I believe in God the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our
Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, And born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, died, and was buried;
He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven And is seated at the right hand of God the
Father Almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, The holy catholic church,
The communion of saints, The forgiveness of sins,
The resurrection of the body, And the life everlasting. Amen. In the modern world, when most people hear
the word “church,” they think of a building where Christians meet to worship God. Sometimes
these buildings are huge and ornate cathedrals, beautifully adorned with art. Sometimes they are
small chapels with simple furnishings. Sometimes they are converted warehouses or storefronts.
Sometimes they are homes, tiny shacks, or mud huts, or even caves, where worshippers
hide from danger. But in the Apostles’ Creed, just like in the Bible, the word “church”
refers first and foremost to the people of God, the holy community formed by those who profess
faith in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is the fifth lesson in our
series on The Apostles’ Creed. And we have entitled it “The Church.” In
this lesson, we’ll look at the statements in the Apostles’ Creed that confess
belief in this sacred institution. The Apostles’ Creed explicitly speaks
of the church with these words: I believe in ...
The holy catholic church, The communion of saints. These lines in the creed appear in the
larger section dedicated to the Holy Spirit and his ministries. This is because
the Spirit is the person of the Trinity most directly involved with the church on a
daily basis. So, we could have discussed the church in our lesson on the Holy Spirit. But we
have chosen to spend a full lesson on the church because it is so fundamental to Christianity and
to our experience of life as followers of Christ. As we mentioned in an earlier lesson, many
Protestants find it odd to confess belief in the church, as if our faith in the church were
somehow similar to our faith in God. When the creed says that we believe in the church, it does
not mean that we trust the church for salvation. Saving faith is in Christ and Christ alone. But
we do believe in the church in the sense that we believe the Bible when it teaches us about the
church, and when it tells us that the church is important to Christians. And the same thing is
true about believing in the communion of saints. We don’t trust other believers for our salvation.
But we do believe the biblical teaching that God uses other believers to evangelize us, to
minister to us, and to strengthen our faith. Our lesson on the church will be divided into four
central teachings that are reflected in the creed. First, we’ll look at the
divine sanction of the church. Second, we’ll discuss the fact that the church
is holy. Third, we’ll speak of it as catholic or universal. And fourth, we’ll explore
the idea that the church is a communion. Each of these sections will help us understand
the identity and nature of the church as it’s affirmed in the Apostles’ Creed. Let’s
begin by looking at the church’s divine sanction. In the modern world, there are many Christians
who believe that the church is unnecessary — or at least they act as it if is. In many cases,
sincere believers think that organizations like the church are human inventions that intrude
into our personal relationship with God. But Scripture teaches a very different
perspective. In the broadest sense, the church is God’s kingdom on earth, the congregation
of his special people, and a central means through which he dispenses grace to those who are
faithful to him. According to the Scriptures, the church is critical to establishing
and maintaining our relationship with God. When we say that the church is sanctioned by
God, we mean that he created it for a purpose, and that he vested it with authority. In
general terms, the Scriptures teach that God approves of the church. It is the organization
he ordained to carry out his mission in the world. As Jesus himself said in
Matthew chapter 16 verse 18: The church is not the invention
of fallen human beings. Jesus himself is the founder of the church. So, even though we see flaws in
the church throughout history, and sometimes churches turn so far away
from the gospel that they are no longer the church of God, we must not conclude
that the church is useless or unnecessary. The Apostles’ Creed affirms this divine
sanction for the church with these simple words: I believe in ... the ... church. As you will recall from prior lessons,
the Apostles’ Creed is a summary of the early churches’ rules of faith. And those
rules of faith were summaries of Scripture. So, when the creed professes belief in the
church, it intends to affirm what the Bible teaches about the church. And the most basic
aspect of the Bible’s teaching about the church is that God appointed the church to
fulfill his purposes in the world. As we consider the church’s divine sanction,
we’ll focus on three main ideas. First, we’ll look at the Old Testament background of the
church. Second, we’ll focus on what Jesus did to establish the church during his earthly ministry.
And third, we’ll explore some implications of these biblical points of view. Let’s begin with
the Old Testament background to the church. The concept of the church in the New Testament
actually finds its roots in the Old Testament. Many would think that the church has started by
the day of Pentecost when Jesus went up to heaven and he poured his Spirit on the disciples. But I
think this is a misunderstanding of the nature of the church. I think the church is a continuity
of the people of God in the Old Testament. God has called Abraham and the people of the Old
Testament, and we can easily say that this is the church, the beginning of the church. So, the
church has started there, it continues in our age, and it will continue to the consummation, to
the day when Jesus comes back from heaven. The New Testament speaks many times of the church
using the Greek word "ekklesia". But this term was derived from the Septuagint, the Greek translation
of the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, "ekklesia" and its Hebrew counterpart is
frequently used to identify the gathered nation of Israel. We see this in Deuteronomy chapter 9 verse
10, and chapter 31 verse 30; Judges chapter 20 verse 2; 1 Kings chapter 8 verse 14; Psalm chapter
22 verses 22 and 25; and many other places. Even in the New Testament, where "ekklesia" has
become a technical term referring to the church, the word is still used to refer to
the assembly of Old Testament Israel. For instance, in Acts chapter 7 verse 38, we read
these words in Stephen’s speech to his murderers: Here, the Greek word translated
assembly is "ekklesia", which is more commonly translated “church.”
This indicates that the assembly of Israel was the Old Testament equivalent and
predecessor to the New Testament church. And in 1 Peter chapter 2 verse
9, Peter also called the church by names that applied to Israel in the
Old Testament. Listen to what he wrote: Here, Peter quoted from several Old
Testament passages that spoke of the nation of Israel. And he applied Israel’s
special names to the New Testament church. In this way, he indicated that there are
important continuities between these two groups. If we think about a text such 1 Peter
2 where Peter applies a whole series of titles that were originally given to Israel
in the Old Testament now to the church: “You are royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people
belonging to God.” We see that Peter is teaching a group of churches in a variety of regions who are
predominantly Gentiles to see themselves as really the fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel,
and to recognize that that is their identity. Of course, this is not to say that the New
Testament church is precisely the same as Israel’s Old Testament assemblies. They are connected, but
they are different as well. In Romans chapter 11, Paul used two metaphors to talk about the
relationship between the Old Testament assembly of Israel and the Christian church. He spoke
of them as a batch of dough, and an olive tree. Listen to what he wrote in
Romans chapter 11 verse 16: First, Paul said that the Old Testament
assembly was the firstfruits of the same batch of dough from which the New
Testament church had been made. Leviticus chapter 23 verse 17 required Israel to
bring a firstfruits offering of bread to the Lord. The firstfruits were not a separate harvest.
They were part of the whole harvest, and representative of the whole harvest. So, when
Paul said that Israel and the New Testament church came from the same batch of dough, he indicated
that both Israel and the New Testament Christians were part of the same organization, the
same people of God, the same church. Second, Paul said that the Old Testament
assembly was the root of a tree, and that the New Testament church
was the branches of this same tree. Paul actually expanded on this illustration for
several verses. He compared the church throughout all ages to a cultivated olive tree. The Old
Testament church, consisting primarily of Jews, was the bulk of the tree: roots, trunk, and
many branches. And Gentile Christians were wild olive branches that had been grafted onto the
tree. Put simply, Gentile Christians were grafted into the Jewish church. So, even though the church
in Paul’s day consisted of both Jews and Gentiles, its trunk and roots were the same
tree that stretched back in time throughout the Old Testament. Yes, this
new tree is different in many respects. It has been improved and built up. But it is still
the same tree. In the same way, the Old Testament church has been improved and built up into the New
Testament church. They are different in important ways, and they represent different stages of
growth. But they are still the same church. Now that we have considered
the sanction of the church from the perspective of Old Testament
background, let’s see how Jesus built his church in a way that relied on but
also advanced the Old Testament church. There can be no denying that when Jesus came,
his earthly ministry had a dramatic impact on the world and on the people of God. It is
with good reason that many theologians have noted that Jesus did not simply perpetuate the old
order, including its old church. At the same time, it’s important to recognize that Jesus did
not establish a church that was totally new. His church has great continuity
with the Old Testament church. Jesus only mentioned the church by the name
"ekklesia" on three occasions recorded in the Gospels. In fact, these are the only times the
word "ekklesia" appears anywhere in Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. All three of these passages
are in the Gospel of Matthew — one in chapter 16 verse 18, and two in chapter 18 verse 17.
Let’s look at both of these verses more closely. In Matthew chapter 16 verse
18, Jesus spoke these words: The word "oikodomeo", translated here as “build,”
can refer either to building something brand new, or to rebuilding and restoring what already
exists. Although Jesus did not explicitly state which meaning he intended, what we have already
seen from Paul’s teaching in Romans chapter 11 should incline us to favor the view that Jesus was
rebuilding and restoring the Old Testament church. Jesus’ words in Matthew chapter 18 verse 17 are
less ambiguous. Listen to what he said there: In this verse, Jesus was
talking about church discipline. And his exhortation was that an unrepentant
person should be brought before the church or assembly. In the original context of Jesus
ministry, the only church that existed was Jewish synagogues scattered throughout the region and
the temple in Jerusalem. These were distinctively Old Testament forms of Israel’s assemblies,
but Jesus still called them “the church.” The Old Testament required that disputes normally
be handled by the elders, priests and judges — the representatives of the assembly that had been
appointed the task of rendering judgment. We see this in places like Exodus chapter
18 and Deuteronomy chapters 1 and 19. Jesus affirmed this principle in his day,
reminding his audience that they were still obligated to resolve their disputes within the
assembly of Israel. But Jesus also intended his words to apply to his own church, the one he
had mentioned earlier in Matthew chapter 16. This is why Matthew recorded Jesus’ words for
us. You see, in the minds of Jesus and Matthew, just like in the mind of Paul, the church
of the New Testament was a development of Israel’s Old Testament assemblies. Jesus did
not come to replace Israel with the church; he came to rescue and restore Israel in
the form of the New Testament church. As we look at the continuity between
the Old and New Testament churches, it’s important to recognize the central role that
Jesus plays in tying these two churches together. First, broadly speaking, the New Testament
presents Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel. As we see in Romans
chapter 8 verses 1 through 4 and Galatians chapter 3 verses 16 through 29, Jesus is the
faithful Israelite who keeps God’s covenant and inherits all the blessings
God promised to Abraham and Moses. And as we learn in Luke chapter 1 verse 32
and Acts chapter 2 verses 31 through 33, he is the son of David who restores David’s
throne and rules over Israel and Judah. Jesus did not break with the past. He is
the culmination of the Old Testament church, its most perfect member and minister. And second, Jesus is the founder
of the New Testament church, the one who brought the restoration and renewal
that transformed the failing Old Testament church into the New Testament church. Scripture calls
him the head of the church in Ephesians chapter 5 verse 23 and Colossians chapter 1 verse
18. He is the church’s husband in Ephesians chapter 5 verses 22 through 33 and Revelation
chapter 19 verses 1 through 10. And it’s Jesus himself who appoints the church to receive his
delegated authority in the Great Commission in Matthew chapter 28 verses 18 through 20. Jesus
loves, approves of and authorizes the church. The Old Testament church’s relationship to
Jesus Christ is at its essence, at the heart, exactly the same as the New Testament
church’s relationship to Jesus Christ. For some Christians, the term Old Testament church
would sound rather strange. We might think that the church was born on the day of Pentecost
in Acts 2. But, if we think of the Church as the people of God with whom He has established a
Covenant, the people of God that God has redeemed through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, then
the Old Testament church is simply the body of believers who look forward to God accomplishing
salvation one day when the Messiah would come. And so the Old Testament church trusted in God’s
grace, God’s shed blood, the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. Old Testament Christians,
Old Testament believers, Old Testament Church members look forward to the accomplished
work of our Lord Jesus Christ. They trusted in the all-powerful, undeserved grace and mercy
of God that would forgive their sins and set them right with God. So, at the heart of the matter,
the relationship of the Old Testament believer and the Old Testament church, their
relationship with God is exactly the same as our relationship with God, as New
Testament believers and a New Testament church. So far, we’ve looked at the sanction
of the church from the perspective of its Old Testament background and the
earthly ministry of Jesus. At this point, we’re ready to consider some
implications of these points. When we realize that Jesus ordained the
New Testament church as the restoration and development of Old Testament
Israel, one important implication is that there is fundamental continuity
between Israel in the Old Testament and the Christian church in the New Testament.
On a practical level, we should expect the community of God’s people in the New Testament
to reflect its Old Testament roots. Of course, some things are different, and the New
Testament takes care to point out these changes. But the New Testament also teaches that
the church is very much like Israel. There are too many points of
continuity for us to mention them all. But it is worth taking the time to list
three of them explicitly first there is great continuity of purpose between the old
testament church and the new testament church Theologians often summarize the history of
the world in terms of three stages: creation, fall and redemption. In the stage of creation,
which is described in Genesis chapters 1 and 2, God created and the world,
the plants, the animals, and humanity. And in one special part of
the world, he formed the Garden of Eden. And following God’s mandate, it was humanity’s
responsibility to fill and subdue the earth, making it like the Garden of Eden, a place
fit for God’s holy, manifest presence. In the stage of the fall, which is recorded in
Genesis chapter 3, humanity rebelled against God and was cast out of the Garden of
Eden. And in humanity’s fall into sin, the entire creation was corrupted. Paul explained
this in Romans chapter 8 verses 20 through 22. The rest of history makes up the stage of
redemption, in which God is working to restore humanity to a perfect condition, and through
humanity to restore creation to its pristine state. The final state of the period of redemption
will be the new heavens and new earth that we read about in Isaiah chapter 65 verse 17 and
chapter 66 verse 22, 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 13, and Revelation chapter 21 verse 1.
And this redemption of humanity and creation has always been the purpose
for God’s church in both Testaments. In the modern world, the church is still striving
toward this goal of restoring creation. Following the priorities of New Testament teaching, we do
this primarily by preaching the gospel, knowing that every person that comes to Christ represents
a step toward the final state of redemption. We also do it by living as Christians in the
world, showing Christ’s love to our neighbors, and changing the cultures around us to reflect
the glory, honor and character of God. And we do it by hoping and praying for the day when Jesus
will return to complete his work of redemption. A second point of continuity between the Old
Testament church and New Testament church in the present age is that both assemblies of
God’s people include believers and unbelievers. Remember that in the Old and New Testaments,
the church of God was never perfect. In the Old Testament, some ancient Israelites were faithful
to God and received God’s blessings. But many others rebelled against God in unbelief and fell
under his divine curses. We see this throughout the Old Testament, but it is perhaps most clear
in the summaries of God’s covenant blessings and curses, like the ones we find in Leviticus
chapter 26 and Deuteronomy chapters 27 through 30. And the same kind of thing is true of
the assembly of the followers of Jesus, the New Testament church. There are always
unbelievers mixed among the believers in our churches. For instance, Judas was unfaithful
among the apostles. We are specifically told this in John chapter 6 verses 70 and 71, and
we also see it in his betrayal of Christ. The mixed nature of the church is also evident
in the letters to the churches in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. These chapters of Revelation
expect true believers in the church to overcome. But they also warn that those who do not overcome
will demonstrate their unfaithful hearts. And much of the letter of 1 John is dedicated
to distinguishing between true and false believers in the church. Beyond this, many other
passages warn of false teachers in the church, or encourage those who profess belief to persevere
until the end in order to prove their faith. In 2 Corinthians chapter 13 verse
5, Paul also recognized this truth, and encouraged people to reflect on
it. Listen to what he wrote there: Paul wanted everyone to recognize that
things like church membership, and baptism, and a credible profession of faith are not sure
signs of saving faith in Jesus Christ. People who have never truly come to Christ in faith also do
these things. So, Paul encouraged people in the church to examine themselves, to make sure that
they were truly trusting in Christ for salvation. Of course, as human beings we can’t know
the condition of another person’s heart. We can only see their actions and hear their
words. So, it’s often impossible for us to tell who the true believers are. But the knowledge
that there may be unbelievers in our congregations should still affect the way we view
ourselves and others in the church. We should remember to keep teaching and preaching
the gospel to the whole church in order to save those who have not yet come to faith —
even though we might not know who they are. We should be receptive to those in
the church that are seeking God, not discouraging them from coming to church
even though they may not yet have trusted in Christ yet. And we should be inclined to be
patient with others, knowing that there is a wide diversity in faith and maturity, even among people
who have been in the church for a long time. A third point of continuity between the Old
Testament church and the New Testament church is that they had similar obligations before God. The people of God in both Testaments were
given the responsibility of loving God, spreading his kingdom throughout
the world, and bringing him glory. With regard to love for God,
Deuteronomy chapter 6 verses 5 and 6 taught the Old Testament church to love God
from heart, to obey his law from the heart. In the same way, the New Testament church
is called to love God and to obey his law. As Jesus taught in Matthew chapter
22 verse 37, heartfelt love for God is the greatest commandment of the law. And
as John taught in 1 John chapter 5 verse 3, heartfelt love for God results in
heartfelt obedience to his commands. One of the questions that people often
ask is whether the New Testament church is required to keep the Old Testament law.
And the answer is an unequivocal yes and no. No in the sense that those specific prescriptions
that are found in the Old Testament Torah are in fact removed for us. We are not required to
circumcise our boys. We are not required to go to the Temple three times a year. We are not
required... and you can go down the list. In fact, this was the discussion of the council
in Jerusalem that’s recorded in Acts 15. However, what is the intent of the Old Testament
Torah? In the sense that the Torah reveals to us the character and nature of God and the character
and nature which we are expected to share, in that sense, yes, the Torah still applies.
And I think you see this in Paul’s letters. Paul can say to his readers, “No, you are
free. You do not have to do all those things. And since you’re free, of course, you’re
not going to steal, you’re not going to lie, you’re not going to covet, you’re not going
to commit adultery.” So that, is it necessary for Christians to keep the Torah for our
salvation? Absolutely not. But as those who have been freely saved, are we expected
to share and exhibit the life of God? Yes. Notice that God’s people in both the Old and
New Testaments were to spread God’s kingdom. The Old Testament church knew that in Genesis
chapter 17 verses 4 and 5, God had promised that Abraham would be a father of many nations.
And as Paul taught in Romans chapter 4 verse 13, the Old Testament church knew that this
promise obligated them to spread God’s kingdom to the whole world by faith.
In the same way, the New Testament church is still carrying out this plan
by carrying the gospel to every nation. As Jesus commanded his church
in Matthew chapter 28 verse 19: A third obligation shared by Old Testament
Israel and the New Testament church was to glorify God. For the Old Testament church,
we see this in Psalm chapter 86 verse 12, Psalm chapter 115 verse 18, and even in New
Testament descriptions of the Old Testament world, like Acts chapter 17 verses 24 through 28. It
is also implied by the very fact that we are created in God’s image, as Genesis chapter 1
verse 27 teaches. In the Old Testament world, images were statues of kings
that reminded people to love, obey and glorify the kings. As images of God,
human beings are designed to bring him glory. And in the same way, the New Testament
church is also to glorify God. This is taught in 1 Corinthians
chapter 10 verse 31, 1 Peter chapter 4 verse 11, Revelation
chapter 4 verse 11, and many other places. The responsibilities God lays on the church are
not burdensome — not when we are in Christ. If we had to stand before God on our own merit, we would
be crushed under the weight of our obligations. But in Christ, true believers in the
church are free from condemnation, able to work toward spreading the
Lord’s kingdom, keeping his law, and bringing him glory, without fear of failure.
In fact, success is ultimately guaranteed. Though we may encounter temporary setbacks,
history is moving toward God’s unstoppable victory. And it is advancing through the church.
So, the more obedient we are — the more we keep our obligations — the sooner God will bring
his kingdom to its glorious fulfillment. By looking at the way the church developed through
its initial stages in the Old Testament into the body that Jesus endorsed in the New Testament,
it is clear that the church is fully sanctioned by God. The church exists because God wants it
to exist, and because it serves his purpose. It is not a mere human invention. And it
is not a corruption of biblical religion. It is the very bride and body of Christ, loved
by God, and dedicated to his service and glory. With this understanding of the
church’s divine sanction in mind, we are ready to turn to our second major
topic: the fact that the church is holy. Throughout the Bible, many different words
are used to refer to the idea of holiness. In the New Testament, the church is described as
holy or sanctified. And people who are part of the church are called saints. All three of these words
— holy, sanctified and saints — come from the same word group in Greek. “Holy” translates the
adjective "hagios." “Sanctified” is from the verb "hagiazo," which means make holy. And “saints” is
from the noun "hagios," meaning one who is holy. In the Old Testament, the same concepts are
represented by Hebrew words like the adjective "qadosh," meaning holy; the verb "qadash," meaning make holy; and noun
"qodesh," meaning one who is holy. Now, when we talk about holiness, many Christians are used to thinking that holiness is
what distinguishes God from his creatures. It is often said that God’s holiness is his
quality of being entirely other, or entirely different from his creatures. But this is not the
only way the word “holy” is used in Scripture. The Bible also refers to creatures and objects as
holy when they have special qualities that reflect God’s own holiness. And it is in this sense that
the Apostles’ Creed says that the church is holy. We’ll consider the idea that
the church is holy in two parts. First, we’ll explore the definition of the word
“holy.” And second, we’ll use this definition to identify the people that are holy. Let’s
begin with the biblical definition of holiness. In Scripture, the concept of holiness is complex. But it is fair to say that when the Bible
refers to someone or something as holy, the most basic idea is that the subject
is morally pure, and in a related sense, “holy” can also describe people and things that
are set apart for use in special service to God. Let’s look at both aspects of this definition,
beginning with being morally pure. When we say that someone or something is morally pure, we
mean that it is free from sin and corruption. In the sense of moral purity,
holiness is rooted in God’s character. Scripture describes God as the Holy One in many
places, such as in 2 Kings chapter 19 verse 22; Proverbs chapter 9 verse 10; Isaiah
chapter 30 verses 11 through 15; and 1 John chapter 2 verse 20. It’s not just that God is bigger than we are; it’s
not just that God is infinite and we are finite, but that he is morally other than we are. In
him there is no darkness or shifting shadow. In him there is no evil impulse or
inclination to do what is wrong. In him is not the slightest
hint or desire to do evil. Because God is utterly holy, anything
sinful that enters his immediate presence is subject to his judgment and wrath. We see
this in places like 1 Samuel chapter 6 verse 20, 2 Kings chapter 24 verse 3, and Hebrews chapter 12
verse 14. Although God may withhold judgment for a while, his holy presence will ultimately
destroy those whose sin is not covered. As a result, anyone or anything that is to
enter his presence must first be made holy. For instance, consider Isaiah’s words
in Isaiah chapter 6 verses 3 through 7: In this passage, Isaiah feared that he would be
destroyed in the special presence of the Holy Lord because of his guilt or sin. So, the
seraph, one of God’s attending angels, cleansed Isaiah’s sin with a hot coal taken
from God’s holy altar. By this cleansing, Isaiah was purified from sin — he was made
holy. And because of his new holiness, he was able to stand in the Lord’s
presence without falling under judgment. As we see in Isaiah chapter 6, God’s holiness is
one of his communicable attributes — an attribute that characterizes him perfectly and completely,
but that can also characterize his creatures in finite ways. The communicable nature of
holiness lies behind the many biblical commands for believers to be holy, as in Ephesians
chapter 1 verse 4, Hebrews chapter 12 verse 14, and 1 Peter chapter 1 verses 15 and 16. We
are to strive to be as morally pure as God is. Of course, in our own strength we can never
succeed in this attempt. But Christ himself has perfect moral purity. And when we are
in him, his righteousness is credited to us, and we are counted as being absolutely pure,
completely free from sin and corruption. The second aspect of our definition of the word
holy is that it describes people and things that are set apart for use
in special service to God. In this sense, things can be holy
even if they are not morally pure. As just one example, listen to what Paul
wrote in 1 Corinthians chapter 7 verse 14: Here, Paul said that when a believer
is married to an unbeliever, the unbeliever is made holy, or as other
translations put it, the unbeliever is “sanctified.” The idea is that the unbeliever
is identified with God and made useful for his service — even though the unbeliever has
not been morally purified by God in Christ. Some Christians find it strange to think that
God sets apart imperfect and impure people for his service. But if we think about it, the Bible
provides many examples of unbelievers that God set apart to accomplish his will. Probably the
greatest example of this is the fact the apostle Judas betrayed our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
As Jesus himself taught, Judas was chosen for that very purpose. And his betrayal resulted in
the purest, most holy offering ever rendered to God — the precious death of his Son. And if God
is able to use even wicked unbelievers in his service, how much more can he be glorified by the
special service of the holy ones that love him? Now, as we have seen, the concept of
holiness has many dimensions in the Bible. So we must be careful to understand what the
Scriptures mean when they use words like “holy,” or “sanctified” or even “saints” as descriptions
of the church. Sometimes, the Bible is calling attention to the fact that true believers in the
church are morally pure because of the holiness of Christ given to them. At other times,
it refers to people who are set apart from the world for special service to God, even if
they are not true believers. And in some cases, it refers to the idea that true believers have
been set apart for special service to God. Whatever the case, one thing we know is that
everything and everyone that is holy is special to God. We revere God’s name, refusing
to take it in vain, because it is holy. We submit to the Bible because it is the
holy word of our holy God. We respect and strive for moral purity in every aspect of life,
knowing that the Lord calls us to holy lives. And we participate in and submit to his
holy church. Wherever we find holiness, we recognize God’s hand, and we take
special care to treat it with godly respect. With this definition of “holy” in mind, let’s use it to explore the identity
of the people that are holy. Most broadly speaking, the Bible refers to people
as “holy” when they are set apart from the rest of the world in order to be useful in special service
to God. For example, the entire nation of Old Testament Israel was regularly called “holy”
because God was in covenant with the nation. We see this in places like Exodus chapter
19 verses 5 and 6, Deuteronomy chapter 7 verses 6 through 9 and chapter 28 verse 9,
and Ezekiel chapter 37 verses 26 through 28. And this theme is also continued in the New
Testament church. For example, Luke chapter 1 verse 72 speaks of Jesus as coming to fulfill
God’s holy covenant. And because the church is understood to be the renewed and restored Israel
of the new covenant, it is also called holy. We see this in Colossians chapter 3 verse 12, Hebrews
chapter 10 verse 29, and several other places. As one example, listen again to Peter’s words to the
New Testament church in 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 9: Here, Peter quoted from several Old Testament
passages that spoke of the holiness of Israel, but he applied them to the church. His
point was that the church in both the Old and the New Testaments was
one and the same holy group. As we have seen, though, not everyone in Israel
or the New Testament church was a true believer. Even so, they were all considered holy because
they were part of God’s covenant community, that is, the people who were in covenant with God. For the believers in the covenant community, their
holiness exceeded the holiness of the unbelievers. Unbelievers were holy only because they were
set apart for God. But believers were holy, not only because they were set apart, but
also because in Christ they were morally pure and obedient to God. Of course, the goal was
always for the entire covenant community to believe — for everyone to be faithful
to God and to live morally pure lives. One helpful way to think about holy people
can be found in the traditional distinction between the visible church and the invisible
church. Let’s look at each of these categories, beginning with the visible church. The visible church refers to the church we can
see, obviously visible in that sense. The visible church, then, would be those who claim to be the
church around the world. All of the denominations that claim to follow a Jesus Christ, claim
to follow God’s purpose and Word in the world today. That would include multiple denominations,
it would include those who would not identify with any specific denomination but would
consider themselves to be Christ’s followers. At any given moment, the visible church includes
everyone who is regularly part of the gathered church, regardless of the condition of
their hearts. There are several different ways people can be counted as part of the visible
church. They can be confirmed in God’s covenant, such as by baptism in the New Testament,
or circumcision in the Old Testament. Or they can have or profess faith in Christ. In
churches that don’t maintain official membership, or that don’t practice covenant confirming
rites like baptism, they might be counted as covenant members simply because they regularly
submit to the teaching of the church. Or, as Paul taught in 1 Corinthians chapter 7 verse 14,
they can simply have a believing parent or spouse. For example, in the Old Testament, the entire
nation of Israel was part of the church, even though not everyone had
saving faith. At the very least, they were all present within the nation. Beyond
this, as God instructed in Genesis chapter 17, they had all been confirmed in God’s covenant
through the circumcision of the males. In the New Testament, we see something similar.
Everyone who was part of the church gatherings was counted as part of the church. This included
everyone who professed faith, everyone who was baptized, the children and spouses of believers,
and often their household servants and slaves. For instance, when Paul wrote letters to various
churches, he intended those letters to be read to everyone who was directly associated with those
churches. And as we can see from his exhortations to Christians to test themselves to see if they
really had faith, Paul fully expected that there would be unbelievers within the church. We see
this in passages like 2 Corinthians chapter 13 verse 5. Jesus also had the same expectation in
his parable of the wheat and the weeds in Matthew chapter 13 verses 24 through 30, where he said
not to take the unbelievers out of the church. We also see the same thing in the letters to
the churches in Revelation chapters 2 and 3, where Jesus consistently encouraged them
to overcome and to endure to the end. And we see the same emphasis in the
warnings against breaking the new covenant in passages like Hebrews chapter 6 verses
4 through 8 and chapter 10 verse 29. As just one example, listen to these
words from Hebrews chapter 10 verse 29: In this verse, the author of Hebrews
indicated that it was possible to reject Christ after having been sanctified in
covenant with God. As the rest of the chapter makes clear, the punishment in
view here is eternal suffering in hell. It’s important to remember that in the visible
church there will always be “wheat and tares,” as Jesus said. You’ll have the true people
of God; you’ll have those that appear to be. Just like you had the disciples who were those
faithful to Jesus, but you had Judas in there. Paul had his Demas among those that
were his disciples, if you will. The mixed character of the visible church means
that we must always be on guard against unbelief and error in the church. At the same time,
the holiness of the church persists even when unbelievers are involved in its ministries. So,
we honor the sacraments, God’s holy ordinances. And we respect God’s holy Word, even when
it is preached poorly or hypocritically, as Paul taught in Philippians
chapter 1 verses 14 through 18. The holiness of the church is both a warning
against looking to the church in place of God, and an assurance that God uses the church
effectively despite human sin and unbelief. With this understanding of
the visible church in mind, let’s consider the idea of the invisible church. The visible church is the gathering of believers,
Sunday by Sunday, in a local community, and across and around the world and it’s made up of those
who have shown some outward profession of faith. It’s those who would meet together and to
share the two sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and by that give an indication that
they are active members of God’s visible church. Whereas the visible church includes everyone
who is part of God’s covenant community, the invisible church is composed only of those
who have been united to Christ in salvation. For this reason, it is sometimes called the
“true church.” We might think of the invisible church as a smaller group contained
entirely within the visible church. Generally speaking, we treat most people in
the visible church as if they were truly saved, giving them the benefit of the doubt. But the
reality is that only God can see the heart, as we see in Scriptures like Psalm chapter 44 verse
21 and Acts chapter 15 verse 8. And as a result, at this stage in history, only God can identify
the invisible church with full certainty. Although we’ll focus primarily on the invisible
church as it exists on earth at any given moment, it is important to recognize that
the invisible church also includes every believer who has ever lived, both
before Christ’s earthly ministry and after. Usually, Scripture is addressed to the visible
church rather than to the invisible church, but it generally gives its audience the benefit
of the doubt with regard to their salvation. There are some noteworthy exceptions to this, such
as 1 Corinthians chapter 5, and 1 Timothy chapter 1 verses 19 and 20. And some of the letters to
the churches in Revelation chapters 2 and 3 are not very optimistic about their audiences. But
in general, the authors of Scripture expected their readers to believe and trust in God,
and to obey him faithfully. The goal was for everyone to be proven faithful — for the entire
visible church to be part of the invisible church. When Jesus returns, he will completely purify his
church. He will purge all the unbelievers from it, so that the invisible church will be identical
to the visible church. We see this in places like Matthew chapter 7 verses 21 through
23 and chapter 13 verses 24 through 30, 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verses 12 through 15, and
1 Peter chapter 4 verses 17 through 19. But until that time, the identity of those in the invisible
church will be known with certainty only to God. The fact that there is currently an
invisible church within the visible church has important implications for everyone who
claims to be a Christian. And one of the greatest implications is that the church needs to hear
the gospel on a regular basis. We know there are unbelievers in the visible church. And that means
that church membership is not enough to guarantee our salvation. And for this reason, we have to
continue to teach, and to preach the gospel of redemption not only to ourselves, but to others
as well. We have to make sure that the unbelievers in our congregations are invited to come to
Christ and to be part of the invisible church. When the Apostles’ Creed affirms that the church
is holy, it means that the church is in covenant with God, that it is set apart as God’s special
people, dedicated to his service. It also means that the ultimate goal of the church is moral
purity, and even that the present experience of believers in the church hides them in
the moral purity of Christ. Beyond this, as we submit ourselves to the Lord’s commandments,
we are constantly purified from the sin we commit, bringing us closer to the goal of perfect
holiness that God has laid out for us. Now that we have looked at the divine
sanction of the church, which gives the church its importance and authority, and
at the idea that the church is holy to God, we are ready to address our third topic: the
fact that the church is catholic or universal. Our discussion of the term catholic
will divide into three parts. First, we’ll offer a definition of the word
“catholic.” Second, we’ll look at the catholicity of the visible church. And third, we’ll turn
to the catholicity of the invisible church. Let’s begin with a definition
of the word “catholic.” As we mentioned in an earlier lesson, the
word catholic means: universal; or including all Christians in all congregations. The word
“catholic” translates the Latin word "catholicus," which in turn derives from the Greek preposition
"kata" and the adjective "holos," meaning “whole” or “complete.” It’s not a reference to
the Roman Catholic Church. Rather, it’s a description of the unity that exists between
all churches that faithfully follow Christ. You will remember from earlier lessons in this
series, that the form of the Apostles’ Creed we have today developed from early baptismal creeds.
At the time these early creeds were written, the various Christian churches around the
world had not yet come together under a single, overarching church government. So, when the
Apostles’ Creed speaks of the catholicity of the church, it does not have in mind an
organization of all Christian congregations. Rather, it’s talking about the unity of the
Holy Spirit that exists between all legitimate Christian churches, despite our organizational
differences. At this stage in history, the word “catholic” was inclusive. It was meant to extend
the name “church” to every Christian congregation. This idea was in keeping with Paul’s
teaching in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 2, where he addressed his letter in this way: Here, Paul indicated that the various
Christian congregations in Corinth, which he referred to collectively as “the church
... in Corinth,” were part of a larger church that included all who called on the name
of Christ, regardless of where they lived. In the middle of the third century, Cyprian
of Carthage began to emphasize the role of bishops or priests in defining the church.
In his Epistle 68, he had this to say: They are the Church who are a people
united to the priest ... [T]he Church, which is Catholic and one, is not cut nor divided, but is indeed connected and bound together by the
cement of priests who cohere with one another. For Cyprian, the church’s unity was rooted in the
unity of the clergy and its ministry. As this view began to grow, Christians also began to affirm the
unity of the church in its unity of government. The church was a single organization that
was present everywhere throughout the world because its bishops and priests
were present throughout the world. Even at this point, though, the word
“catholic” was intended to be inclusive, encompassing all people and congregations
that were called by the name of Christ and that were faithful to the
traditional doctrines of the church. Later, however, the church
was fragmented by divisions. For example, in A.D. 1054 the Roman Catholic
Church excommunicated the churches of Eastern Orthodoxy, and the churches of Eastern Orthodoxy
excommunicated the Roman Catholic Church. At this time, these churches
began to use the word “catholic” in a new exclusive sense. By insisting that
their own churches were catholic or universal, each meant to identify itself as the only
valid church, and to condemn rival churches. Later, in the wake of the Reformation of
the 16th century, most Protestant churches took a different approach. Essentially, they
returned to the original meaning of the creed, appealing to the earlier inclusive
meaning of the word “catholic.” In agreement with both Scripture and
the Apostles’ Creed, Protestant churches affirmed the unity of Spirit that all Christian
churches share under the headship of Christ. And they recognized that this unity could be
maintained even without solidarity in the area of church government, and without losing the positive
contributions made by each of their denominations. Recognizing the catholicity of the church
in the modern world means affirming the validity of every church that maintains the
doctrines affirmed in the Apostles’ Creed. All Christians in all faithful churches
are under Christ’s covenant headship, and all true believers are blessed
with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And for this reason, we should be eager to
benefit from the gifts of every true Christian in every faithful church, and we should be willing
to serve alongside them as much as possible. With this definition of the
word “catholic” in mind, let’s look at the ways in which the
visible church can be called “catholic.” When we combine our understanding of catholicity
with our understanding of the visible church, we can define the visible catholic church
as: one worldwide fellowship of all people in covenant with God under the headship of Christ.
Obviously, this fellowship is one of Spirit rather than of church government. There is no single
denomination whose government extends over all Christian congregations. Rather, the unity of
the visible church is based on the fact that each church is in covenant with the same God, and
under the covenant headship of the same Christ. Historically, the visible church has traced
its catholicity in a variety of ways. In some traditions, it is traced
through church government. The church expands as it multiplies
itself, each new minister being ordained and having hands laid on him by
those who are already ministers. But generally, Protestants have emphasized that
the unity of the entire church rests in our faith in Christ and the work of the Spirit, rather
than in the succession of ordained ministers and priests. For this reason, new congregations
can arise wherever unity of Spirit exists, wherever those who are in covenant
with God gather in the name of Christ. Protestants insist that the visible church
is catholic because it exists everywhere that people are in covenant with God, under the
headship of Christ, in the unity of the Spirit. One of the most common problems that
many Christians face today is knowing which churches they should embrace as part of
the catholic or universal church of Christ. In most parts of the world, there are so many
varieties of churches that claim to be Christian that well-meaning Christians
often go to one of two extremes. Either they open their arms too widely and
embrace any church that claims to be Christian, or they exclude everyone except their
narrowly defined congregation or denomination. One helpful solution to this difficulty can
be found in the three traditional marks of the church. These marks were formulated by John Knox
in 16th century Scotland, but they represented the thinking of many Protestant churches during his
day. Essentially, the marks enable Christians to distinguish genuine congregations of the visible
catholic church from impostor congregations. The marks of the church were absolutely necessary
in order to find out where the church is, because in reality, anything
could call itself a church. In points of great theological crisis, such
as in the Reformation of the 16th century, the question is, “Where is the true church to be
found?” And thus, the reformers, for instance, most carefully defined the marks of the church by
saying, “Well it’s not the sign out front. It’s not the architecture of the building. It’s whether
or not, first of all, there is the preaching of the word of God.” Wherever there is the right
preaching of the word of God, there is a church. Wherever the ordinances, the sacraments,
are found rightly administered, there is the church. Later marks included, especially,
the discipline of the church — understanding that without that mark of discipline
the purity of the church is surrendered, and thus the church eventually is surrendered
in terms of its integrity and identity. Let’s take a look at each of the three
traditional marks of the visible catholic church, beginning with the Preaching of the word of God. There is no church or denomination that
has an exclusive claim to the possession, interpretation, application or
proclamation of the word of God. Some churches and denominations claim to have the
exclusive right to interpret and teach Scripture. Some claim to have special enlightenment that
makes their understanding of the Bible truer than all others. But no church perfectly manifests
any of the marks, including the preaching of the Word. God has given the Bible to the whole visible
church. And he has given the whole visible church his Holy Spirit to help us understand the Bible.
We see these things in passages like 1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 15, and Hebrews chapter 4 verses
11 through 13 and chapter 6 verses 4 through 6. Moreover, Scripture exhorts the
whole visible church to read, to understand, and to teach God’s word, as we
see in Matthew chapter 28 verse 20, 1 Timothy chapter 4 verse 17, and 2 Timothy chapter 2
verse 15 and chapter 3 verses 14 through 17. The second mark of the church
is the right administration of the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. These sacraments belong to the entire visible
church, not just to one denomination or another. It is the privilege and responsibility of
every congregation within the visible church to administer the sacraments
according to the Scriptures. We see this in the Great Commission’s command
to baptize in Matthew chapter 28 verse 19, and in Paul’s teaching on baptism in 1
Corinthians chapter 1 verses 13 through 17. We also see it in Jesus’ institution of the Lord’s
Supper in Luke chapter 22 verses 15 through 20, where the Lord indicated that the
supper was for his entire kingdom, for all those who were included under his covenant
headship. Passages like these are the reason that most Protestant churches recognize and affirm the
sacraments of other churches and denominations. The third traditional mark of the visible
catholic church is formal church discipline, such as excommunication. No Christian enjoys exercising
formal church discipline, especially excommunication. And this has often led
churches to avoid the use of formal discipline. Of course, forbearance also has biblical
warrant, as we can see in the parable of the wheat and the weeds, found in
Matthew chapter 13 verses 24 through 30. Even so, discipline has its place. There are times
when a person’s sin is so troublesome that it must be addressed through discipline — especially
when it endangers the church and its reputation. At times like this, discipline is intended both
to protect the church and to drive the offender to repentance. Scriptural grounds for formal
discipline can be found in passages such as Matthew chapter 16 verse 19 and chapter 18 verse
18, John chapter 20 verse 23, and Titus chapter 3 verse 10. And we see it practiced in passages
like 1 Corinthians chapter 5 verses 1 through 13. Because the entire visible church belongs
to Christ and represents him on earth, it’s important for every part of the
visible church to protect Christ’s people and to defend his honor through the
proper exercise of church discipline. The marks of the church are still important for
us to consider today. They help us ensure that our own congregations remain within the boundaries of
the visible catholic church in covenant with God under the headship of Christ. They also help us
identify impostors and enemies of the church, so that we can warn Christians away from
such groups, and so that we can proclaim to the world that these false groups do
not represent our Lord and his gospel. They can also encourage us to work across
denominational lines as we engage in ministry. When we recognize that the body of Christ is
not limited to our churches or denominations, but extends universally throughout the world
wherever the gospel of Christ is proclaimed, we can be encouraged to embrace everyone
who is part of the visible church. Now that we have looked at the
universal nature of the visible church, let’s consider some ways in which the
invisible church is also catholic or universal. When we combine our understanding of catholicity
with our understanding of the invisible church, we can define the invisible catholic church as:
all people from all ages who have been united to Christ for salvation. As we have said, the
invisible church is a subsection of the visible church, so it is also true that everyone in
the invisible church is in covenant with God under the headship of Christ. But in
order to distinguish the invisible church, our definition focuses only on how
it differs from the visible church. While there are many ways to think about
the catholicity of the invisible church, we’ll focus on just two. First, the invisible
church is universal because there is only one Savior. And second, the invisible church is
universal because there is only one true religion that can lead us to that Savior. Let’s look
first at the idea that there is only one Savior. Scripture clearly teaches that Jesus Christ
is the only savior available to humanity. He is the only one who has ever had the power
to save us, and the only one who ever will. As Peter insisted in Acts chapter 4 verse 12: Jesus Christ has always been the only
Savior available to human beings. Our Lord himself proclaimed this truth in John
chapter 14 verse 6 when he spoke these words: Why is Jesus the only one who can save
us? Well, the Savior must be perfect man as well as perfect God, and Jesus had to be
a perfect man in order to stand in our place, in order to be our sacrifice, in order to be
our substitute. And Jesus is the only one who could fulfill that role. And, of course, this
is prepared for over redemptive history when God appointed the Lion of David
... to be the Messiah of God, to be the Anointed One. And Jesus is
the great King to come after David, and Jesus holds this office, and so the whole Old
Testament prepares us for the coming of Jesus. So, Jesus is the only one who meets the criteria
for saving his people completely from sin. Jesus is the savior of
Presbyterians, and Baptists, and Anglicans, and Methodists, and Lutherans,
and Roman Catholics, and Eastern Orthodox, and those in every other denomination
of the visible church. There is only one invisible church because everyone who
is saved is united to the same Christ, the same Savior. He is the source of our unity.
And because he himself is undivided, so are we. A second idea related to the fact that the
invisible church is catholic or universal is that there is only one true
religion that can lead us to Christ. It’s important to realize that Christianity
is not primarily a system of salvation, but a covenant relationship with God. That is to
say, unlike other religions, Christianity is not fundamentally a method for obtaining salvation.
Instead, it’s a relationship between God and his people. Yes, faith is critical as a means to
putting us in a right relationship with God. But the big question is: What is your
identity as you stand before God? Are you a faithful citizen in God’s kingdom? When
God looks at you, does he see someone that is hidden in the covenant blood of Christ? Or are you
a citizen of the kingdom of his enemies? Are you one who stands before God on your own merit, who
must therefore pay the penalty for your own sin? Sadly, those in false religions are members
of enemy kingdoms. They are not part of God’s covenant people, and therefore they
do not and cannot belong to Christ. Only Christianity can give
us access to the savior. This is why biblical Christianity denies the
possibility that people can be saved through other religions, even if those people or
religions appear to have good intentions. As we know, there are many non-Christian
religions, what are sometimes called the “great religions of the world” because of their size
and because of their influence. And it’s often asked if a person who is not a Christian, but
they are faithfully involved in one of these other great religions of the world, they are
devoted followers of the doctrines and of the practices of that particular religion, if they are
sincere in their practice, will they go to heaven even though they do not acknowledge Christ —
maybe they’ve never even heard of Christ. Well, the Bible is clear on that. In John 14:6, Jesus
was explicit in dealing with this particular situation. He said of himself, “I am the way;
I am the truth; I am the life,” and if that were not clear enough he goes on to say, “And
no one comes to the father, but through me.” Because of God’s common grace we see
all sorts of goodness in people’s lives regardless of what religion they hold to.
But we also see great evil in people’s lives, and if we recognize the holiness of God and
the falleness of human beings, we realize that coming before God and having
a relationship with him requires much more than merely ethical behavior. We
can never do anything pleasing to God in our sinful condition. And so, we need a Redeemer
and a Savior, not just religious practice. And Jesus is the only one who provides that way
to establish a relationship with God again. As we have said, the living members of the
invisible church are ordinarily contained within the visible church. For this reason,
many theologians have made the point that salvation is not ordinarily possible for those
outside the visible church. That is to say, if a person is not part of the visible church, that
person has no ordinary opportunity to be saved. The early church father Cyprian,
who lived from A.D. 200 to 258, put it this way in his treatise
On the Unity of the Church: Whoever is separated from the Church
and is joined to an adulteress, is separated from the promises of the
Church; nor can he who forsakes the Church of Christ attain to the rewards of
Christ. He is a stranger; he is profane; he is an enemy. He can no longer have God for his
Father, who has not the Church for his mother. Here, Cyprian was arguing against
those who had left the visible church. And his point was that you cannot enter the
invisible church to receive the rewards of Christ unless you are also part of the visible
church. This argument is consistent with what we have said about the visible
church being in covenant with God. The fact of the matter is that salvation
itself is a blessing of God’s covenant. We see this in Jeremiah chapter 31 verses 31
through 34, Luke chapter 1 verses 69 through 75, Romans chapter 11 verse 27, Hebrews chapter 7
verses 22 through 25, and many other places. As just one example, listen to Jesus’
words in Luke chapter 22 verse 20, as he instituted the Lord’s Supper: On the night of his arrest, Jesus said that the
blood he would shed in atonement for our sins would be a covenant. In other words, salvation in
Christ’s blood comes only through his covenant. Since God’s covenant is made with the visible
church, salvation ordinarily comes through the visible church. This happens when people
within the visible church come to faith, or when the visible church gains converts
through evangelism. Of course, sometimes people also get saved apart from any interaction
with the church. But when this happens, it’s important to recognize that something
unusual is taking place — something extraordinary. Because the invisible church is universal,
only those who are faithful to God’s covenant can be saved. There is no hope that people
in other religions will make it to heaven by being good by the standards of their
own religions. We must evangelize. We must tell people about the only Savior. We must
bring them into the only covenant community, the earthly kingdom of God, and teach them to
love and obey its Lord and King. The catholicity of the invisible church is a great encouragement
to all of us who are saved — it is our solidarity in Christ. But it’s also a terrible warning
to everyone who has not yet come to Christ. So far in our lesson on the church, we have
looked at the divine sanction of the church, and we have seen that the church is both holy
and catholic, or universal. At this point, we are ready to turn to our last major topic: the
idea that the church is a communion of saints. In our discussion of the word “holy,” we
saw that the term “saints” refers in a general way to everyone that is in the
visible church, and in a special way to everyone that is in the invisible church.
So, as we discuss the communion of saints, we’ll focus our attention on the term that we
have not yet investigated, namely communion. In ancient Greek versions of the Apostles’ Creed,
the word for communion is "koinonia." Scripture commonly uses this word to refer to the fellowship
that exists between members of the church, especially through their union with God. We see
this in passages like Acts chapter 2 verse 42, 2 Corinthians chapter 13 verse
14, and 1 John chapter 1 verse 3. The New Testament also uses
"koinonia" to refer to sharing, often of materials goods and money. We
see this in Romans chapter 15 verse 16, 2 Corinthians chapter 9 verse 13,
and Hebrews chapter 13 verse 16. It is also used to describe the sharing of the
gospel — not primarily in evangelism, but in a mutual way within the church, as in Philippians
chapter 1 verse 5 and Philemon verse 6. In line with these ideas, the word “communion” in
the creed has traditionally been taken to refer to the fellowship between members of the church;
to the sharing of things we possess in common; and by implication, to our mutual
dependence on those who share with us. As we explore the communion of saints, we’ll
organize our discussion around a distinction that should be familiar by now. First, we’ll
look at the communion that exists within the visible church. And second, we’ll consider the
communion that exists within the invisible church. Let’s begin with the communion
of saints in the visible church. While there are many aspects to the
communion that exists in the visible church, we’ll focus on just three: first, the means
of grace; second, spiritual gifts; and third, material goods. Let’s start by
looking at the means of grace. Means of grace are tools or mechanisms that God
ordinarily uses to apply grace to his people. John Wesley, one of the founders
of the Methodist Church, described the means of grace in a way that
reflects the beliefs of many Christian traditions. Listen to what he wrote in his Sermon number 16,
based on the text of Malachi chapter 3 verse 7: By “means of grace” I understand outward
signs, words, or actions, ordained of God, and appointed for this end, to be the ordinary
channels whereby he might convey to men, preventing, justifying, or sanctifying grace. The means of grace, which some people refer
to as spiritual disciplines or works of piety, depending on the tradition that you come from,
when I hear that phase, “How do they work?” The thing that I always want to say is,
“They don’t work. It is God who works; it is the grace of God that is at work.”
But, the means of grace provide us with the opportunities to receive and process
that grace. They create the time and the space to pay attention to the grace of God at work in
our lives. I like to think of them as pipelines. We don’t want to confuse the pipe with the water.
It’s the water of life that we want to receive. But it’s the pipelines that
help carry that water to us. So that we can drink of that water, the means
of grace enable us to drink of water of life. Practically speaking, there are many means God
uses to apply grace to us, including such things as adversity and suffering, faith, charity,
and fellowship itself. But traditionally, theologians have focused especially on three
particular means of grace: the Word of God, the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s
Supper, and prayer. All three of these means of grace belong to the visible church as a whole,
including both its believers and its unbelievers. The Westminster Shorter Catechism, a traditional
Protestant summary of Christian teaching, describes the means of grace in this way
in its question and answer number 88: Q: What are the outward means whereby Christ
communicateth to us the benefits of redemption? A: The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ
communicateth to us the benefits of redemption, are his ordinances, especially
the word, sacraments, and prayer; all which are made effectual
to the elect for salvation. Scripture talks about the benefits of these
means of grace in places like Romans chapter 10 verse 14, 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse
17, and 1 Peter chapter 3 verses 12 and 21. Now, even though the benefits of redemption are
only for those who are saved, that is, only for the invisible church, the ordinances themselves
are for the entire visible church. Remember, the invisible church is just that: invisible. We don’t
know who’s in it. It doesn’t hold its own worship services. It doesn’t have its own ministers.
It doesn’t have its own church government. Those things are appointed to the visible
church. In the same way, all our means of grace — our preaching, baptisms, celebrations of
the Lord’s Supper, and prayers — can be observed by others. They are visible. They are things
that the visible church shares in common, and therefore they are part of the
communion of the visible church. The means of grace have always been important
ordinances through which God ordinarily applies the blessings of redemption to our lives,
and we should take full advantage of them. We should preach the gospel that converts, and
teach the word that brings wisdom and maturity. We should celebrate the sacraments that visibly
present the gospel and seal us in God’s covenant. And we should pray for God’s grace and
forgiveness, for conversions and maturity, for help to resist sin, for protection from
evil, and for rescue in our times of need. In all these ways and more, the means of grace
are valuable ministries of the visible church. Besides the means of grace, the visible church
also possesses spiritual gifts in common. Now, it’s important to understand that when
we say spiritual gifts belong to the entire visible church, we are not saying
that everyone in the visible church is indwelled by the Holy Spirit. They are not.
Only believers are indwelled by the Holy Spirit. Even so, the Holy Spirit uses all spiritual gifts
for the purpose of building up the visible church. For some people, this means increasing their
sanctification and growing toward maturity. For others, it means bringing them to faith first.
But in all cases, everyone in the visible church is exposed to spiritual gifts, and even allowed to
participate in them in some measure. And because of this, it is right to say that spiritual
gifs are shared by the entire visible church. That spiritual gifts are shared by the entire
visible church is demonstrated in several ways. First, they are used in public worship services.
We see this explicitly in 1 Corinthians chapter 14 verses 13 through 26. Second, the gifts
are given to build up the entire church. We see this in places like 1 Corinthians
chapter 12 verses 4 through 7 and Ephesians chapter 4 verses 3 through 13. Third, Paul
specifically said that tongues are a sign even for unbelievers within the church, as we
read in 1 Corinthians chapter 14 verses 21 and 22. Fourth, unbelievers within the church are
condemned for failing to benefit from spiritual gifts in Hebrews chapter 6 verses 4 through
6. In these ways, Scripture makes it clear that believers and unbelievers alike share and
partake in the spiritual gifts of the church. Like the means of grace, spiritual gifts are
a great benefit to the modern visible church. They are useful for proclaiming
the truth and converting the lost. They are useful for helping believers grow
in faith and maturity. And many gifts, such as mercy and hospitality, are useful for
meeting the earthly needs of God’s people. Whenever the Holy Spirit grants gifts to
his people, we should encourage them to use those gifts for the benefit of all, and not to
withhold them from anyone in the visible church. Communion also exists in the visible church in the way that members share their
material goods with each other. Part of the meaning of communion, or "koinonia,"
in the Bible and early church was that Christians shared their material goods with others
in the visible church who were in need. The word "koinonia" was often used to
refer to contributions for the poor, as in Romans chapter 15 verse 26,
2 Corinthians chapter 8 verse 4 and chapter 9 verse 13, and
Hebrews chapter 13 verse 16. Even when the word "koinonia" is not used,
this aspect of communion can be seen in the practice of early Christians. For example, many
early Christians sold their possessions and gave the proceeds to the church, as we
see in Acts chapter 2 verses 44 and 45, and chapter 4 verses 34 and 35. In the early
church, some heroic Christians even sold themselves into slavery in order to free
others or to raise money to feed the poor. The early church father Clement,
who lived from A.D. 30 to 100, wrote about this practice in a
letter commonly known as 1 Clement, which he wrote to the Corinthians. Listen to
these words from chapter 55 of that letter: We know many among ourselves who
have given themselves up to bonds, in order that they might ransom others. Many,
too, have surrendered themselves to slavery, that with the price which they received for
themselves, they might provide food for others. The sense of communion was so strong in the early
church, and believers considered others so much more highly than themselves, that they were
not only willing to share their possessions, but even to sacrifice their freedom for the sake
of giving to others. Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians chapter 8 verses 3 through 5 help explain
their thinking. Listen to what he wrote there: In this passage, Paul described the
generosity of the Macedonian churches. And he explained that it was
their dedication to the Lord that led them to be so sacrificial in their
sharing with the Lord’s visible church. Sharing material goods with those in need is an
important part of the life of the visible church. The entire church is God’s people, his covenant
community. He cares for everyone in it, and he calls us to do the same. To put it
plainly, all we have belongs to the Lord. He has only made us stewards of his property. And
that means that our charity and giving are the Lord’s ministry to his people, and his witness
of the gospel to the world. So, if we want to be faithful to him, we must not withhold the
Lord’s property from his people who need it. Now that we have explored the communion
of the saints in the visible church, we are ready to consider the communion
that the invisible church shares. We’ll look at two main ideas related to the
communion of saints in the invisible church. First, we’ll talk about the union
that all believers share with Christ. And second, we’ll speak of the union we share
with other believers in the invisible church. Let’s begin by looking at our union with Christ. The New Testament frequently mentions that
believers are united with Christ. This idea is most commonly presented by saying that believers
are “in Christ,” or “in Jesus” or “in him.” On the one hand, this union means that Jesus
represents believers before the Father, especially in his death and resurrection. But
on the other hand, it means that believers are mystically united to Jesus in a vital way. Jesus
dwells in believers, and they dwell in him. I think one of the central teachings
in the apostle Paul in particular is that we’re united with Jesus Christ; that we
belong to him. When we look at all of Biblical revelation, I think the Bible teaches that we are
either in Adam or we’re in Christ. Of course, Adam was the first human being. All human beings are
born as sons and daughters of Adam. And therefore, they come into the world as sinners. They have
a sin nature. They are alienated from God. What it means to be saved and redeemed and to trust
in Christ is to be incorporated into Christ, to belong to Christ. What it means to be
united with Christ is to be part of his person. It is in union with Christ that we
receive all the benefits of Christ. Historically we understand these benefits
to be: justification, sanctification, adoption — all of the things that we describe
in terms of what we receive in Salvation. They are only received in Christ. And therefore,
it is important for us, it is essential for us, to be united with Christ to receive these
benefits. And how do we receive these benefits, or how are we united to Christ? We are
united by faith, and faith alone. It is faith that brings us into union with Christ,
that gift of faith that comes from God. Theologians often speak of this vital union
between Jesus and believers as mystical because the Bible doesn’t explain exactly how it works.
But Scripture does make it clear that this union involves both our bodies and our spirits. We
see this in John chapter 15 verses 4 through 7; Roman chapter 8 verses 9 through
11; and many other places. As just one example, listen to Paul’s words in
1 Corinthians chapter 6 verses 15 through 17: Charles Spurgeon, the famous Baptist
preacher who lived from 1834 to 1892, spoke of our union with Christ in
his sermon The Matchless Mystery, based on Ephesians chapter 5
verse 30. Listen to what he said: A vital union exists between us and Christ... It is not unity; it is identity. It is more than
being joined to; it is being made a part of, and an essential part of the whole... Christ ...
must have his people; they are essential to him. It is amazing to think that our union with Christ
is so vital that Christ himself would be at a loss if we were taken from him. He loves us, and died
so that we could be his prize, his inheritance. Because we are united to him, every believer
should feel great security in our salvation, great assurance of pardon, and great
encouragement of our right standing before God. We should draw strength from this union, being
nourished by Christ and sustained by his Spirit. And we should feel boldness in our fellowship with
God, knowing that because we are hidden in Christ, we are perfect in the eyes of the Father, the Son
and the Holy Spirit. This does not mean they will not discipline us for our sins. But it does mean
that when they do, it will be a work of love, intended to bring us to a maturity and
perfection fit to be united to God forever. Now that we have looked at
believers’ union with Christ, we are ready to look at our union
with other believers in Christ. Because every person in the invisible church is
united to Christ, believers are also united to one another in him. We see this in Romans chapter 12
verse 5, Galatians chapter 3 verses 26 through 28, Ephesians chapter 4 verse 25, and a number
of other places. Listen to the way Jesus spoke to the Father about this communion
in John chapter 17 verses 22 and 23: Whereas our union with the visible church is
relational and experiential, our union with the invisible church is spiritual and ontological.
Our very beings are knit together through Christ and his Spirit. As a result, we all have equal
dignity in Christ, as Paul taught in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verses 14 through 16, Galatians chapter
3 verse 28, and Colossians chapter 3 verse 11. And we even experience each other’s joys and pains,
as we read in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 26. And the communion of the invisible church is not
limited to the church on earth; it also extends to the church in heaven, to those believers who
have already died and gone to be with the Lord. Just as believers on earth have a mystical
communion with each other in and through Christ, we have the same communion with everyone who
is united to Christ — including the believers who are now in heaven. Scripture teaches this
idea in places like Hebrews chapter 11 verse 4 and chapter 12 verses 22 through 24. One striking image Scripture uses to teach
this fact is the portrayal of the church as the bride of Christ. There is a sense in which the
visible church is treated as the bride of Christ, but this is always with a view toward the
perfection of the bride in the invisible church. We see this in the Old Testament in Isaiah chapter
54 verses 5 through 8, Hosea chapter 2 verses 19 and 20, and in the New Testament in Ephesians
chapter 5 verses 26 and 27. And the fulfillment of these images appears in the perfected
invisible church in Revelation chapter 19. Listen to the account of John’s vision in
Revelation chapter 19 verses 6 through 8: Here we see that the bride of Christ consists
of all the redeemed saints of all ages, in communion with each other. We all stand as one, wearing one wedding gown composed of
the righteous acts of every believer. Scripture draws many applications from the fact
that believers are united to each other in Christ. It teaches us that every believer is
valuable and even indispensible to Christ. It teaches us to honor each other, and to minister
to each other. It teaches us to be compassionate toward each other, to be kind, to be gentle and
patient, and to forgive. It teaches us to treat others the same way we want them to treat us,
and the same way we treat ourselves. Because in our union with them through Christ, they are
just as much a part of us as our own bodies are. In this lesson on the Apostles’ Creed, we
have explored the doctrine of the church. We have looked at the church’s divine sanction
as God’s special community. We have discussed the fact that the church is holy, being both set
apart and pure. We have spoken of its catholic or universal nature. And we have explained the
ways in which it is a communion of saints. As modern Christians, our experience of the church
is often very different than it was in the days of the Bible, or even in the days when the Apostles’
Creed was formulated. But the underlying realities of life in the church have never changed. The
church is still God’s covenant people. It is still his chosen vessel for bringing the gospel to the
world, and for turning the world into his kingdom on earth. We, the church, are holy to the
Lord. We are his kingdom. We are his people, united to each other in him. And the
Lord himself is working through us.
