Local Churches.
(De ecclesiis particularibus.)
1. The concept of local church or local congregation.
What has been said so far has served to describe the one universal church scattered throughout the world, which is expressly called "one" (μία ποίμνη), and which is guaranteed by divine promise to continue securely and uninterruptedly until the end of the world.1529) But Scripture also addresses churches in the plural in a whole series of passages, namely, churches located in individual and certain places in the world. Thus 1 Cor. 16:10: "the churches (congregations) in Asia" (ai έκκλησίαι τής Άσίας); 1 Cor. 1:2: "the church of God in Corinth" (ή εκκλησία τον ϑεον η ονσα εν Κορίνϑφ); Acts 8:1: "the church at Jerusalem" (ή Εκκλησία ή εν Ίεροσολνμοις); Rom. 16:16: "The churches" (έκκλησίαι, plural) "of Christ" greet you; 1 Cor. 11:16: "The churches" (έκκλησίαι, plural) "of God are not in the habit of quarreling." These churches are called ecclesiae particulares, local churches or local congregations. They are churches to which one can write and also address orally. Of course, the address of local churches is also Acts 20:28: "Take heed … to all the flock, among whom the Holy Spirit has made you bishops, to feed the congregation of God"; 1 Tim. 3:6: "If anyone does not know how to preside over his own house, how will he care for the congregation of God" (τής εκκλησίας ϑεov έπιμελήσεταή),' Acts 14:27: 'They gathered the congregation' (την εκκλησίαν); Acts 14:23: "They ordained them elders in the congregations" (κατ' εκκλησίαν); Matt. 18:17: "Tell it to the congregation" (είπε τή εκκλησία); 1 Cor. 14:23: "If therefore the whole congregation came together in one place."1530)
But what is the relationship of the local churches to the universal church? The universal church and the local churches are not two churches or two kinds of churches, but the universal church is the sum of the local churches, with the addition of the individual believers who are closed off from all external church fellowship. When we address a local Christian church, we always mean only those Christians or believers who are found in the visible fellowship.
1529) Matt. 16:18; Rom. 11:2-5.
1530) Cf. the complete enumeration, e.g., in Wahl's Clavis sub εκκλησία.
484 > The Christian Church. [English ed. ~ 420]
Even the local churches consist only of believers. Just as the wicked and the hypocrites do not belong to the universal church, they do not form a part of the local church. This is clear doctrine of the Scriptures. When Paul writes to the Corinthian local church, he addresses them as "the sanctified in Jesus Christ, the called saints" (ήγιασμένοις ἐν Χριστφ Ίησον, κλψόΐς άγίοις). Also, all the duties performed by the local churches, e.g., mutual instruction and exhortation,1531) the practice of church discipline,1532) the supervision of doctrine and teachers,1533) the preaching of the gospel,1534) the holy walk1535) etc., presuppose faith in Christ in every case. The hypocrites in the congregation are to be told the same thing that is to be preached to unbelievers outside the congregation, namely, "Repent ye therefore, and be converted!" 1536) A local church is therefore to be defined thus: The local church is the congregation of believers gathered around Word and Sacrament in a particular place.1537)