If, as we believe, the church of Christ has been perpetuated then it is in the world today and been in the world since its founding. By what means, then, are we to identify this church in any age? In order to have a church, there must be—

   1. A LOCAL INDEPENDENT BODY.

The Roman Catholic Church cannot qualify as the church of Christ. Neither can any branch of the Methodist Episcopal persuasion. Nothing such as these existed in New Testament times. New Testament churches were local, independent bodies. No hierarchal institution can qualify as a church.

   2. HOLDING THE TRUTH AS TO THE WAY OF MAKING DISCIPLES.

The primary purpose of Jesus in putting the church in the world was that His gospel should be preached. No institution that preaches a false gospel is recognized of him who even threatened the church at Ephesus with the removal of its candlestick because it had merely lapsed in its zeal and grown negligent concerning the work He had committed to His churches.

No institution that teaches any form of salvation by works is holding to the truth about the way of making disciples. A church must teach salvation wholly by grace through faith.

   3. HOLDING THE TRUTH AS TO BAPTISM

Scriptural baptism is essential to a true church because it is the door into the church. Cf. 1 Cor. 12:13. Hence there can be no church without baptism. An organization that practices anything but immersion, or that does not hold to believers’ baptism, or that baptizes people in order that they may he saved, surely is not recognized of Christ as one of His churches.

   4. RECOGNIZING CHRIST ALONE AS ITS HEAD, AND SEEKING TO CARRY OUT HIS WILL AND COMMANDS.

The church belongs to its head. If its head is Christ, it is His church. If its head is the pope, it is the pope’s church. If its head is a conference, then it is the conference’s church. If its head is a presbytery or synod, then it belongs to the presbytery or synod instead of to Christ.

Wherever is found a local body possessing all of the attributes, there is a church. Without all of them there can be no church.

And we do not hesitate to say in closing that, as regards the regular denominations, at least, only Baptist churches today can, by the foregoing tests, be identified as New Testament churches.