The Local Church: Members
(and Membership)

Sunday, August 30, 2026
Jojo Ma

Weekly Bulletin | Song Lyrics | Nicene Creed

Selected Passages

Introduction: Committing and Covenanting

The invisible church is made visible --- made tangible and practical --- in commitment to local churches.

We are the “called-out” ones --- who gather “into” local churches. It’s the invisible made visible.

“By committing myself to the local church, I’m committed to a body of people that is, in turn, committed to me. Today in the church, this commitment is most often signified through what we call ‘membership’, but at its core, it’s a promise to look out for one another, a way of saying, ‘I’m in, I’m about this, and I want us to mutually journey together toward Jesus.’ We resist making such statements because we love the sense of comfort and freedom we feel from a lack of commitments. At its heart, this sense of freedom is a mask for consumerism. It’s an attitude that allows us to drift from church to church, from one big thing to the next, chasing fads and hype without setting down any roots. And without roots, we’ll never go deep. We take and we take, and we never give, we never contribute, we never say, ‘I’m in.’”

Is church membership biblical? Here are five (5) New Testament evidences for formal church membership.

Evidence #1: Removal from Fellowship (Excommunication)
1 Cor 5:12-13 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.

Don Whitney: “When you join a church you make it clear whose side you’re on. You’re telling the family of God that you’re part of the family too, and that you don’t want to be considered on the “outside” (1 Cor 5:12-13) any longer.”

Evidence #2: Obedience, Submission, and Accountability
1 Thes 5:12-13 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. Be at peace among yourselves.

1 Tim 5:17 Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.

Heb 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.

Evidence #3: Pastoral Care
Acts 20:28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

Who exactly, not theoretically or some universal-invisible church, but who specifically will the elders at Ephesus or the elders at CrossLife give an account for?

1 Pet 5:2-3 Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.

Jonathan Leeman: “Church membership is a formal relationship between a local church and a Christian characterized by the church’s affirmation and oversight of a Christian’s discipleship and the Christian’s submission to living out his or her discipleship in the care of the church.”

Evidence #4: The "Body" Metaphor
1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Evidence #5: God’s Own List
Rev 21:27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Wayne Mack: “Scripture speaks very clearly to the fact that identification with God’s people in a formal, public way was considered essential in New Testament times…A careful study of the New Testament doesn’t reveal even a hint of any believer who was truly saved, but not joined to a local church.”

Membership is a New Testament expectation for all believers. It is assumed, it is implied, throughout the Apostles’ teachings.

John MacArthur: “You have been joined together with Christ… You bear His name. Are you ashamed to belong? Are you ashamed to bear that identification with other believers of like precious faith?… Shouldn’t you be willing outwardly to identify with the visible, gathered members of that group to which you eternally belong?”

In a commitment-averse, covenant-avoiding society, one powerful testimony to Jesus is our firm and formal commitment to a local body of believers.