The Riddleblog

Christ's Spotless Bride -- On the Marks of the Church (Part Four)

Reformed Confessional Teaching on the “Marks of the Church”

The discussion of the marks of a true church is important—especially in our day and age—because of the competing claims of various religious bodies and organizations to be “Christ’s church.” There are a myriad of churches who make such a claim–some associated with recognizable church bodies. Other groups who identify themselves as “churches” are more the product of the American entrepreneurial spirit, possess a trendy name, and an undefinable identity. They see themselves as radical and relevant, not stale and stuffy.

Reformed theologians have understood the marks of the church to be an especially important matter since multiple church bodies claim to be the only (or the true) church, yet their various claims are questionable in terms of biblical teaching and doctrine. This raises the question under discussion here: “how do we distinguish valid claims to be a true church from invalid claims?”

Louis Berkhof points out that there was not much of a need to consider the marks of the church when it was clearly one (i.e., during the apostolic church), but after heresies arose it became increasingly necessary to speak in the terms of a true/false, biblical/unbiblical dichotomy of any assembly of people professing to be Christians and followers of Jesus. Responding to heresies requires a response and doctrinal explanation. Oftentimes these explanations lead to further division.[1]

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EcclesiologyKim RiddlebargerMay 22, 2024The marks of a churchComment

The Basics -- The Marks and Mission of Christ’s Church

The New Testament has no category for someone who is a believer in Jesus Christ but who is not also a member of a local church. The reason is so obvious that we too often take it for granted. Since all true believers become members of the body of Christ by virtue of their union with Christ through faith, the New Testament assumes that those who are members of Christ’s body will naturally identify with a local assembly of those who likewise believe in Jesus and confess him as Lord before the unbelieving world. Sadly, many American Christians have completely different assumptions.

Given the rugged individualism of American culture and our innate suspicion of authority, many Americans who consider themselves faithful Bible-believing Christians make little connection between their own personal faith in Jesus Christ and membership in a local church. This is one of the most pressing issues of our day and it arises from a general indifference to the doctrine of the church, as well as the necessity of membership in a local congregation of fellow like-minded believers. John Calvin writes in his commentary on Isaiah, “We cannot become acceptable to God without being united in one and the same faith, that is, without being members of the church.” These two things, justification by grace alone through faith alone, and membership in Christ’s church are inseparable for Calvin, because all those whom our Lord justifies through faith, he also gathers together in a visible assembly, a local church. In agreement with Calvin, but putting the matter a bit differently, theologian Paul Avis once wrote that “Reformation theology is largely dominated by two questions: ‘How can I obtain a gracious God?’ and ‘Where can I find the true Church?’ The two questions are inseparably related.” Americans will embrace the former (justification) but never consider the latter (the necessity of church membership).

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The BasicsKim RiddlebargerNovember 27, 2023The marks of a church, the mision of the churchComment