More About The Church

Just for you Merinda :)
No, I did say I would post more on what we believe concerning the church, so here goes. I do this also to help sort it all out in my own head. Often topics like this can be rather full-on and difficult to completely understand. However, when really thinking about it and what our confessions (and Scripture) say, it is possible to see how truly blessed we are.

How blessed we are to have Christ as Head of the church who will preserve it to the end. How blessed we are to have a rich church history whereby we may further understand God's Word and its application. How blessed we are to confess a holy catholic Christian church. How blessed we are to have a shared faith by the Holy Spirit, through the true Word as proclaimed in our church.

A few more points to consider concerning the church:
- We don't believe in a holy catholic Christian church. But we believe a holy catholic Christian church. Why the difference? We don't trust, or put our faith, in the church. Rather we believe with our heart and profess with our mouth. We know it for sure (as God has revealed in His Word) and we proclaim its importance (being with the true Shepherd in His congregation).

- Those confessing Jesus are children of God and free in Him.
Those denying Jesus are children of Satan and slaves of him.

- We confess a congregation of believers. Not of the elect, for then we talk about the 'invisible' church- hereby running the risk of pluriformity (i.e. we can belong to any visible church as long as we belong to the greater invisible church). Having an 'invisible' church undermines the strive for both unity and purity in the church; instead we say there is no division between 'visible' and 'invisible' churches as such. Rather, the local churches are a manifestation of the catholic (universal) church. Therefore we must belong to the true church, as evident in the local church which shows the three marks (BC Art 29).

- The attributes of the church (holy, catholic, Christian, church) describe what the church is, its essence. The marks of the church are the distinguishing features pointing to where the true church can be found, its existence.

- As church we must be fighting knights and shining lights. The antithesis established between the church and the world is often seen in a very negative sense. This comes from the term 'antithesis' being viewed as 'against'. But compare the opposite, 'sythesis', which means 'compromise' or in this context being willing to compromise or establish friendship with the world and worldly lusts. Then we see that not only must we (as collective church and individual believers) be separate from the world, but also do the opposite of compromise- we must spiritually fight! The antithesis in a positive sense indicates a Christian conviction, an attitude to fight.

- Compromise with sin is not promising. Rather we must resist the devil (our obligation) and he will flee (God's promise).

What Is The Church???

The church is the triune God's:

Covenant people: We are the flock of the Good Shepherd. As an assembly, we are called together as a 'congregation', literally meaning 'together flock'. The Shepherd brings His flock together, to worship and praise God. This flock is gathered from all nations sharing in the promise to Abraham. We confess a Catholic (worldwide, universal) church. The church is God's people of the covenant promise and obligations; called to worship and obey (literally to 'hear' or 'listen' to) the Word; to proclaim and uphold the Word as pillar and ground of the truth; the field which God causes to grow and the building which is being built up (edified) through active, living members.

Redeemed people: 'Church' literally means 'of Christ'. We confess a Christian church: Christ is Head of the church, it is His church. The church is a congregation redeemed by the blood of Christ; assembly atoned by God's mercy in Christ; citizens of God's kingdom ruled by Christ; the body of Christ; a communion of saints in communion to Christ.

Holy people: "Ecclesia", a Greek word also referring to the church, literally means 'out-calling'. God calls His people 'out' to come together. We confess a Holy church: dedicated to reflect God's holiness; set apart by God's grace to praise Him; consecrated people endowed with the Holy Spirit; who are individually and collectively temples of the Holy Spirit; holding up the banner of the Word in living a faithful life that reflects their living faith.

As a reflective question: Do we uphold the true name of what we confess to be the church?

P.S. More to follow on the 'true' church and how we view the local/catholic or visible/invisible church...