What is the proper ground for the building up of the Church?
Matthew 18:20 contains a wonderful promise: “For where two or three are gathered into My name, there am I in their midst.” However, some have misused this verse to discount the need for local churches established and built up on the proper ground. They claim that the gathering of two or three in the Lord’s […]
Is it possible that in our worship of God, we are doing what is right in our own eyes (Deut 12:8)?
The children of Israel were free to enjoy the fruit of the harvest and of their livestock at any place and at any time during the year. However, the top portion of the livestock and the harvest was to be saved and enjoyed only when the children of Israel gathered together at the place of […]
What is the attitude of those who meet in the local churches towards other believers (Part 3)?
In any kind of labor, all parties must concur on both the goal of that labor and the way to carry it out. This goal and this way issue from the vision that governs that labor. If the parties’ visions differ, serious problems will inevitably arise. The goal of the Lord’s recovery is the building […]
What is the attitude of those who meet in the local churches towards other believers (Part 1)?
According to the truth, every kind of divisiveness is wrong. All causes of division have been terminated by Christ’s death on the cross. His resurrection issued in His enlargement, the Body of Christ, in which the greatest division of all, that between the Jews and the Gentiles, has been totally annulled in Christ, to say […]
Is the ground of locality – the ground of one church in one city – a divisive teaching?
The church is one, but the practice of oneness in the church requires that the churches be established on the ground of oneness, which necessarily includes the ground of locality. To impose any conditions for fellowship, such as adherence to particular doctrinal positions, insistence on a particular form of baptismal practice or on certain Charismatic […]