As Luther, having found the doctrine of justification by faith, could not recognize that doctrine as Christian which taught justification by works, but denounced the church which held it as Antichrist, saying, "Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, God help me," so we, in matters not indifferent, as feet-washing, but vitally affecting the existence of the church, as regenerate church-membership, must stand by the New Testament, and refuse to call any other body of Christians a regular church, that is not organized according to Christ's laws. The English word "church" like the Scotch "kirk" and the German "_Kirche_," is derived from the Greek { ~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}, and means "belonging to the Lord." The term itself should teach us to regard only Christ's laws as our rule of organization.
(_e_) Besides these two significations of the term "church," there are properly in the New Testament no others. The word { ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} is indeed used in Acts 7:38; 19:32, 39; Heb. 2:12, to designate a popular assembly; but since this is a secular use of the term, it does not here concern us. In certain passages, as for example Acts 9:31 ({ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}, sing., { ~HEBREW LETTER ALEF~} A B C), 1 Cor. 12:28, Phil. 3:6, and 1 Tim. 3:15, { ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} appears to be used either as a generic or as a collective term, to denote simply the body of independent local churches existing in a given region or at a given epoch. But since there is no evidence that these churches were bound together in any outward organization, this use of the term { ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} cannot be regarded as adding any new sense to those of "the universal church" and "the local church" already mentioned.