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What is the difference between the universal church and the local church?
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48 Replies
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The Universal Church is the entire body of believers in Christ as a whole. The local church is your own place of worship which is only a small part of that Universal Church.
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The universal church is a term applied to the church as a whole, or those that have a saving faith anywhere and can even mean at any time. Local church is the one we have access to on a normal daily basis.
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The distinction between the local church and the universal church can be summarised as follows:
A local church refers to a congregation of individuals who openly declare their faith in Jesus Christ and gather together on a regular basis at a specified physical site.
The Universal Church refers to the collective body of all individuals who believe in Jesus Christ, encompassing believers from all throughout the world. The major focus of fellowship is mostly centred around one’s relationship with God, whereas the local church primarily focuses on fostering connections among fellow Christians.
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Thank you for writing a concise discussion post. 🙂
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Universal church is the entire body of Christ past and present. Local is my local church.
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The universal church is the body of those who are saved in the entire world. It includes the original body of disciples (cf. Acts 1:12-26) and all who have experienced or will salvation since Peter preached the gospel on the first Pentecost (Acts 2:1-47) until Christ returns to claim the saved. (1 Thess. 4:13-18) The word church literally means “called out” and it refers to the collective assembly of the saints.
The local church refers to the assembly of the saints in a given locale. It is a part of the universal church but it is a much smaller group that is under consideration.
