What is “a congregation of the church of Christ”?

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What’s Your Question? for March 10, 2010

The words “church” and “congregation” are translated from the same Greek word. The universal church is composed of all the saved. The Lord adds the saved to the church (Acts 2:47), or we are baptized into the one body (1 Cor. 12:13). Local churches are identified by: composition - of saints (1 Cor. 14:33), of Thessalonians (1 Thess. 1:1); by location – of Galatia (1 Cor. 16:1), of Asia (16:19); or by relationship – of God (1 Thess. 2:14), of Christ (Rom. 16:16). Local churches are not pieces of the church, but each is a whole church. Each church is to have its own organization (Acts 14:23; Phil. 1:1) and is autonomous. There is no Scriptural organization to oversee two or 2,000 churches, therefore there is no such thing as “a church of the church of Christ.”