The Obligations of Church Members

We believe that since this holy assembly and congregation is the gathering of those who are saved and there is no salvation apart from it,¹ no one ought to withdraw from it, content to be by himself, regardless of his status or condition. But all people are obliged to join and unite with it,² keeping the unity of the church by submitting to its instruction and discipline,³ by bending their necks under the yoke of Jesus Christ,⁴ and by serving to build up one another, according to the gifts God has given them as members of each other in the same body.⁵

And to preserve this unity more effectively, it is the duty of all believers, according to God's Word, to separate themselves from those who do not belong to the church,⁶ in order to join this assembly⁷ wherever God has established it. They should do so even though the rulers and edicts of princes were against it, and even though it might cost them their very lives.⁸ Therefore, all those who withdraw from the church or do not join it act contrary to God's ordinance.