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Why is the local church so important?


Introduction. The term "church" (ekklesia) is used in a variety of ways in the New Testament. The basic meaning of the Greek term is "the called out" (ek - out of; klesis - a calling), a reference to a gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public place or an assembly (Acts 19:32,39,41; Acts 23:7; Acts 7:38). In the NT, the two most common uses are for Christ's church (singular) and local congregations (plural). In the singular or universal sense, the church is made up of all the saved or called out of (Matt. 16: 18). In comparison, a local church is comprised of those in a geographic location who profess to be Christians (cf. 1 Cor. 1: 2). While the Lord adds the obedient to His church (universal), the saved join a faithful local church (cf. Acts 9: 26). And unlike how some use the term today, "church" never refers to a physical building.

Christians are commanded to be a part of a local church. The writer of Hebrews exhorted: "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together..." (Heb. 10: 25). To forsake is to fall away from Christ (vs. 26-31). The early Christians were bound together in local churches (Acts 2: 42, 5: 11; 1 Cor. 12, 14).

A number of specific commands are performed in the assembly of a local church. The scriptures teach that Christians are to provoke one another to love and good works (the assembly is involved, Heb. 10: 24-25), build up one another in song (Eph. 5: 19), give of their means into the local treasury (1 Cor. 16: 1-2), and experience sound preaching (2 Tim. 4: 1-5; Acts 20: 7). It is in the local assembly that the Lord's Supper is observed (Acts 20: 7; 1 Cor. 11). Moreover, the local church is the pillar and ground of the truth (I Tim. 3: 15).

Conclusion. The world belittles the Lord's church and some "Christian" denominations teach active, faithful membership in a local congregation as nonessential. When the New Testament speaks of the church, it is not referring to a denomination (e.g., Catholic Church, Anglican Church, Baptist Church). All the local churches in the First Century were commanded to be the same (cf. 1 Cor. 4: 17: Rom. 16: 16). They preached (ideally) the one faith and for that they contended (Eph. 4: 4, 5; Jude 3). Indeed, the church is important, an essential element or component to pristine New Testament Christianity.
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