God's Church: Are you a Local Yokel?

God's Church: Are you a Local Yokel?

The New Testament Concept of the Church

Customarily the concept of the church has focused on the universal and local church. Sometimes, erroneously, the categories are stated as invisible and visible. But even universal and local do not seem to cover all the facets of the concept. Universal serves well as a label for the body of Christ, whether on earth or in heaven (Heb. 12:23).

Hebrews 12:22-23 NASB

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, (23) to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect.

But local needs further defining. How local is the local church? As we have seen, sometimes local stands for a church in a house. This is as local a unit as is pictured in the New Testament. But the church at Corinth (1 Cor. 1:2) must have included several house churches…

1 Corinthians 1:1-3 NASB Paul, called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, (2) To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours: (3) Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Yet it was "local" in that it was confined to the city of Corinth and did not include other churches in Greece such as the church in Thessalonica…

1 Thessalonians 1:1 NASB Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.

Yet the singular "church" is used to designate several churches in a region (Acts 9:31). Here "the church" included groups throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria. When Paul persecuted the church in his pre-conversion days, he did not confine himself to one local church (1 Cor. 15:9).

So the concept of the local church can include a group in a single house, the several groups in a city, or even the many groups in a region. Even with these categories 1 Corinthians 10:32 may not fit any of them. Giving no offense to the church of God must relate to visible groups, yet not all of them even in a region. It must concern any aspect of the visible church one comes in contact with.

Apparently. we need more than the customary twofold categorization of the church—universal and local. Here are some more to consider:

(1) There is the universal church—all believers in heaven or on earth. (2) There is the visible church—local churches in various areas, especially those I am acquainted with. (3) There is the local church—the particular assembly with which I have my primary and sustained relation. Every believer actually belongs to all these three aspects of the church. So yes, I am a local yokel at Light of Hope Bible Church. And, I love all my local yokels who are there with me.

Love to all,

Pastor Mike

(602) 510-5563

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