- 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
- Church universal:
- The church universal and local
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
- We must of necessity put aside all creeds that have begun since the days of the apostles.