REFORMED WITNESS
Volume XV, November 2009, Number 11
One Holy, Catholic Church
By Prof. Robert D. Decker
A two-part article from the January 15 and February 1, 1978, issues of The Standard Bearer
See more articles by this author
"We believe and profess, one catholic or universal Church, which is an holy congregation of true Christian believers, all expecting their salvation in Jesus Christ, being washed by his blood, sanctified and sealed by the Holy Ghost. This Church hath been from the beginning of the world, and will be to the end thereof; which is evident from this, that Christ is an eternal King, which, without subjects, cannot be. And this holy Church is preserved or supported by God, against the rage of the whole world; though she sometimes (for a while) appears very small, and in the eyes of men, to be reduced to nothing: as during the perilous reign of Ahab, the Lord reserved unto him seven thousand who had not bowed their knees to Baal. Furthermore, this holy Church is not confined, bound, or limited to a certain place or to certain persons, but is spread and dispersed over the whole world; and yet is joined and united with heart and will, by the power of faith, in one and the same spirit"
- Article XXVII, The Belgic Confession
Even the secular world of late has been forced to acknowledge a religious movement in our land which is claiming hundreds of thousands among its adherents. The movement has come to be called Neo (or the New) Evangelicalism. Several "big names" are associated with this movement, such as Billy Graham, Oral Roberts, Bill Bright, Charles Colson, Eldridge Cleaver, Mark Hatfield, et. al. This movement can be faulted on several counts. It is thoroughly Arminian in its theology, and much of it is characterized by the excesses of Pentecostalism, to say nothing of dispensationalism and millenarianism, which also characterize its beliefs. All of these are serious departures from the truth of the Word of God. But perhaps the most basic error is the New Evangelicalism's disassociation from and indeed in many instances disavowal of the institute of the Church of Jesus Christ. The Church is said to be an archaic relic of the past, which has long since served its purpose. What must be stressed is a personal commitment to Christ. One doesn't need the Church. He can pray and study the Bible and serve the Lord apart from the Church. One doesn't need formal worship, the preaching of the Word, and all the rest which goes with the Church. Thus the movement is characterized by an individualism and a subjectivism which at best disparage the Church.
We ought to be profoundly thankful for the voice of our fathers sounded in this article of our Confession which so clearly and powerfully sets forth the Bible's teaching concerning the one, holy, catholic church of Jesus Christ. With this article and continuing through Article XXXV our Confession treats the subject of Ecclesiology or the doctrine of the Church.
It is essential to understand that the Confession considers the Church as an article of faith. The Church is one and catholic, a holy congregation of true Christian believers saved in Jesus Christ and sanctified and sealed by the Holy Spirit. This Church has been from the beginning of the world and will continue under its eternal King to the end of the world. This church is preserved and supported by God against the rage of the whole world, and finally this Church is not bound or limited but spread and dispersed over the whole world and yet is joined with heart and will by the power of faith in a common spirit.
All this we believe and profess! That we believe and profess one, holy, catholic Church of Jesus Christ means that we cannot see the Church. Christ's Church belongs to those things which eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive. The Church belongs to the unseen realities which can only be apprehended by faith. It is essential to understand this, for else we shall be hopelessly confused in our study of the Church. We believe and profess for example the oneness or unity of the Church. The Church is one, holy congregation of true believers in Christ, not many congregations. The Church is united in one Christ, one Spirit, and in one faith. Christ is not divided, neither are there many Spirits or many faiths. But where do we see that? When one observes the Church in the world all one sees is brokenness and discord. The attempts at unity (the ecumenical movement) of the recent past have only resulted in the multiplication of denominations. In our day small remnants of conservatives have broken from several large, mainline denominations to form new denominations. Nevertheless we believe and profess one Church. That means we believe that God has chosen and saved a Church in Christ and that He preserves that Church and gathers that Church out of every nation by His Word and Spirit and will bring that Church to glory.
Therefore, the Confession emphasizes the fact that we must not discuss the Church from the point of view of its life and manifestation in the world. That would lead to all kinds of erroneous conclusions. Rather, we must discuss the Church as it is described for us in Scripture and therefore, we must discuss the Church as it is the object of our faith. We cannot see the Church, but we do believe and profess on the basis of the Word of God one holy, catholic Church. In harmony with this the Confession discusses the Church from its ideal viewpoint, i.e., as it appears in the counsel of God, as it is preserved in the world, and as it will ultimately be perfected in glory. Hence, in faith we are prepared to affirm that the Church is "one catholic or universal Church, which is a holy congregation of believers, all expecting their salvation in Jesus Christ, being washed in His blood, sanctified and sealed by the Holy Ghost..." Clearly the point here is that the Church is of God and not of man. That is strongly stressed by the Confession and that is an emphasis much needed in our day. The Church is not in any sense a human institution. It neither has its origin nor does it continue in men. The Church is not a voluntary association of those who have some religious interests or profess to some religious experiences (a la Pentecostalism). The Church is chosen in Jesus Christ before the foundations of the world (Ephesians 1:3ff.), saved by God through the cross of Jesus Christ, sanctified and preserved by God through the Spirit of Christ, and glorified by God in the New Heaven and Earth. Much of the Church's life appears to contradict this. Yet in faith we witness to the victory of God's sovereign grace in Christ. God creates and builds and preserves a Church unto Himself.
That Church is a holy congregation, a "gathered" flock which belongs to God by right of purchase. This gathered flock hears the voice of God and responds in faith. Both the Old and New Testament Scriptures emphasize again and again the pastoral or shepherd-sheep relationship which God sustains with His chosen. Jesus Christ is the good Shepherd to whom the Father gives the sheep. As the good Shepherd, He knows His sheep and they know Him and they follow Him. As the good Shepherd, He lays down His life for the sheep (John 10). This same truth is implied in the terms used to designate the Church in the Bible. Repeatedly the New Testament calls the Church, "ecclesia," the ones called out by God. Christ used this term in connection with Peter's confession (Matthew 16:18). It is used to designate a group of believers in a given locality (Acts 5:11, 11:26; I Corinthians 11:18, 14:19, 14:28; Galatians 1:2; I Thessalonians 2:14). In at least one instance it indicates a group of churches within a given area (Acts 9:31). In a more general sense it denotes the whole body of Christian believers throughout the world. From this point of view the Apostle Paul discusses the doctrine of the Church in First Corinthians and Ephesians. Finally, in its most comprehensive sense the "ecclesia" embraces all who are joined to Christ, whether on earth or in heaven (Ephesians 1:22, 3:10, 21; Colossians 1:18, 24).
In addition Scripture uses many figurative descriptions which illumine the nature of God's Church. The Church is repeatedly called the body of Christ (Ephesians 1:23; Colossians 1:18; I Corinthians 12:27). Christ is the Head of that body and the believers (elect) are the members. Out of Christ the members receive all of their life, and Christ rules them. Believers are united and become one in their Head, Christ. Peter addressed believers as "living stones", which are elected by God unto a "spiritual house" (I Peter 2:5). Several times the Church is spoken of in Old Testament terms as the Jerusalem that is from above, the new Jerusalem, or the heavenly Jerusalem (Galatians 4:26; Hebrews 12:22; Revelation 21:2). All of these figurative descriptions speak of the close association which the Church sustains to the eternal God in Jesus Christ. The Church is God's!
We are therefore constrained to speak of the Church in the light always of the believers' relation to God. From Him alone comes all of our salvation. The Church is the company of the redeemed. Christ is both its Savior and its Head. The only confidence of the Church lies in the eternal and immutable promise of God in Christ.
This means that the chief characteristic of the life of the Church is its faith. The Church is saved by grace through faith. That is ever the emphasis of the Bible. The Church lives by faith and perseveres by faith and by faith is brought into glory. From a practical point of view this means that because faith is God's gift and not man's response, we ought not to speak of joining the Church but rather of being joined to the Church. Our believing is never the product of our will but always the response worked in our hearts by the grace of the Holy Spirit of Christ. He plants the seed of regeneration in us, He quickens that seed by the preaching of the Word, He gives us faith and repentance. This in no way does violence to personal responsibility. The Bible everywhere says we must repent and believe. But those who repent and believe must always and do always acknowledge that "it is God who worketh in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure." (Philippians 2:13). Ours is the life of a faith-fellowship with Christ. Without this, none can claim the privilege of church membership. Nor may the Church tolerate within its fellowship those who refuse to live by faith.
The Church, therefore, is the elect in Christ Jesus, the Body of our Lord, who are united to Him by faith and in Him they are God's precious possession.
Part 2
In the previous issue we emphasized that the Confession speaks of the Church not as it appears in the world, but as it is an article of the faith of the believer. We believe that the Church is and that the Church is one, holy, and catholic. The content of that faith is found only in the Holy Scriptures. In His Word God tells us what the Church is and what its calling is. We also emphasized in that same connection that the Church is emphatically God's Church. It is not an association of men who agree to unite and form a church. It is not merely a social institution, but it is God's Church. The Church is conceived by God, given life and existence by Him, and preserved and saved and glorified by God.
God's Church according to Scripture has certain attributes or characteristics which are mentioned in the Confession. The Church is one. There are not many churches, many faiths, many doctrines, but only one Church united in one truth and doctrine. When one observes the Church as it appears in the world he cannot see that. What one sees of the church in the world is division and all kinds of differences of doctrine and belief and practice. Although the Church appears in the world as separated by space, time, and barriers of nationality and language, and as divided by differences of creed and confession, yet the Church is actually one in Christ. We confess: "...She is joined and united with heart and will, by the power of faith, in one and same Spirit." The deepest principle of this unity or oneness of the Church is found in Jesus Christ its head. The Church is chosen in Christ (Ephesians 1:3ff), made alive with Christ (Ephesians 2:5) and is thus one in Christ. For this reason Scripture often speaks of the Church as the Body of which Christ is the Head (Cf. Romans 12; I Corinthians 12; Ephesians 1:22, 23). Christ is, therefore, the principle of the life of the Church and He is the mind and the will of the Church. Never may the Church be conceived of apart from Jesus Christ. Thus believers are exhorted to walk worthy of their calling, endeavoring to keep the unity (oneness) of the Spirit in the bond of peace. The ground of this exhortation is the fact that they are "called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all" (Ephesians 4:1-6).
"Furthermore, this holy Church is not confined, bound, or limited to a certain place or to certain persons, but is spread and dispersed over the whole world..." It is in these terms that the Confession affirms the catholicity of the Church. The Church is universal. The Roman Catholic Church claims to be alone the catholic church in the true sense of the word. But this is not the case. The Body of Christ, united in true faith and in the truth of the Scriptures, is alone truly catholic. Although for a time the Church was limited almost exclusively to the nation of the Jews, on Pentecost (Acts 2) it burst through these national boundaries and became catholic (universal) in the true sense of the word.
The purpose of this catholicity is twofold. On the one hand it is the means of accomplishing the pluriformity of the Church. On the other hand, it is the means of saving the human race. By this we do not mean that all men are saved, but the Church is the true human race. The Church, therefore, is gathered and saved out of every nation, tribe, and tongue. The catholicity of the Church is accomplished by means of the preaching of the Word. This is precisely why Christ commissioned the Apostles to go into all the world baptizing and preaching the gospel in order to make disciples of all nations. This is also why on Pentecost the Spirit-filled Apostle Peter preached and the Lord added three thousand souls to His Church. Subsequently, as the Biblical record in Acts clearly testifies, the Apostles went everywhere preaching and baptizing. By the mighty, divine, wonder-working power of preaching the Church grew and spread and became dispersed throughout the entire world.
The third attribute of the Church is its holiness. Once again it must be borne in mind that the Church is holy as it is conceived in the counsel of God and described in Scripture. We confess the holiness of the Church by faith. As the Church appears in the world it is far from holy. There are at least two reasons for this. The first is that the saints themselves are not perfect. Much sin cleaves to them according to their sinful natures. Against those sinful natures the saints must wage constant warfare. Daily they must put off the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts (Ephesians 4:22). The holiness of the members of the Church is but a small beginning or principle. The other reason is that there is always present in the Church the carnal element. In plain words the Church must ever contend with wicked men in its own midst. That carnal element became manifest almost immediately after the fall in Cain and his seed. Enoch had to prophesy against them concerning the Lord's coming in judgment (Jude). An entire generation among Israel, the Old Dispensational Church, could not enter the promised land because of unbelief and perished in the wilderness. In Israel there was always but a small remnant according to the election of grace who sincerely loved the Lord and looked for the fulfillment of the promise. Because the carnal element had gained the ascendancy in the Church of the sixteenth century, the Protestant Reformation became a necessity and God raised up great men such as Luther and Calvin and others in order to reform the Church. Thus it has been all through the Church's history. For this reason the Church is called to exercise discipline especially through the office of elder. The elders of the Church must ever be vigilant and watch lest the people of God be led astray either in doctrine or in life. Nevertheless, as an object of faith, the Church is holy. The Church expects all its salvation in Jesus Christ: "being washed by his blood, sanctified and sealed by the Holy Ghost."
We ought to note that various distinctions have been adopted to describe the one, holy, catholic Church. The Church is spoken of as an organism and an institute. When the Church is spoken of as an organism, it is emphasized that the Church is the living Body of which Christ is the Head. The Church is governed by its Head, Christ, and receives all of its life out of Jesus Christ by faith. When we speak of the institute of the Church, we mean the Church from the viewpoint of the ministry of the Word and the administration of the sacraments together with the special offices of the elder and deacon and the office of all believers. It is as institute that the Church comes to manifestation in its local congregations. The Church may also be distinguished as militant, triumphant, and latent. The Church militant is the Church on earth which has not attained to its final victory, but is called to fight the battle of faith in the world marching as the army of Jesus Christ under the banner of His cross. But even in that battle the militant Church is "more than conqueror" for the victory has been won at the cross and sealed in the resurrection of its Lord. Besides, faith is the victory which overcomes the world. The Church which is now in glory is the Church Triumphant. For this part of the Church the battle is over, the noise and the fury have ceased. These saints have exchanged their weapons for the crown of glory and they rest from their works and toil, for they rest in the fellowship of their God. But even for these the victory is not complete and will not be until the Church is completely saved and their bodies are raised from the grave and their blood has been avenged on their enemies (Cf. Rev. 6:9-l1). The Church Latent is the Church not yet born. As history progresses the Church latent grows smaller while the Church triumphant grows steadily larger with the departing of each saint.
Sometimes too the Church is distinguished as visible and invisible. The Church visible is the Church from the point of view of the life of its members in the world as they manifest in their lives the kingdom of heaven to which they belong, and as they live their lives under the shadow of the cross. The Church invisible is the Church from the viewpoint of its inner spiritual life of grace and the blessings of Jesus Christ.
The Confession also makes the point that the Church has been from the very beginning of time and will continue to the end thereof. We must maintain this precious truth over against all forms of dispensationalism. The Church was born not on Pentecost, but in Paradise. God gathers His Church in the line of continued generations from the beginning to the end of time so that there is only one Church. One can easily follow that line as it is revealed in Scriptures. There is the "seed of the woman" over against the "seed of the serpent." That seed of the woman is Abel, Seth, Enoch, Noah, Shem (With Japheth dwelling in his tents), Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and twelve tribes of Israel, Judah, the House of David, the remnant according to the election of grace. Finally that seed of the woman which becomes the seed of Abraham is Christ and all who are in Him by faith (Galatians 3). That is the Church. It is true that in the Old Dispensation (the age of the types and shadows) the Church was limited almost entirely to the Jews. But even then there were exceptions (some of whom one will find in the genealogies of Christ, cf. Matthew 1 and Luke 3). And all the prophets spoke of the "Day of the Lord" when the Church would be universal. This is proved by the fact, the Confession asserts, that Christ is an eternal King which without subjects cannot be. Apparently the argument is that Christ as the eternal King is the only King of His people. Another King there is not. The people of God, therefore, are one Church under the sovereign rule of Jesus Christ. Especially as that rule becomes manifest in time and history, there never was a moment when Christ was without His subjects.
Finally let us understand and never forget that the establishment of the Church in the world is a wonder of grace. By His divine power of grace God has called the Church out of darkness into His marvelous light. The foundations of the Church lie in divine election in Christ Jesus. The saints and faithful at Ephesus are the ones whom God chose in Christ "before the foundation of the world" (Ephesians 1:4). In Thessalonica the believers knew their election (I Thessalonians 1:4). The "strangers" to whom Peter wrote became that "according to the foreknowledge of God the Father" (I Peter 1:2). On the behalf of these elect God sent His only begotten Son into the world. The Good Shepherd laid down His life for the sheep given Him of the Father (John 10) and took it again in the resurrection. Upon His ascension Christ poured out His Spirit into that Church in order that it might be filled with all the blessings of salvation and guided into all truth.
In that faith we rejoice in the assurance that "this holy Church is preserved or supported by God, against the rage of the whole world." The Church may appear very small at times, as during the perilous reign of Ahab, when it appeared that the Church had perished. But even then the Lord preserved an elect remnant (seven thousand), who had not bowed the knee to Baal. The Church is always just that, a remnant, a hut in a cucumber patch, a force not to be reckoned with compared with the millions of this world. The Church always has a hard battle. There is the devil who goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour; there is the world which rages against the Church; and there is the sinful flesh of the members of the Church. There is too the enemy from within. False teachers privily bring in damnable heresies (II Peter 2) and scoffers taunt the Church concerning the coming of its Lord (II Peter 3). Against these enemies the Church must wage unceasing warfare. The Church must not dream of world conquest, for it is a besieged city, and always will be.
For the believer this means that he must fight the good fight of faith. He must separate himself from the evil world and live as a pilgrim and stranger who seeks the city which has the foundations whose builder and maker is God. In the battle he never despairs, for he remembers the word of the King of the Church: "Be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world."
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