Is the "Placing of Fellowship" Scriptural? Part 2

In part 1 we saw that in the early church there was no example of people placing fellowship or belonging specifically to an individual congregation exclusively but rather that people moved freely and frequently among the various faithful churches, fellowshipping with all who were disciples.

In part 2 we will begin in Romans and see what examples, commands and principles there are regarding to which individual congregation a person should belong.

Romans 1:1-8 Obedience to the faith was among all nations. There was no distinction. Rome had many saints. It is unclear if all gathered in one location or if there were multiple congregations within the city. All we know for sure is all in Rome called saints were the recipients of this greeting.

We can extrapolate that there was interaction between the saints at Rome and the saints elsewhere from verse 8, as we clearly see their reputation had spread. As we shall see later, this may partially have been through the written word as letter-writing was obviously quite extensive in the early church, but as we saw in part one, so was travel both of apostles, prophets and teachers, but also of those who were companions (Timothy being a fine example) or just traveling on their own (Priscilla and Aquila).

Romans 3 takes up a line of thought that when it comes to salvation, it does not matter if a person is Jew or Gentile. In the end, "it is one God, which shall justify..." (v. 30). If there is one God who justifies and it matters not if those justified are Jew or Gentile, then their location would seem on the surface to be of little import. There are two states: justified or not justified.

Romans 4:7 reinforces this point; either iniquities are forgiven or they are not.

To clarify, either you have been saved or you have not.

This concept of 2 states, either saved or condemned, is an ongoing theme. I encourage you to read the entire book of course, and read each chapter again as you come across these points. Chapter 5, particularly v6, continues the theme, telling us Christ died for the ungodly.

The context is He died for both Jew and Gentile, that at this point it matters only if a person is forgiven or not, if they are still in their sins or have had those sins removed.

Verse 12- 19 show that all have sin and therefore all need to come to repentance.

Pay close attention to verse 18; we are dealing with all men everywhere.

And now we must pause as we come to Romans 6. For the first time in his written work, Paul will tell us how we can receive forgiveness of sin. Here we have specific instruction on the plan of salvation.

Romans 6: 3-10 When you are baptized, it is into the death of Jesus. Your old man, the man of sin, is symbolically crucified with Christ. He is dead and gone, to trouble you no more.

We are raised to live a new life, a life of purity and holiness, a life dedicated to serving Christ.

Verse 10 explicitly states that the new life we live, we "liveth unto God".

The relationship we bear is between God and ourselves. The life we lead is to God, for God, and about God.

So if baptism is the moment when our old man is crucified, when we enter into a new life with our Savior, when our sins are forgiven, when our new responsibilities to show the new man and take on his rights and responsibilities, would this not be a great location for Scripture to tell us we now belong to the local church?

But it does not; instead, it tells us we belong to God. We are "servants of righteousness" (v. 18), and"servants to God (v. 22).

In chapter 7 we begin looking at the believers as belonging to the body of Christ. Verse 4 pictures us as married to the body of Christ.

This is a very important concept. When you are baptized, you become part of the body of Christ, married to Christ in a figurative sense. Again, looking back at the theme of two states of being, we are presented two possible states:

Either you ARE part of the body of Christ.

Or you are not.

There is no state of "I am part of the body of Christ in Timbuktu but not in Moscow".

There is only this; part or not part.

Chapter 8 again points out the two states which are possible; under condemnation or not under condemnation (verse 1). Seeking after the flesh or seeking after the spirit (v. 4-9)

Are we in the flesh or the Spirit? (v. 9) If in the Spirit, then the Spirit of God dwells in us. Verse 10 is so important I will quote the King James version: "And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of unrighteousness."

Either you have the spirit of death or the Spirit of righteousness. There is no other possibility.

As important as that is, perhaps even more important in the context of this study would be verse 14: For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." Either you are led by the Spirit or you are lost. You are the son of God or you are not.

All who are led by the Spirit, wherever they are, are sons of God. If you are a son of God, you are brother to the person who is the son of God living in the Andes Mountains of South America, to the Kenyan tribesman who is the son of God, and to the next door neighbor who is the son of God.

2 states. You are or you are not.

Do not believe me? Read Romans 8:14-17. We are the children of God and joint-heirs.

Keep reading. All creation groans together and waits together (v. 22-23).

In chapter 9 Paul laments the state of Israel and compares the church to the nation of Israel. Verse 24-26 tell us we who serve God have the status once imputed to Israel; "there shall they be called the children of the living God."

Again and again we see that either you are or are not the child of God. It matters not where you live or which congregation of believers you are with at any given moment; either you are the child of God or you are not.

Romans 10:8-13 often get glossed over in the various churches of our association for they specifically state that "and shalt believe in thine heart that god hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved" (v.9). They should not be glossed over but celebrated for we know that all Scripture fits together. The person who believes will follow the entire Gospel. All Scripture must fit together and any Scripture which can be taken two ways, one of which fits with the rest of Scripture and the other which would contradict it, must by definition follow the first.

In chapter 12 we get a specific command on how to serve God. We are to present ourselves to God as a "living sacrifice" (v. 1-2).

We are then told there are many members of one body (v.4) and then comes yet another key verse.

So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. (v5)

He goes on to talk about the different functions various people have. Prophecy, ministering to others, teaching, exhorting, giving, ruling, showing mercy. All these things are between the saints.

We have already seen the entire book showing there are exactly 2 possible states; saved or not. If you are saved, you are part of one body. If you are not, then you are not.

Just to emphasize this, check out Romans 14:7-8.

When Paul is making his plans, he shows there is still a lot of interaction between the saints in the various locations (15:16-26).

Romans 16 will list several people;

Phebe is specifically a "servant of the church which is at Cenchrea" (v. 1) who is apparently traveling as she needs to be received by those to whom Paul is writing (v2).

this is the first time in the New Testament that someone is spoken of specifically being a servant of one particular congregation and that is important to note.
Next up are Priscilla and Aquila who we have already seen in several places as they journey about the known world making tents and working for God. Yet at this point in time they have a church in their house (v.5) and are owed a debt by "all the churches of the Gentiles" (v.4).
Right on down through verse 16 we receive name after name. It is uncertain where these individuals are at, though we can certainly extrapolate they are somewhere in Rome (Romans 1:7) since that is who Paul is writing to. We can also extrapolate that Rome has several churches as there is one in the household of Priscilla and Aquila (16:5), there are more than one churches of the Gentiles (16:4), and there is another congregation revolving around the people named in verse 14.

So clearly, there were people who associated primarily, though not exclusively, with individual congregations.

And all through the book we have seen they existed in one of 2 states; part of the body of Christ or not part of the body.

So despite copious opportunities in Acts to show conversion as including belonging to a specific congregation, there is no recorded instance of so doing. In Romans we have a great deal of teaching showing that all who believe are part of one body and are either in or out of grace. The various assemblies had a great deal of interaction and knew each other well which indicates a large deal of mingling from some source.

So to this point we can neither confirm nor deny that placing fellowship or having a home church is either Scriptural or anti-Scriptural, though to this point the evidence is clear that a person belongs to the body of Christ, not to an individual location.