the church, and membership in the church.
1 Examples might be requiring or pledging to a certain level of giving, or strict dress codes that go beyond biblical commands.
2 Westminster Confession of Faith, 1.5.
3 The ever-growing practice of taking communion at home while watching a church service online is perhaps one of the most detrimental practices to develop from our increasingly online world. This was only exacerbated by the lock-downs and church closures in 2020. It is understandable that Christians and churches would want to find ways to still partake of the Sacrament when they are absent from gathered worship. But the Sacrament only has benefit when done properly, in accordance with Jesus’ institution, which requires corporate participation.
