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
because it was made up of the people of God, manifested the power of
God, was the repository of the truth of God, was filled with the
gifts of the Spirit of God, and was actually used by the Spirit in
performing the works of God. Such characteristics made it "_the church
of God_."

[Sidenote: Local membership]

Membership in the general body of Christ was conditioned solely on
the new birth, or salvation. Since the individual church was the local
embodiment of the general church, none but the saved could properly
become members thereof, and all who were truly saved (in the same
locality) belonged to it by divine right. At this point, however, the
human element in the constitution of the local church became manifest.
We have pointed out the divine element in the true church--the element
that particularly distinguished it as the church of God, but the
bringing together of many individuals in one assembly involved also a
social element and required the principle of _recognition_. There
is, however, no evidence that such recognition was given by a formal,
official act of the church in its corporate capacity. And since
salvation is of the heart, it was possible for human recognition to
temporarily miss its true purpose. Thus, in the church at Jerusalem
we find recognized as a constituent part of the assembly two false
members--Ananias and Sapphira. On the other hand, when the converted
Saul "was come to Jerusalem, he essayed to join himself to the
disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he
was a disciple" (Acts 9: 26). The church at Corinth, already referred
to, had some false members at the time the