The Church Universal and Local

By G. Brent Phillips

Introduction:

      A failure to understand and distinguish between the church universal and the church local is one of the basic problems concerning the church and its work as set forth in the New Testament scriptures. We need to understand that they are not one and the same; neither do they function in the same capacity, nor do they have the same work to accomplish. To simplify this article, as well as to make it a useful tool in the hands of the readers for further study, it will be placed in outline form. The basic outline will be arranged in such a way that when placed side by side, the contrast between the church universal and the church local hopefully will be made much clearer to the Bible student.

      The noun "church" comes from the original word (ecclesia) or a form of it, which is used in two senses throughout the New Testament. The term is generally defined as "to summon forth" (T. S. Green, Greek English Lexicon to the New Testament, pg. 56). It is generally stated and accepted that "church" simply means "the called out." It is interesting to note, however, that Arndt and Gingrich in their Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament recognize the distinction between the church universal and the church local. They list these definitions: "the church universal, to which all believers belong: Mt. 16:18; Acts 9:31; I Cor. 6:4; 12:28; Eph. 1:22; 3:10, 21; 5:23f, 27, 29, 32" and "the church or congregation as the totality of Christians living in one place ... the church at

... I Cor. 1:2; 1 Thess. 1:1; Rom. 16:16; Rev. 2:1, 8" (Arndt and Gingrich, pg. 240). So we easily can see that the term church is used in at least two distinct ways in the New Testament, in the universal sense and in the local sense.

I. The church Universal:

A. Referred to as:

1. Body — (Christ as the head), Eph. 1:22-23.

2. Family — (God as the Father), I Tim. 3:15.

3. Temple — (Christ as the High Priest), 1 Cor. 3:16.

4. Kingdom — (Christ as King), Heb. 2:22-28.

B. Characteristics of:

1. All its members enrolled in Heaven, Heb. 12:23.

2. It functions as a:

a. Body of members — 1 Cor. 12:12.

b. Family of children — Rom. 8:14-17.

c. Temple of priests — 1 Pet. 2:5, 9 (or building of stones).

d. Kingdom of subjects (citizens) — Eph. 2:19.

e. Therefore, in its function of activity it has:

1) No universal overseers — (Christ is its only head).

2) No universal treasury.

3) No universal collective action.

3. It consists of all saints every-where, living and dead — Eph. 3:15.

4. Only the Lord adds to the church universal — Acts 2:47.

5. The entrance into the church universal is by baptism — 1 Cor. 12:13.

6. It has one shepherd — Mt. 23:8; Jn. 10:11.

7. There is only one church universal Eph. 4:4-6; Eph. 1:22-23.

8. Only God can discipline the church universal — Rev. 22:19.

9. God will save those who are in His Body, the universal church — Acts 2:47; Eph. 5:23-27.

C. The universal church is only a spiritual relationship — Acts 2:47.

1. There, there is:

a. No earthy organization.

b. No earthly officers.

c. No earthly mission.

2. The church universal functions only through individuals, but it is not a functional body because not one scripture activates the church universal; there is no work, function, or organization for the "collective" church universal to perform!

3. Again note: the universal church has to do with the relationship of individual saints with God.

D. Any attempt to activate the church universal is wholly without authority and therefore unscriptural! Note:

1. A failure to understand the church universal (and local) is the basic error of the Roman Catholic Church (which literally means the "Roman Universal Church", a contradiction of terms).

2. Unfortunately, during the reformation movement this idea of the organized church universal became so embedded with the religious leaders of that time that in "breaking away" from the Roman Catholic Church, they only reformed some of Her doctrines but ultimately kept Her concept of the church universal. Consequently, ^"ninety-nine percent of the denominational world unscripturally organizes and attempts to activate the church universal (in reality, the church universal cannot be activated because of its composition). Some are more or less tied together by this false concept of the universal church.

3. But this entire problem has not been kept out of the church which Christ established ... this is evidenced by:

a. An attempt to activate the church universal by forming Human Organizations to do the work of the church (but not supported by local churches) which are composed of Christians who solicit funds from the universal church and then exercise oversight over those organizations. (Ex.: An individually supported Missionary Society which is not the church local but does the work of the church in this human organization with purpose, oversight, and a pooling of resources.)

b. A departing from the teachings of the scriptures concerning the organization and work of the local church.

II. The church Local:

A. Referred to as:

1. An organic body — Phil. 1:1; 1 Thess. 1:1; II Thess. 1:1, etc.

B. Characteristics of:

1. Its own members in:

a. work and worship — Rom. 16:1-2.

b. fellowship under its own control, guided by the Word of God—III Jn.5-10.

2. Its function:

a. to build up its body — Eph. 4:11-12.

b. interaction of members — Rom. 12:4-8.

c. a relationship of Christians with an obligation to be unified — 1 Cor. 1:10.

d. It is a functional body with a three-fold work: evangelism — 1 Tim. 3: 14-15; Phil. 1:5.

1) edification — Eph. 4:16.

2) benevolence — Acts 2, 4, 6, 11; 1 Cor. 16:1; etc.

e. Therefore, in its function of activity and organization it has:

1) local overseers: plurality of elders — Acts 14:23; 1 Pet. 5:1-2.

2) local treasury: pooling of resources — 1 Cor. 16: 1-2.

3) local collective action of its own members: worship and work.

3. It exists on this earth only — Phil. 1:1, 23-26.

4. We join ourselves together in it to do together the work God has given us to do together — Acts 9:26.

5. We enter by fellowship — II John 10.

6. It has lesser shepherds — 1 Pet. 5:1-4.

7. There are many local congregations — Rom. 16:16.

8. Man is to execute discipline according to the Word — 1 Cor. 5:1-5; II Thess. 3:6, 11-15, etc.

9. God will save only those who are found working in His vineyard. If we are not found working in the functional body, the local church, doing together the work God has given us to do together, then salvation cannot be ours. (Mt. 21:28; our duty of working in the vineyard is not met until we comprehend our obligation to perform the collective work God expects of us. This principle is expressed throughout the New Testament.)

C. The local church is an organization — purpose, oversight, pooling of resources.

1. Therefore, it is and has:

a. Earthly organization.

b. Earthly officers.

c. Earthly Mission.

2. The local church is a functional body and God instituted the church local to be all-sufficient in the work He gave it to do!

III. Summary and Conclusion:

       We have seen that the church universal and the church local differ in: their extension (general and limited); their assembly (general and local); and their action (distributive and collective). Lest we fail to note one last important point concerning the term "church", we should perhaps note some thoughts Roy Cogdill presented in his book Walking by Faith. "The local church possesses every attribute, characteristic and blessing which is ascribed to the church universal . . . The Christian in the congregation enjoys every provision of the grace of God, every privilege, promise, and responsibility that is assigned to the member of the church of God or provided for such . . . Each congregation constitutes the ‘body of Christ, ‘the family of God,' the 'temple of God' as completely as though it was the only such congregation on earth . . . If indeed, there were just one, it would not lack any characteristic or feature of the church universal . . . the existence of the church of Christ in any community is in no way dependent upon the existence of another such congregation any where upon the face of the earth."

       How is your relationship to God? (Church universal).

       How is your relationship to the saints of God? (Church local)

Gospel Anchor (April 1980)