The Second Helvetic Confession Chapter 17
Of the Catholic and Holy Church of God, and of The One Only
Head of The Church
The Church Has Always Existed
and It Will Always Exist. But because God from the beginning would have men
to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth (I Tim. 2:4), it is
altogether necessary that there always should have been, and should be now, and
to the end of the world, a Church.
<This is true only in the sense that God is, was, and
will be and with God the beginning and end are always present.
Though theologians have made reference to the “church in the
wilderness” when speaking of the church’s presence in the Old Testament, in
truth the church did not exist. Some functions of the church can be seen in the shadows of
the Old Testament, but Christ said I found my church, and that was not just a
physical manifestation, but also the church in all the nuances of church. The
word church is defined in the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church
as being, “belonging to the Lord.”
The Latin rendered this ecclesia. Originally it meant the building, but from the
Latin became known as the assembly without regard to place or building. In this
sense there has always been a “called out people,” or godly line in history.
So I would not quibble too long over this, but think we do have to note the Old
as the shadow of the New, and the New sheds light on the Old, as the revelation
of God is progressive.
Seeing the revelation of God as progressive is important because it will help us
not create two distinct people of God with a division of Old and New Testament.
As God is one so is the Word of God one. I hold to this concept of the entire
unity of the Godhead to a fault. I recognize this as a fault, and at times
struggle to make sure all understand what I have in mind and the intent. Such
unity at times will cause the terminology, the actual words of explanation hard
to come by. In a few places you will see that I appear to disagree with the
author because he has used the term “new people.” I am not in disagreement,
but seeking wording that will remove a line that does not exist except in the
mind of man. This line has led to much error in how the church views end times,
the covenants, and other key doctrines where the church should have unity.
Remove this line and you have defeated much of dispensational thinking. Prove
this line does not exist and you have taken the prop from under the whole of
dispensational theology. One of the key doctrines to identify the dispensational
church is that they hold to a separate and distinct program of salvation for the
nation of Israel. They draw a distinct line between the church of the Old
Testament and the church of the New Testament. This head concerning the church
always existing then becomes crucial and requires the effort to not only hold
this line firmly, but to show from the only source of truth, the Bible, that
this is the only position that is in accord with the Bible. >
What Is the Church? The
Church is an assembly of the faithful called or gathered out of the world; a
communion, I say, of all saints, namely, of those who truly know and rightly
worship and serve the true God in Christ the Savior, by the Word and Holy
Spirit, and who by faith are partakers of all benefits which are freely offered
through Christ.
<A good definition of the church and establishes my
comments above. Until the exodus
there was no called out people gathered for this sole purpose of worshiping God.
Even then it is only after Sinai it becomes a body politic properly
speaking. Yet, I do not deny the
truth the original author is trying to put before us.
We see this develop with the language as noted above and the dual meaning
that can be given to the root word in Greek and more especially the Latin. Long
before the reformation Latin was the language of the church, and we owe much of
our English Bible to the Latin translation.
It is also possible using this definition however to designate any
gathered body as ecclesia, not just those called out by God. There were saints
saved by faith and as such part of the body of Christ from the beginning.
The reformers were also careful to speak of the visible and invisible
church. The distinctions exist though the true church has always been one church
visibly. The church as the body of
Christ has then existed in all ages, sometimes more or less visible because of
sin or impurity, or lack of the presence of the church militant.
The shadow of the church then is not the church here defined, but does
establish the first paragraph and how the church has always existed.
To be redundant, this is important, understand this from the Bible and claim it
for yourself before tackling more involved concepts of theology. Outside this
one church, one covenant as revealed in the Bible, ungodly lines of division
will be the order of the day. >
Citizens of One Commonwealth.
They are all citizens of the one city, living under the same Lord, under the
same laws, and in the same fellowship of all good things. For the apostle calls
them fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God (Eph.
2:19), calling the faithful on earth saints (I Cor. 4:1), who are sanctified by
the blood of the Son of God. The article of the Creed, "I believe in the
holy catholic Church, the communion of saints," is to be understood wholly
as concerning these saints.
<The church has always maintained that believers are
citizens of the kingdom of God. References
to the saints being pilgrims here, or aliens have foundation in the Bible.
The communion of the saints speaks more to all true believers through all
ages having access to the same God and Lord through the same Holy Spirit and
thus the same mind of Christ regardless of the dispensation of New or Old
Testament in which they lived. Thus
we find throughout the Biblical record that the saints have ever held certain
essential beliefs in common. Christ said we are in the world but not of the
world.
Christ said to Pilate that His Kingdom was not of this world. >
Only One Church for All Times.
And since there is always but one God, and there is one mediator between God and
men, Jesus the Messiah, and one Shepherd of the whole flock, one Head of this
body, and, to conclude, one Spirit, one salvation, one faith, one Testament or
covenant, it necessarily follows that there is only one Church.
<This speaks to a divine truth that God is one, His Word
is one, and thus concludes that the church must be one.
The correct conclusion, but I dare say hard for men to understand or
accept. The concept of one covenant here expressed is still in debate and even
the most right sided reformers hold out for two covenants and the dispensation
or administration of the two Testaments.
One God, one covenant, one Word is proper and where we need to pay
attention to the words of the ancients and lay aside some of the so-called
debate and divisions from later enlightenments.
The fathers had it right and the church today needs to reexamine her
position in these matters. God made
one covenant before the foundation of the world with Jesus Christ on behalf of
the elect. All other so-called covenants are but the continuing revelation of
the first and the New Testament the manifestation of what God intended from the
beginning. I personally don’t see a covenant of works later changed to grace,
but a covenant of grace from the beginning. Because of the traditions each of our
differing bodies have embraced from their birth in the reformation it is all but
impossible to get the leaders to stop and consider how much harm they are
actually doing when they allow places where God has changed His direction
and made a different covenant. This is impossible (the use of the word
impossible concerning God rankles a bit, but is the only way for us to see this)
God has not, will not, and cannot change. The immutability of God is solid
ground. It is the very foundation of our faith or there would be no hope and the
doctrine of the perseverance of the saints would be a farce. We stand safe in
the storms of human life because we do have a source of all power and wisdom
that will not waver. God has spoken, so it is. The wording is not that it will
be or that it was so. God is ever present and never changing in any way. God is
an absolute in a world where such a word has no place or meaning in its culture.
>
The Catholic Church. We,
therefore, call this Church catholic because it is universal, scattered through
all parts of the world, and extended unto all times, and is not limited to any
times or places. Therefore, we condemn the Donatists who confined the Church to
I know not what corners of Africa. Nor do we approve of the Roman clergy who
have recently passed off only the Roman Church as catholic.
<I prefer the word universal to which the word church
here refers to remove the confusion for the world outside Reformed circles.
Nonetheless, unless the church learns to know it is one despite man made
divisions she is in trouble and the decline into the pit will continue.
There is little discipline in the church because she does not recognize
the various parts of her own body. Discipline has one purpose, to call man to
repentance and be reconciled with the church of God. When a person can sin and
rather than repent and be restored move around the corner to another church
discipline does not exist. Further the whole concept of the church depends on a
relationship with Christ through a particular church. A person has not learned
the value of the relationship to the church in relation to being of the one fold
when they can walk from one member of the body to the next. When we add the
experience of these moves often being between bodies that have drastic
theological differences, the truth of this is given pragmatic proof. When the
church visible for lack of better words becomes one, discipline in the family
will mean something to her people. Discipline will be the tool of warning to
reclaim the errant child and the prodigal will return home. Until then the
divisions within the body wrought by Satan will continue and the church will
slide deeper into darkness. This all relates to relationship, first with Christ
and then each other as sisters and brothers in Christ. This is the very heart of
what God to us in the fifth commandment. The fifth commandment isn’t all about
birth parents, but of relationships in life and how we maintain those
relationships, which have responsibilities attached to everyone wherever they
appear in God’s providence. Thus we have responsibility of relationship to
those beneath, equal or above as god as so ordained such positions and titles.
>
Parts of Forms of the Church.
The Church is divided into different parts or forms; not because it is divided
or rent asunder in itself, but rather because it is distinguished by the
diversity of the numbers that are in it. For the one is called the Church
Militant, the other the Church Triumphant. The former still wages war on earth,
and fights against the flesh, the world, and the prince of this world, the
devil; against sin and death. But the latter, having been now discharged,
triumphs in heaven immediately after having overcome all those things and
rejoices before the Lord. Notwithstanding both have fellowship and union one
with another.
<At first reading the modern theologian might miss what
is happening here. This is not just an older version of the church visible and
invisible. There is no denying that
the church has an earthly, physical or militant nature. Yet, the church in the
person of the saints who have ascended already also exists as such in heaven, or
the spiritual realm. This is the meaning of the phrase from the Apostle’s
creed concerning I believe in the communion of saints. Calvin addresses the
issue on the level of the saints, and that Christ has triumphed over the devil
and as such Satan is limited in what he can do against the saints.
The modern explanation of a visible church which, is the same as the
church militant in this paragraph, continues to make mention of an invisible
church which, consists of all saints of all ages. The belief being put forward
that regardless of denomination or other earthly divisions, or those who having
overcome the world are presently with Christ are the one true church. While I do
not think we can actually see an end-times doctrine developed until at least the
mid six-teen hundreds or later the wording here fits what those claiming there
is no millennium (1000 years after the tribulation and before the judgment of
all things) teach. In a sense then we can see the church militant has not
changed in definition since the Helvetic was written. However the church
triumphant is not mentioned by Calvin in the passage cited, Calvin does see this
being true for the individual members of the church and speaks more of the
triumph of Christ in behalf of the believers
as being the present church though divided by manmade divisions being one. In a
sense both Bullinger and Calvin are correct and it is the combination of these
two articulations that we find the truth of the Scripture and the oneness of God
and His church.>
The Particular Church.
Moreover, the Church Militant upon the earth has always had many particular
churches. Yet all these are to be referred to the unity of the catholic Church.
This [Militant] Church was set up differently before the Law among the
patriarchs; otherwise under Moses by the Law; and differently by Christ through
the Gospel.
<God began with one man called out, Abraham, although
others existed before with Noah as the best example. It is true that catholic church refers to the unity of the
true church in Christ. However,
there is but scant lip service paid to this fact of one church in all ages and
the divisions of man are the order of the day.
So much is this the normal way that we find most denominations all but
condemn those that disagree over what could be called minor points of theology
or practice. The appeal to the Old
Testament Church and to its difference from the New Testament church does not
exactly answer the question of one church as we have begun to lay out the
definition here. If we accept the
definition of church as an assembly gathered together in any Acorporate@
fashion for the purpose of worshiping God, then I think we find less difference
in the church militant or visible. Abraham
and the heads of household following served the function of priest, making
offerings to God and blessing the family: Being
responsible to God for the conduct of the whole family.
Responsible at least to the end they had to correct the sins of the
children and not let them pass by. Eli
being held to account for the conduct of his sons is a good example of this.
We also see the responsibility of the eldest son with respect to the
father and younger children always existed.
The difference between the two Testaments is then not so much one of
form, but of the shadow of the Old being set aside for the light of the New and
the sacrifice of dead animals being substituted for the living sacrifice of a
life dedicated to Christ. >
The Two Peoples. Generally
two peoples are usually counted, namely, the Israelites and Gentiles, or those
who have been gathered from among Jews and Gentiles into the Church. There are
also two Testaments, the Old and the New. Yet from all these people there was
and is one fellowship, one salvation in the one Messiah; in whom, as members of
one body under one Head, all united together in the same faith, partaking also
of the same spiritual food and drink. Yet here we acknowledge a diversity of
times, and a diversity in the signs of the promised and delivered Christ; and
that now the ceremonies being abolished, the light shines unto us more clearly,
and blessings are given to us more abundantly, and a fuller liberty.
<Progressive revelation of God and His salvation for man
is acknowledged. Indeed two
peoples, the saved and the unsaved and that despite Testament or dispensation.
Or the elect and the reprobate established by eternal decree of God
before the foundation of the world may be the more apt division here.
The election stands, and it was not just the New Testament church that
brought salvation to the Gentiles. Consider
Ruth and Rahab, two Gentiles that are in the lineage of Christ.
The blessing of the covenant promised to Abraham included all
nations and peoples. Nothing new here as the Jews of the Old Testament had
people convert and be considered of the household of God even as we have
converts from every nation today. God did not change plans, or for that matter
expand His plan as some desire to teach. One people was the intent of God from
the beginning and is easily proven from the Bible. >
The Church the Temple of the
Living God. This holy Church of God is called the temple of the living God,
built of living and spiritual stones and founded upon a firm rock, upon a
foundation which no other can lay, and therefore it is called the pillar and
bulwark of the truth (I Tim. 3:15). It
does not err as long as it rests upon the rock Christ, and upon the foundation
of the prophets and apostles. And it is no wonder if it errs, as often as it
deserts him who alone is the truth. This Church is also called a virgin and the
Bride of Christ, and even the only Beloved. For the apostle says: I betrothed
you to Christ to present you as a pure bride to Christ (II Cor. 11:2). The
Church is called a flock of sheep under the one shepherd, Christ, according to
Ezek., ch. 34, and John, ch. 10. It is also called the body of Christ because
the faithful are living members of Christ under Christ the Head.
<The body of the believer is called the temple of the
Holy Spirit. However, there is no
way to remove evil from this fleshly temple because as noted by Paul that we are
flesh and wherever there is flesh there is evil for in the flesh is the will.
It is only in this sense that the church is the temple of God, because
God dwells within His people spiritually, and the day will come when it is
physical and personal too. I am not
sure what the intent of the author was here, so hesitate to comment further in
ignorance of that intent. Bullinger
appears to put error only where Christ (the Bible) is departed from. Yet in the
weakness of the flesh man will depart from Christ in this sense and the church
is subject to error. Witness the centuries of darkness under the hand of the
Roman Church prior to the reformation and that continues today. By saying they
have departed from Christ does not fully explain the situation, though it is
true. The fallen nature of man and the will of the created always being present
in the flesh must constantly be remembered. The truth is as she exists in the
flesh the church can and does make errors. For this very reason Paul said that
even in discipline we are to remember mercy for our own sake. >
Christ the Sole Head of the
Church. It is the head which has the preeminence in the body, and from it
the whole body receives life; by its spirit the body is governed in all things;
from it, also, the body receives increase, that it may grow up. Also, there is
one head of the body, and it is suited to the body. Therefore the Church cannot
have any other head besides Christ. For as the Church is a spiritual body, so it
must also have a spiritual head in harmony with itself. Neither can it be
governed by any other spirit than by the Spirit of Christ. Wherefore Paul says:
He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from
the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent (Col. 1:18). And in another
place: Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior
(Eph. 5:23). And again: he is the head over all things for the church, which is
his body, the fulness of him who fills all in all (Eph. 1:22 f.). Also: We are
to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the
whole body, joined and knit together, makes bodily growth (Eph. 4:15 f.). And
therefore we do not approve of the doctrine of the Roman clergy, who make their
Pope at Rome the universal shepherd and supreme head of the Church Militant here
on earth, and so the very vicar of Jesus Christ, who has (as they say) all
fulness of power and sovereign authority in the Church. For we teach that Christ
the Lord is, and remains the only universal pastor, the highest Pontiff before
God the Father; and that in the Church he himself performs all the duties of a
bishop or pastor, even to the world's end; and therefore does not need a
substitute for one who is absent. For Christ is present with his Church, and is
its life‑giving Head. He has strictly forbidden his apostles and their
successors to have any primacy and dominion in the Church. Who does not see,
therefore, that whoever contradicts and opposes this plain truth is rather to be
counted among the number of those of whom Christ's apostles prophesied: Peter in
II Peter, ch. 2, and Paul in Acts 20:2; II Cor. 11:2; II Thess., ch. 2, and also
in other places.
<The numerous Scripture quotes here require little
comment. Nonetheless I would note
that this is not a radical shift between the two Testaments and is established
in the first table of the law as well as in the verses above that establish
Christ as head of His church in the New Testament.
If we make one error it is to try and divide the Old Testament saint and
his worship from that of the New Testament church. Substituting Christ for the head in no way violates the first
table, since God is one God. I see
the intent here as being in opposition for the Pope and the polity set forth by
the Roman Catholic Church, where man has a greater part and if not by theology,
by their very polity move themselves outside the boundaries permitted by the
Bible. >
No Disorder in the Church.
However, by doing away with a Roman head we do not bring any confusion or
disorder into the Church, since we teach that the government of the Church which
the apostles handed down is sufficient to keep the Church in proper order. In
the beginning when the Church was without any such Roman head as is now said to
keep it in order, the Church was not disordered or in confusion. The Roman head
does indeed preserve his tyranny and the corruption that has been brought into
the Church, and meanwhile he hinders, resists, and with all the strength he can
muster cuts off the proper reformation of the Church.
<The Holy Scripture becomes the product of the church
rather than the church existing because Christ so ordained it in Scripture.
This was not only true in the day of Bullinger, but is true today by
those who are serious about their religion and know what Rome teaches and the
powers claimed for the Pope and his minions.
The argument here being that no man made head or hierarchy is needed to
maintain order in the church. The
first duty of the elders in the church is to show the mind of Christ to the
people. Thus they are exhorted to
study and be worthy of the calling and meet other requirements as well as being
apt to teach. The communion of saints spoken of in the Apostle’s Creed
speaks to this very issue. The
communion of saints refers to the same access to the mind of Christ in Scripture
by the revelation of the Holy Spirit being available to all the saints in all
ages. So much so that even
considering the corruption the Church at Rome knew prior to the reformation, the
essential truths concerning the Gospel were not harmed. What I am saying here is
that the polity of a particular body does not destroy the unity of the church as
one under Christ. The Bible says simply that we are to call upon Christ and we
will be saved. When asked this very question Peter said repent and be baptized
for the remission of sins. This means that though such difference are present
that two bodies cannot walk together, they can yet both be part of the true
church. Where Christ is head, the true church exists, even with all her errors
of doctrine. >
Dissensions and Strife in the
Church. We are reproached because there have been manifold dissensions and
strife in our churches since they separated themselves from the Church of Rome,
and therefore cannot be true churches. As though there were never in the Church
of Rome any sects, nor contentions and quarrels concerning religion, and indeed,
carried on not so much in the schools as from pulpits in the midst of the
people. We know, to be sure, that the apostle said: God is not a God of
confusion but of peace (I Cor. 14:33), and, While there is jealousy and strife
among you, are you not of the flesh? Yet we cannot deny that God was in the
apostolic Church and that it was a true Church, even though there were
wranglings and dissensions in it. The apostle Paul reprehended Peter, an apostle
(Gal. 2:11 ff.), and Barnabas dissented from Paul. Great contention arose in the
Church of Antioch between them that preached the one Christ, as Luke records in
The Acts of the Apostles, ch. 15. And there have at all times been great
contentions in the Church, and the most excellent teachers of the Church have
differed among themselves about important matters without meanwhile the Church
ceasing to be the Church because of these contentions. For thus it pleases God
to use the dissensions that arise in the Church to the glory of his name, to
illustrate the truth, and in order that those who are in the right might be
manifest (I Cor. 11:19).
<As men we will have dissensions in and out of the
church. This is the nature of the
beast. Paul said where divisions
existed we were yet carnal. Unfortunately
man in the flesh cannot be anything but carnal and the evil of his own will is
going to cause divisions at times. This
does not speak of necessity to man’s being sinful or not of the body.
I believe God has allowed the church to divide and the proliferation of
denominations and independent bodies to exist because of this diversity of
opinion inherent in man in the flesh. Despite
what path one chooses, there are others who agree and in all the diversity
present there exists a place for every believer within a local body of believers
living the faith given by God to God’s own glory.
Christ is the only path of salvation, but many of the doctrines of the
Bible are not essential to salvation or of being a part of the true church.
Yet these differences will cause strife and divisions when forced to live
together. Thus God has allowed the
differences to develop into different sects, with all being within the veil of
the church. >
Of the Notes or Signs of the
True Church. Moreover, as we acknowledge no other head of the Church than
Christ, so we do not acknowledge every church to be the true Church which vaunts
herself to be such; but we teach that the true Church is that in which the signs
or marks of the true Church are to be found, especially the lawful and sincere
preaching of the Word of God as it was delivered to us in the books of the
prophets and the apostles, which all lead us unto Christ, who said in the
Gospel: My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give
unto them eternal life. A stranger they do not follow, but they flee from him,
for they do not know the voice of strangers (John 10:5, 27, 28).
<This doctrine is expanded
by the reformers to follow into the three marks of the true church.
The first mark being as listed here, the preaching of the Gospel in all
of its truth and simplicity. The
second mark is the proper attendance to the sacraments of the church.
The third mark is that Biblical discipline is practiced.
The importance of the Word being first and foremost is shown in the title
Minister of Word and Sacrament being retained throughout the Reformed churches
in the generations following the reformation of the sixteenth century. >
And those who are such in the Church have one
faith and one spirit; and therefore they worship but one God, and him alone they
worship in spirit and in truth, loving him alone with all their hearts and with
all their strength, praying unto him alone through Jesus Christ, the only
Mediator and Intercessor; and they do not seek righteousness and life outside
Christ and faith in him. Because they acknowledge Christ the only head and
foundation of the Church, and, resting on him, daily renew themselves by
repentance, and patiently bear the cross laid upon them. Moreover, joined
together with all the members of Christ by an unfeigned love, they show that
they are Christ's disciples by persevering in the bond of peace and holy unity.
At the same time they participate in the sacraments instituted by Christ, and
delivered unto us by his apostles, using them in no other way than as they
received them from the Lord. That saying of the apostle Paul is well known to
all: I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you (I Cor. 11:23 ff.).
Accordingly, we condemn all such churches as strangers from the true Church of
Christ, which are not such as we have heard they ought to be, no matter how much
they brag of a succession of bishops, of unity, and of antiquity. Moreover, we
have a charge from the apostles of Christ to shun the worship of idols (I Cor.
10:14; I John 5:21), and to come out of Babylon, and to have no fellowship with
her, unless we want to be partakers with her of all God's plagues (Rev. 18:4; II
Cor. 6:17).
<A swipe at Rome once more, but not to be dismissed
lightly as if by reaction to Rome alone. This
being the first and second marks as noted above of the criteria used to
determine a church of Christ in the Reformed world today as well as then.
This is the Biblical way, not by the traditions of men alone which can
and we might dare say will be corrupted, even as the church of Rome was at the
time of the reformation. >
Outside the Church of God There
Is No Salvation. But we esteem fellowship with the true Church of Christ so
highly that we deny that those can live before God who do not stand in
fellowship with the true Church of God, but separate themselves from it. For as
there was no salvation outside Noah's ark when the world perished in the flood;
so we believe that there is no certain salvation outside Christ, who offers
himself to be enjoyed by the elect in the Church; and hence we teach that those
who wish to live ought not to be separated from the true Church of Christ.
<The harsh nature of the heading to this paragraph is
brought in perspective when the whole paragraph is considered.
The truth is outside Christ there is no salvation, end debate!
However it is not of necessity that outside the church there is no
salvation, as this would limit God. Calvin argues along this same line of
thought and chose not to draw this harsh line and invade the prerogative of God.
It is true that the followers of Christ will love the brethren and desire
to be with them. However the fact
remains there is an election and salvation is by grace through faith, which is
the gift of God. Within a body of
believers (within the covenant family) is the normal way for it was to the
church that God gave the keys to the kingdom and the authority to use the keys
(binding and losing). Yet we could
easily point to Abram where no church existed, or even to Paul who came to faith
outside the fellowship. The law
speaks to this when we consider the curse to the second and third generation of
those that hate God to be a measure of depth, but the phrase to thousands that
love God to be rather an expression breadth not depth.
The elect are the glory of God and God has not entrusted His glory to the
hands of man alone, so much so that even the Word of God cannot be properly
apprehended apart from the Holy Spirit. Thus
God can and I dare say has saved outside what most would consider being in any
way a church of Christ. It has
always been a Reformed belief that the light of nature will reveal God but is
insufficient to bring salvation, this requiring the good news of Jesus Christ,
the Gospel. Yet the Gospel can be
revealed outside a corporate body and a new church spring to life from the midst
of the dead bones of a totally heathen society.
Surely such a body would be filled with much shadow and error, but the
Gospel is a rather short message B
God so loved the world.... There
are volumes of testimonies where a single line of Scripture has been used of God
to so render the heart of man that repentance and faith did flow in abundance.
This brings us to the prime reason for the church, which is not
evangelism in the way most understand this word, but from the Bible the purpose
of the church, is for the gathering and maturing the saints.
Mature saints can and will share Christ (evangelism) but it is not the
prime function of the church militant. It
is well that the author here engages the terms believe and teach rather than
hold to the opening line, Aoutside
the church.” I see the intent here however as being more of addressing
individuals who withhold themselves from the assembly. This evidently was a
problem in the first century church since Scripture addresses the problem and it
definitely continues today. >
The Church Is Not Bound to Its
Signs. Nevertheless, by the signs [of the true Church] mentioned above, we
do not so narrowly restrict the Church as to teach that all those are outside
the Church who either do not participate in the sacraments, at least not
willingly and through contempt, but rather, being forced by necessity,
unwillingly abstain from them or are deprived of them; or in whom faith
sometimes fails, though it is not entirely extinguished and does not wholly
cease; or in whom imperfections and errors due to weakness are found. For we
know that God had some friends in the world outside the commonwealth of Israel.
We know what befell the people of God in the captivity of Babylon, where they
were deprived of their sacrifices for seventy years. We know what happened to
St. Peter, who denied his Master, and what is wont to happen daily to God's
elect and faithful people who go astray and are weak. We know, moreover, what
kind of churches the churches in Galatia and Corinth were in the apostles' time,
in which the apostle found fault with many serious offenses; yet he calls them
holy churches of Christ (I Cor. 1:2; Gal. 1:2).
<To which we can add the majority of the churches in the
book of Revelation where Christ does not commend only, but points to faults of a
grave nature. Often in the
persecuted church the visible marks of the true church are almost extinguished
or at least so covered by necessity to all but cease to exist. The author also points to a great truth here whereby doubt or
failure may come, but the elect will not know utter despair nor have their light
completely extinguished. >
The Church Appears at Times To
Be Extinct. Yes, and it sometimes happens that God in his just judgment
allows the truth of his Word, and the catholic faith, and the proper worship of
God to be so obscured and overthrown that the Church seems almost extinct, and
no more to exist, as we see to have happened in the days of Elijah (I Kings
19:10, 14), and at other times. Meanwhile
God has in this world and in this darkness his true worshipers, and those not a
few, but even seven thousand and more (I Kings 19:18; Rev. 7:3 ff.).
For the apostle exclaims: God's
firm foundation stands, bearing this seal, 'The Lord knows those who are his,'
etc.. (II Tim. 2:19). Whence the
Church of God may be termed invisible; not because the men from whom the Church
is gathered are invisible, but because, being hidden from our eyes and known
only to God, it often secretly escapes human judgment.
<Persecution has always been a part of the church world,
and at times appeared to be the entire world with no light so shining as to be
known of man. Yet as noted here the
doctrine of the remnant is a spiritual truth.
Shamefully there have been times when the persecution from within the
church was as great or greater than the threat from the outside world.
Yet God has spoken and so it is that the church will survive. >
Not All Who Are in the Church
Are of the Church. Again, not all that are reckoned in the number of the
Church are saints, and living and true members of the Church. For there are many
hypocrites, who outwardly hear the Word of God, and publicly receive the
sacraments, and seem to pray to God through Christ alone, to confess Christ to
be their only righteousness, and to worship God, and to exercise the duties of
charity, and for a time to endure with patience in misfortune. And yet they are
inwardly destitute of true illumination of the Spirit, of faith and sincerity of
heart, and of perseverance to the end. But eventually the character of these
men, for the most part, will be disclosed. For the apostle John says; They went
out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would
indeed have continued with us (I John 2:19). And although while they simulate
piety they are not of the Church, yet they are considered to be in the Church,
just as traitors in a state are numbered among its citizens before they are
discovered; and as the tares or darnel and chaff are found among the wheat, and
as swellings and tumors are found in a sound body, when they are rather diseases
and deformities than true members of the body. And therefore the Church of God
is rightly compared to a net which catches fish of all kinds, and to a field, in
which both wheat and tares are found (Matt. 13:24 ff., 47 ff.).
<Even reprobates for appearance sake may talk the talk,
but they will not consistently walk the walk to use the language of the streets
today. The parable of the tares
also shows that some of these are planted by the devil for the single purpose of
confounding and bringing harm to the body of Christ so its harvest may be
ruined. Then as noted in the
parable of the dragnet and again of the sower, when the good news is proclaimed,
it will gather all kinds, both good and bad.
Christ’s answer was to allow them to grow together and God will sort it
all out in His own time and place, for judgment is of Christ alone.
We cannot answer for another’s servant, but are answerable to God for
self-alone. >
We Must Not Judge Rashly or
Prematurely. Hence we must be very careful not to judge before the time, nor
undertake to exclude, reject or cut off those whom the Lord does not want to
have excluded or rejected, and those whom we cannot eliminate without loss to
the Church. On the other hand, we must be vigilant lest while the pious snore
the wicked gain ground and do harm to the Church.
<Apart from open and un-repented sin to which the member
will not confess we are not to judge one another and cast out of the body of
Christ. Paul sets such a gross sin
before us in the epistle to the church at Corinth. Christ in Matthew explains how we deal with such persons as a
brother with the private appeal first, then establishing the truth with others
in witness of the appeal, and finally for the church as a whole to so judge and
exclude the member if necessary. Even
this radical act of excommunication however is for the purpose of reconciliation
to God through the repentance of the member so dealt with, and an open and
visible attempt to refrain from such sin in the future.
It is for this cause that Paul tells us in judgment to exercise mercy for
our own sake. The door to hope must not be extinguished by man, for even the
elect for a season may wallow in sin. When
the Bible speaks of judgment it is eternal judgment that would condemn, Christ
alone is the judge. Yet we can and
should judge the fruit in the life of each other.
What is this fruit? It is
not a count of souls led to Christ, as some might believe, it is the giving to
God the glory for all things. Thus
the fruit of our life is that which glorifies God.
While the sharing of the good news to be used of God as the instrument to
reveal Christ to another is indeed glory to God, the pious life and contrite
heart is more desirable to God. Please note this does not say that the church
and by implication her members do not judge. It sets the condition that when the
church and individuals judge they do so justly. >
The Unity of the Church Is Not
in External Rites. Furthermore, we diligently teach that care is to be taken
wherein the truth and unity of the Church chiefly lies, lest we rashly provoke
and foster schisms in the Church. Unity consists not in outward rites and
ceremonies, but rather in the truth and unity of the catholic faith. The
catholic faith is not given to us by human laws, but by Holy Scriptures, of
which the Apostles' Creed is a compendium. And, therefore, we read in the
ancient writers that there was a manifold diversity of rites, but that they were
free, and no one ever thought that the unity of the Church was thereby
dissolved. So we teach that the true harmony of the Church consists in doctrines
and in the true and harmonious preaching of the Gospel of Christ, and in rites
that have been expressly delivered by the Lord. And here we especially urge that
saying of the apostle: Let those of us who are perfect have this mind; and if in
any thing you are otherwise minded, God will reveal that also to you.
Nevertheless let us walk by the same rule according to what we have attained,
and let us be of the same mind (Phil. 3:15 f.).
<Here we return to the communion of saints referred to
in the same Apostles Creed, whereby all believers have access to the same mind
of Christ and will find themselves in unity with all that is essential
concerning Christ and Salvation. The
Apostles Creed being one such early document that attempted to deal with proper
Christology whereby all might stand together and say I believe, ending in an
Amen that is sincere and from the heart. While
the Reformed church holds very close to the same order of worship and most of
its doctrine, these are not divisions in the body, but boundaries within the
church militant which is still one church if of Christ. >
