When we speak of the church being “all sufficient,” what do we mean? The claim that the church is all sufficient means that the church is fully capable of doing all the work God gave it to do. It does not need the aid of institutions to carry out this work. Christians do not need to look to other institutions or organizations to do the work that can be done through the church.
The Bible speaks of the church in two different ways – the universal church and the local church. Which way are we using the term “church” when we say the church is all sufficient? Is the universal church all sufficient? Of course. The universal church is composed of all the believers who have been baptized into the body of Christ (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:47; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 3:27). But what about the local church? To say the church is all sufficient universally, but not locally, could lead one to accept the “sponsoring church arrangement.” But the New Testament teaches that the local church is all sufficient, fully capable of doing the work God gave for it to do.
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