The ground of the church is the oneness of the church. Whoever loses the oneness of the church, the oneness of the church’s fellowship, loses the ground of the church. Any ground apart from the oneness of the church and the oneness of her fellowship is not the ground of the church. The divisive, sectarian ground of Roman Catholicism and of many Christian denominations is not the ground of the church.
Since the expression of the church is local, the church’s practical ground is also based on locality. The universal oneness and fellowship of the church is expressed locally. There should be only one church in a locality, and in a locality the church should have only one fellowship. This ground is the ground of oneness in a locality. Any ground apart from the local ground of oneness is not the ground of the church.
Since the church is uniquely one in her universal essence and in her local expression, she should not have a name, either universally or locally. The church is the church; she does not need another name, just as the moon is the moon and does not need another name. Although the Bible uses a few phrases to describe the persons to whom the church belongs and the places where the church is, these descriptions are not the church’s name. Let us examine these descriptive phrases.
1. “The church of God”; “The churches of God” (Acts 20:28; 1 Cor. 10:32; 15:9; 11:16).
The first description of the church is “the church of God,” or “the churches of God.” This means that the church belongs to God and includes all God’s children.
2. “All the churches of Christ” (Rom. 16:16).
The second description is “the churches of Christ.” This means that the church was purchased by Christ for Himself by the shedding of His blood. It also means that He has regenerated and made the church His Body by His life. The church includes all whom He has redeemed and who possess His life.
3. “The churches of the saints” (1 Cor. 14:33).
The third description is “the churches of the saints.” This means that the church is composed of the saints and includes all the saints.
4. “The church which was in Jerusalem”; “The church of God which is in Corinth” (Acts 8:1; 1 Cor. 1:2).
With the exception of the preceding three descriptions, which tell us to whom the church belongs, the Bible describes a church in relation to its location. For example, it says “the church which was in Jerusalem” and “the church of God which is in Corinth.” These expressions merely describe the location of a church but do not denominate the church by the name of its locality. The name of the locality is not the name of the church. The Bible uses these four descriptions to indicate to whom the church belongs and where a church is located, but these descriptions are not names. A name encloses a small number of God’s children, separating them from the rest of God’s children and forming them into a sect. The many names in Christianity today are sectarian names that prove the existence of division.
The church is the Body of Christ and the house of God. The Body of Christ emphasizes the universal aspect of the church. The house of God emphasizes the local aspect of the church. Since the church has these two aspects, the organization of the church also has two aspects: gifts, which emphasize the universal aspect of the Body of Christ, and offices, which emphasize the local aspect of the house of God. These two aspects are related to each other, but there is a clear distinction as well.
1. “He Himself gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as shepherds and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ” (Eph. 4:11-12).
The Lord gave gifts for the building up of His Body. These gifts are spiritual abilities given to the believers through the Holy Spirit. On the one hand, the Lord through the Holy Spirit gives spiritual abilities as gifts to certain believers to enable them to build up His Body; on the other hand, He gives certain believers who have these spiritual abilities as gifts to His church for the establishing and building up of the church. These people, who have special spiritual gifts and who are given as gifts by the Lord to the church, are for the building up of the churches everywhere. They are given for the building up of the universal church, not just for the building up of one local church. These gifts consist of four kinds of people.