Many have asked, "Where is membership in the Bible?" Here are four biblical reasons for practicing church membership:
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Because of the nature of the church – The church is called a flock, a building, a body, etc. – all of which implies the corporate nature of the church. You cannot be a 'flock' as one lone sheep. 1 Cor 12:21 says, "The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you."
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Because of obedience to the 'one another' commands – There are many 'one another commands in Scripture that you can only obey with the 'one another' of the local church. For e.g. 'bearing with one another' (Eph 4:2), 'pray for one another' (Eph 6:18), 'bear one another's burdens' (Gal 6:2), and so forth.
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Because of Church Leaders – Christ has given shepherds to His church (Eph 4:11-16) who must exercise oversight over His sheep. Heb 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. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you."
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Because of Church discipline – Jesus commanded us to remove from our midst those who live in unrepentant sin (see Mt 18:15-20). 1 Cor 5:12-13 says, “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."
For these reasons and more, we believe that church membership is a requirement for every believer to be faithful to Christ.