• Lesson 1:
    • The church universal and local
      • Church universal:
        • Made up of all saved people
        • General relationship
        • No organization
        • Independent function
        • No collective oversight
      • Church local:
        • Made up of people in a local area who agree to work and worship under a common oversight
        • Special relationship
        • Collective function
        • A joined fellowship
        • An overseen fellowship
        • Only authorized structure
      • The church

Universal

Local

Lord adds

Membership

Man joins

Vertical

Fellowship

Horizontal

Christ removes

Discipline

Church removes

Eternal

Duration

Time, death

Independent

Function

Joint action

Independent

Oversight

Elders

  • For a correct conception of a local church, two things are necessary:
    • Recognition of Bible authority
    • Respect for Bible authority
  • Religious institutions of men are founded upon the Bible plus human creeds.
    • Bible + Baptist manual will make a Baptist every time.
    • Bible + Methodist Discipline will make a Methodist every time.
    • Bible + Pope will make a Catholic every time.
    • Bible only will make a Christian every time.
  • Therefore, a church of the Lord is founded upon the Bible, which states:
    • There is one body – Ephesians 4:4
    • Only one body – I Corinthians 12:27
    • The body is the church – Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians 1:18
  • Therefore, there is but one church that exists with the approval of God. This one church is the saved relationship or saved people.
  • God has willed that His people who live in a locality agree to worship and work together in spiritual matters, under a common oversight, and pool their resources to finance the work He has assigned to be done under that common oversight. This is the local church.
    • Each local church is to teach and practice the same things – Galatians 1:2-9
    • Each local church is independent – Acts 20:28; I Peter 5:2-3
  • New Testament church – it’s creed (source of authority):
    • We must of necessity put aside all creeds that have begun since the days of the apostles.
      • Nicene Creed (325 A.D.) – over 200 years too late
      • Apostles’ Creed (500 A.D.) – over 400 years too late