The church is the worldwide people of God, the community of those who have been redeemed by the work of Jesus Christ. The church transcends ethnic, cultural, and racial lines, being comprised of all those who have repented of their sin and trusted in Christ alone for their salvation.
While the church is created through the redemptive work of the triune God, it finds diverse expression in different contexts in the form of local congregations. Such diversity of expression on a human level does not, however, bring into question the core unity of the church. This unity is held together by three marks of the true church of Christ: Word, sacrament, and discipline.
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