|
The Local Church
|
| Each local church is a
manifestation of the one universal church, and will embody the nature of
that church as the Father's regenerate family, Christ's ministering body,
and a fellowship sustained by the Holy Spirit. In the course of
separation from the Roman Catholic church, the Reformationers needed to be
sure about what were the marks of the true church. From Scripture,
they found the answer in terms of two criteria. 1. The faithful preaching of the Word of God; This means that the church teaches the Christian gospel according to the Scripture. Any group that denies the Trinity, the deity of Christ, the sin-bearing Atonement, or justification by faith alone, is like the separatists of earlier times whose denials of the Incarnation (1 John 4:1-3) caused John to say, "they were not of us" (1 John 2:19). 2. The right use of the sacraments: This criterion means that baptism and the Lord's Supper are used and explained as setting forth the gospel of faith in Christ. Turning these sacraments into superstitions that take away the sufficiency of faith in Christ undercuts the identity of the church, like anything else that obstructions faith in Christ. One purpose of baptism is to mark those who are received into the visible church. The Lord's Supper confirms for the faithful their membership in church and their community with each other and with Christ. Christians have found other marks of identity alongside these minimal two. Luther specified the keys of discipline (Matthew 16:19), an authorized ministry (Acts 14:23; 20:28), public worship (Hebrews 10:25), and "suffering under the cross" (Acts 14:22; 20:29). The Reformed churches specified a functioning system of discipline, often calling discipline the third mark of the visible church (Titus 1:13; 2:15; 3:10). Charismatics point to the active ministry of every member as a mark of the true church (Ephesians 4:7-16). These additional marks are not, however, essential in the way that the first two are. A church that lacks the additional marks is seriously deficient, but it would not be true to say that it is no church at all. UBP, The Reformation Study Bible, Copywrite 1995, Thomas Nelson Publishers. |