Additional Quotes about the Local Church by Witness Lee and Watchman Nee

Verse 2a says, “To the church of God.” This expression indicates that the church not only is being possessed by God, but that it has God as its nature and essence, which are divine, general, universal, and eternal. Paul does not refer to the church in Corinth as a pitiful church with troublesome Jewish teachers and proud philosophical Greeks. Although others may have looked at the church according to its condition, Paul knew the real nature of the church, so he had the boldness to call it “the church of God.” As the church of God, the church is not only being possessed by God, but has God as its nature and essence, which are divine, general, universal, and eternal. Every element has its nature, and in the nature of the element is its essence. God is the nature and essence of the church.

(Witness Lee, Genuine Church, 7-8)

Before we proceed to discover who really belongs to a local church and who does not, let us first inquire who belongs to the universal Church and who does not, since the condition of membership in a church is essentially the same as in the Church. When we know what kind of persons belong to the Church, then we know also what kind of persons belong to a church.

How can we know who is a Christian and who is not? “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not of Him” (Rom. 8:9). According to the Word of God, every person in whose heart Christ dwells by His Spirit is a true Christian. Christians may differ from one another in a thousand respects, but in this fundamental matter there is no difference between them: one and all have the Spirit of Christ dwelling within them. If we wish to know who belongs to the Lord, then we only need to discover whether he has the Spirit of Christ or not. Whoever has the Spirit of Christ is inside the Church circle, and whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ is outside the circle. A participant of the Spirit of God is an essential part of the Church of God; a non-participant of the Spirit of God has no part in the Church. In the Church universal this is true; in the church local this is also true. “Test yourselves whether you are in the faith; prove yourselves. Or do you not realize about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you, unless you are disapproved?” (2 Cor. 13:5). There is a subjective line of demarcation between the Church and the world; all within that line are saved, and all without that line are lost. This line of demarcation is the indwelling Spirit of Christ.

(Watchman Nee, Collected Works, Set 2, Vol. 30, 75-76)

Before we begin our fellowship, I want to impress you with a crucial word, that is, REMEMBER: THE CHURCH IS ALWAYS ONE UNIVERSALLY AND LOCALLY. Regardless of time and space, we must not forget that the church of God, the church of Christ, is always one universally and locally.

(Witness Lee, Instruction, 32)

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