No Thought of Independence in the Bible

Recently the promotion of the independence, or autonomy, of a local church’s administration has reemerged. This mistaken concept is not new. For example, in the late 1980s some brothers pointed to earlier published statements referring to the administration of a local church being independent from that of other local churches and from workers, ignoring qualifiers […]

On ‘Independent’ Administration

Words have power. On the one hand, they are the means by which God has chosen to communicate His self-revelation, the Bible, to man (Heb. 1:1, 3; 2 Pet. 1:21), the means by which the Lord imparts His life into us (John 6:63), and the means by which the Lord’s servants open the Scriptures (Neh. […]

Assailing the Ground of Oneness (7): The Identifying Characteristics of a Genuine Local Church and the Forbidden Grounds of Division According to the Scriptures

The New Testament presents the church as universally one in its existence and locally one in its manifestation (Eph. 1:22-23; Acts 13:1). Yet Christians today are divided among a plethora of denominations and local sects. Underlying these divisions are innumerable grounds advanced to justify their existence and separation from other Christians. Understandably, this has led […]

Assailing the Ground of Oneness (1): The Genuine Ground of the Church According to the Teaching and Practice of the New Testament

Much confusion and debate exist among Christians surrounding the definition, formation, purpose, and function of the church. In fact, the pattern of Christians meeting together in local churches is entirely consistent throughout the New Testament. Some critics admit that while the New Testament does portray local churches, this portrayal should be understood only as descriptive […]