Unity of the Body of Christ is Universal and Local

Unity of the Church It is important not only to recognize this Unity of the Body on a universal level, but also on the local level. This is evidenced by the many references to the churches in the differing cities mentioned in the New Covenant.



  • The Church at Jerusalem (Acts 8:1)
  • The Church at Antioch (Acts 13:1)
  • The Church at Ephesus (Acts 20:17;Rev. 2:1)
  • The Church at Cenchrea (Rom. 16:11)
  • The Church at Corinth (I Cor. 1:2)
  • The Church at Laodicea (Col. 4:16;Rev. 3:14)
  • The Church at Thessalonica (1 Thess. 1:1)
  • The Church at Smyrna (Rev. 2:8)
  • The Church at Pergamos (Rev. 2:12)
  • The Church at Thyatira (Rev. 2:18)
  • The Church at Sardis (Rev. 3:1)
  • The Church at Philadelphia (Rev. 3:11)

So now you may ask, 'ok, so what's your point'? The point is this. Notice that in all of these references, you do not see any greeting to "the churches in -------". Why? This is because each city had one Church.1 They were considered one Body of believers. It is not like today, where you have numerous if not a multitude of bodies, which consider themselves separate from and unconnected to the others.

But the Scriptures see all the believers in a particular city as being one Body, one fellowship. This truth would have a very difficult time being not just acknowledged, but practiced due to the intense party-spirit that prevails in the Body of Jesus today. If someone were to write these type of letters today, they would be addressed to . . .

"To the Church in New York City. . ."
" To the Church in London. . ." and on and on.

The next most obvious question would be to ask - 'Did each city have a central meeting place? Was there just one Church building in each town'?
The answer would be NO. In the first century church, buildings known as "the Church" were completely unknown and foreign. There is no record in Scripture of any fellowship of believers building a building for worship and meeting and calling that building "The Church". In the Scriptures, when the word 'Church' is used, it is never in reference to a building made by men, but always refers to the Body of believers themselves.

So if they didn't have a "church building" to meet in, where did they meet? The short answer is they met in homes. The bulk of "churches" were house-churches.2 The Scriptures give many references to these house-churches.

*The Church in the house of Pricilla and Aquila (Rom. 16:3-5; 1 Cor. 16:9)
*The Church in the house of Nymphas (Col. 4:15)
*The Church in the house of Philemon (Philemon 1:2)

We also have the reference in Acts 8:3,

As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.

Saul (aka, Paul) made havock of the Church, by dragging men and women into prison. Where did he go to find these people? The text tells us, ". . .entering into every house. . ." . Saul found the Church in houses. This seems to be the norm for the Church of the first century, i.e., meeting in homes. It was not until the fourth century and later that buildings began to be built for the purpose of meeting.

For the first three hundred years of the Church's history, they lived and grew without the use or benefit of buildings. For most of this period, they were being persecuted, so they had to meet in secret. They met in homes, in caves, in the tombs or catacombs. It wasn't until the reign of Constantine in the fourth century, when he legalized Christianity and essentially made it the state religion, that buildings began to be built for the purpose of public worship and meeting. These first buildings were called basilicas, and were actually modeled after the pagan temples, although with some alterations.

Now the Church no longer had to meet in secret. They could enjoy worshipping in public for the first time in almost three hundred years. But with this new found freedom came a price. This freedom costs them their liberty. One of the obvious reasons for the building of these "churches", was to consolidate the worship of the Church into a central location. As in the ancient history of Israel, when the worship of God at the "high places" was no longer accepted, because now they had a central location to worship God, the Temple at Jerusalem. This same principle was applied in this situation. No longer was it to be acceptable or even legal to operate a house-church. If you were going to practice and express your faith, it had to be done in the confines of the walls of the basilica (church).

Subject Matter

  • One Body
  • One Spirit, One Lord
  • One Faith
  • One Baptism


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