to do his work, Christ built his church on earth. There was a building
of the church, then, which pertained specifically to its _local_
and _visible_ development among men. The expression "_I_ will build"
indicates the transcendent element, the divine element, in church
organization. This being true, it follows that the local church was
not merely an aggregate of individuals accidently gathered together,
but was the local, concrete embodiment of the spiritual body of
Christ; the unified company of regenerated persons who, as a body,
were dedicated to Christ, acknowledged of Christ, and used by Christ
through the Holy Spirit for the accomplishment of his work. Jerusalem
furnishes the first example, dating from Pentecost (Acts 2).

[Sidenote: Particular example: Corinth]

That this is, generally speaking, the Scriptural definition of a local
church of God, is further shown by another particular example. Paul
addressed two of his epistles "to the church of God which is at
Corinth" (1 Cor. 1: 2; 2 Cor. 1: 1). As individuals they are called
"saints" and "brethren," but collectively as a church they are called
"the church of God" and referred to as "God's building" (1 Cor. 3:
9). And the apostle says to them, "Know ye not that ye are a temple of
God, and that the _Spirit of God dwelleth in you_?" (verse 16, R.V.).
They had been inducted by the Spirit into the "_one body_," and they
were filled with the gifts of the Spirit--wisdom, knowledge, faith,
healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment, and tongues (chap. 12). In
fact, the apostle said, "Ye come behind in no gift" (chap. 1: 7). And
he said particularly, "_Ye are the body of Christ_" (chap. 12: 27).

A true local church, then, was the concrete embodiment of the
spiritual body of Christ in a given place. It was the body of Christ