Whenever we talk about the marks of a true church, we immediately enter a minefield of controversy. To say that one church is a true church is to say that another church is a false church, even when that church may be filled with sincere people who love Jesus. To speak of true and false churches is to pick a fight which the vast majority of modern Americans find completely offensive. But the fact of the matter is the Bible teaches us that there are churches which are faithful to God’s word and there are churches which are not. To complicate things even more, most American churches fall along a continuum somewhere between a true and a false church. As Reformed Christians who stress the necessity of believing certain things and then confessing these same doctrines before the unbelieving world, the discussion of what constitutes a true church and what makes a church a false church is not a discussion from which we can we walk away, no matter how distasteful our contemporaries find the subject. That being said, this is a subject which we must discuss with great care and certainly with a great deal of charity.

Our confession has previously defined the church as a holy congregation of all those who profess a common faith in Jesus Christ and who assemble each Lord’s day to hear God’s word, receive his sacraments, submit to Christ’s yoke, worship according to pattern we find in God’s word, pray together as God’s people, and give thanks through prayer, praise, and our offerings. Such a church is not limited to one congregation, one denomination, or one country, but it can be found throughout the world and across the ages. As Reformed Christians we are also “catholic” Christians.

To read the rest: Article Twenty-Nine of the Belgic Confession -- "Easy to Recognize"

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