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What We Believe and Why
Written by Dr. Lester Hutson

Copyright - Lester Hutson - 1986
This material is copyrighted and may not be copied or reproduced without the express written permission of Dr. Lester Hutson.

CHAPTER FORTY FOUR

THERE IS NO "UNIVERSAL CHURCH"
I CORINTHIANS 10:16-17

We believe that the Lord's Supper is to be taken only by the members of each local church. We do not believe that it is scriptural for the members of two or more churches to jointly take of the supper. Thus, we believe in and practice closed communion.

I. The false assumption of open communion:

A. Open communion contends that all saved people should be allowed to come together and partake of the Lord's Supper:

1. When strictly upheld, this means not only should Baptists be allowed to jointly partake of the supper; but also Methodists, Pentecostals, Catholics, or any others so long as they claim to be saved.

2. It also means that men who have refused baptism should also be allowed to partake of the supper.

B. The basis for such a doctrine as this is the idea of a universal invisible church of which (many contend) all the saved are members:

1. They think the bread is for the body (I Cor. 10:17), which they assume is the church. Thus, if the body or church is made up of all believers, then it follows that any time believers are together, they are members of the same body and constitute a part of the body of Christ and should therefore be able to partake together of the supper, even though members of two or more congegations.

2. They see "being saved" and "being a member of the church" as being one and the same. Thus, they conclude that a church which excludes all but its members from the supper, is judging all those others to be unsaved.

3. These contentions are not true:

a. When a church excludes all but its members from the supper, it says nothing about their salvation. It does contend those others are not members of that particular body.

b. Furthermore, being saved and being a member of the church are not one and the same. A man can be saved and not a church member.

C. If all believers did constitute the one body of Christ, then could all believers sit down and jointly take of the supper without violating the unity of the scriptures, but they don't.

C. To be honest and consistent with their own selves, those who advocate open communion must also advocate alien baptism:

1. If at faith a spiritual "baptism of the Holy Ghost" makes people members of the one "true church" (universal), thus eligible to jointly take of the Lord's Supper with all other believers without joining their local assembly; then any one of those persons (Methodist, Catholic, Pentecostal, etc.) can, by the same argument, enter in with any local assembly and have full practicipation in the assembly's affairs, without being baptized by that assembly, or any other.

2. This means that any one who comes in claiming to be a saved person would be able to vote, teach, serve in any office, etc., in the church, for after all; if the body of Christ is a universal body, then he is just as much a member of it as you, and if you exclude him, you are saying he's not saved.

3. The logical end of this whole line of unscriptural thinking is interdenominationalism, and if you are going to take one part of the interdenominational pie, you must take it all or admit that you have a conflicting, double standard.

II. The truth is that the only kind of church the Lord ever built was a local one:

A. The word church comes from the Greek word ecclesia and literally means "an assembly of called out ones:"

1. Three times the word is used to describe the self-governing Greek state (Acts 19:32, 39, 41) and once of old testament Israel. (Acts 7:38).

2. In every other case it refers to the Lord's church of Mt. 16:18:

a. 19 times it refers to the church as it will be in glory, (Prospective).

b. 92 times it refers to the present particular assembly.

(1) The word may be used in the concrete or abstract sense, but in every one of these cases the word, when applied, will denote some particular assembly.
(2) There is not one case in the Bible where the word church applies to any institution save a particular assembled group of water baptized believers, when speaking of the Lord's church.
(3) The scriptures do not vision the universal concept.

B. Jesus built the local church and said it would continue until His return:

1. It was not built by Peter or Paul, but by Christ Himself, Mt. 16:18.

2. Since that Jerusalem church, there has been a continuous succession of churches embracing those same doctrines which Jesus taught.

3. These are the groups which have constituted the churches of the living God.

C. There are plenty of Bible verses which denote these local churches, but not one which denotes a mystical universal body:

1. Rev. 1-3 speaks of 7 local congregations.

2. There are numbers of references to local bodies. (I Cor. 1:2, I Thes. 1:1, III Jn. 9, Rom. 16:1, Gal. 1:2).

3. Surely if there exists a universal mystical body (church) of which all believers are members, the scriptures would mention it somewhere.

D. Only a local church could obey the Lord's command to assemble regularly (Heb. 10:25), discipline its members (Mt. 18:15-18), suffer and rejoice together, (I Cor. 12:26), etc.

E. The idea of a universal church is unfounded in the scriptures; and such an organization doesn't exist.

Even at this early point in the discussion, the picture begins to take shape. The arguments of the universalist, open communionists, begin to crumble under the light of God's word. If there is no universal church, then all believers could not be a part of it (something which doesn't exist). If then, the scriptures do not teach a universal church, but strictly a local one, then when the church (body) is told to assemble and take the bread, it is the members of the local body who are being so told, for that's the only kind of church body in existence.

If there is no universal church (body), then the whole foundation upon which open communion, alien baptism, and interdenominationalism rest gives way. And, when the body gets together to take the supper, vote, baptize, ordain, or otherwise; it is the local body which must do it, as that is the only body of Christ that exists.

"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"