The Church, Beginning, Baptism, Body, and Bride

The New Testament places great emphasis upon the Local Church. From Acts Two and onward, wherever one looks, in everything from spiritual nurturing to world evangelism, the Local Church is the center and compass of God's dealings with His people. One would be pressed to find a single example of work or ministry described in the Bible that was independent of the Local Church. It is a great and glorious emphasis, and Independent Baptists have generally been unique in giving it its proper place. The late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries saw the rise of Landmark Baptist Churches in the USA. Extreme forms of this movement taught the necessity of baptismal succession back to John the Baptist, and that only Baptists who can so trace their own succession are in the Body/Bride of Christ. The Local Church is a glorious New Testament truth, but like all other doctrines, it is possible to take it further and make claims for it that the Bible does not make.