What makes a true Church.docx

What makes a true Church

Just as the Apostle Paul was concerned for believers in Colosse, Christ also expresses this same

concern to the church in Thyatira (also in the book of Revelation), where a so-called prophetess,

Jezebel, was allowed to corrupt God’s “servants”. Every defiled church of influential and

notable, but notorious corrupters incurs divine judgment, if they fail to repent. As the Truth

personified, Christ taught the truth of the Word.

Thus, He does not want us to adulterate, modify or mutilate it, because it is the truth that saves,

transforms, sanctifies, empowers, establishes, qualifies and prepares us for heaven. Without the

truth of God taught, believed, obeyed and upheld as central and pre-eminent in the church, such a

saints, they do not make jests of or ridicule the doctrine of holiness because Jesus died to make

His followers “unblameable in holiness”.

From the beginning to the very end, believers are supposed to be righteous, holy and saintly. Just

as it is contradictory to have an honest liar, contented thief, sober drunkard, chaste adulteress,

godly idolater, loving oppressor and upright transgressor, it is also impossible to have a ‘sinning

saint’. So, if a person is a saint, he is honest, holy, godly, righteous, chaste, loving and upright.

A real child of God in a true church will also be faithful in business and to the Lord, being

always conscious of His omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence in all his actions and

conversations with others. Possessing a sober comportment, he is “faithful in all things”. This

extends to his employment, where he must not deprive his employer the man-hours for which he

is paid, cut corners, change receipts or collude with fraudsters to dupe his organisation. In the

love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ…” (1 Thessalonians 1:3).

Thus, we need to live by faith, refrain from actions that can “overthrow the faith” of others and

watch over our children to avoid associating with those who will destroy their faith. Christian

leaders must preserve the faith of members of their church from being destroyed. The reason is

that we cannot please God without faith. If our ‘question and answer sessions’ will build faith,

we must not entertain “foolish and unlearned questions” that “engender strife”.

The Colossian Christians also demonstrated love toward “all the saints”. This kind of love is not

tribal, sectional, partial, limited or constrained. We must not love some saints and oppress others;

accept some and reject others; befriend some and be cruel to others. They also had hope of

heaven where Jesus, the Old and New Testament saints have gone. The hope of heaven is the

To seek or support people who destroy the faith, love, hope and commitment of believers

desiring to get to heaven, is to risk divine judgment. God is calling sinners out of the truth-less,

transgressing, traditional and Christ-rejecting churches. They should come to salvation in Christ.

He is calling converted believers to continue in the truth with godly attributes that qualify them

for heaven.

The Ordinances of the Church

Broadly speaking, Christianity encompasses three major branches: Roman Catholicism, Eastern

Orthodoxy, and Protestantism. In all churches affiliated with these traditions, two common

celebrations stand out: baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Communion; Eucharist). Tragically, what

mystery) to refer to matters that God once hid but now has revealed through the gospel (e.g.,

Rom 16:25-26; Eph 3:3-13; Col 1:24-27). The early church applied this term to its administration

of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, considering them to reveal a mystery of divine grace. When

the Greek Bible was translated into Latin, μυστήριον (mystērion) became sacramentum, which

could refer to a rite or an oath of allegiance. By the fifth century, Augustine’s definition of

sacrament as an outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible grace became decisive. The

church considered these two rites as sacred signs designed by God to indicate a divine reality, a

reality that was included in and caused by the signs themselves.

The name ordinance became associated with these two rites when Protestant churches made a

decisive break with the Roman Catholic Church. Included in the protest of some Protestants was

a rejection of the name sacrament; it had too many connotations associated with Catholic

this article, the word ordinance will be used, but without prejudice for the term sacrament.

Confirmation, the Eucharist, Penance, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony.

While embracing these seven “major mysteries,” Orthodox churches do not have a definite

number of sacraments and include other events of blessing, service, prayer, song, procession, and

more that render tangible the presence of God. Protestant churches have two: baptism and the

Lord’s Supper.

In terms of the historical development of this difference in number, Augustine’s idea of a

sacrament as a visible sign and cause of an invisible grace became the standard definition for the

church. Much later (~1150), theologian Peter Lombard enumerated the seven sacraments.

Subsequent comments (e.g., Thomas Aquinas [1225-1274], Council of Florence [1431-1449])

refined Lombard’s treatment but maintained the number. The Council of Trent officially

Sacraments). This condemnation, along with others decreed by Trent, underscores that a major

difference introduced by the Reformation had to do with the number—and, to be treated next, the

sacraments. The reason for this reduction in number was that Christ ordained only two rites with

‘Take, eat; this is my body.’ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to

them, saying, ‘Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out

for many for the forgiveness of sins’” (Matt 26:26–28). Thus, Christ ordained the Lord’s Supper,

with the accompanying signs of bread and wine, as a rite that the church must observe.

Accordingly, a major division plagues the churches affiliated with the three branches of

Christianity in terms of the number of the ordinances. But there is further disagreement still.

Nature of the Ordinances

What is the nature of the ordinances? The answer to this question unveils yet another division

among churches. There are three general answers:

1. The sacraments infuse grace ex opere operato (by their administration) into the people of

God. His grace is transmitted through the sacraments as they are administered, and that

grace effects the transformation of the character of their recipients, whose participation in

the sacraments is necessary for salvation.

recipients to express their allegiance to Christ.

To fully appreciate the nature of the Protestant ordinances, each one must be considered.

Baptism

important development was the baptism of infants. Some leaders denounced the practice, while

others traced its origin to the apostles. Eventually, the church found a parallel between the

baptism of infants and the Old Testament rite of circumcision. The church also linked infant

baptism to the removal of original sin. By the fifth century, infant baptism became the official

practice of the church.

Today, the ordinance of baptism is administered to infants (paedobaptism; Greek paidea = child)

and to believing adults (credobaptism; Greek credo = belief). These two views of the recipients

Infant Baptism

works, are enabled to merit eternal life. Importantly, baptismal regeneration means that baptized

infants are saved; indeed, this sacrament is necessary for salvation.

The second category of infant baptism is exemplified by (historical) Reformed Protestantism.

Baptism is a means of grace by which God offers a promise to its recipients: they will thereby

become partakers of the salvation of which baptism is the divinely appointed sign and seal. By

being baptized, infants are not saved. Rather, they are incorporated into the covenant community

in which they will hear the gospel and, as heirs of the covenant promise, will embrace the grace

of God by faith for salvation. Moreover, the sacrament is not effective ex opere operato but

depends on the Word and the Spirit for its validity.

Believer’s Baptism

According to credobaptism, baptism is an ordinance instituted by Christ for people who offer a

cases, the mode of baptism is immersion: people are completely lowered under the water and

brought up out of the water. Discussion of the nature of credobaptism falls under two categories.

The first category is exemplified by Southern Baptists. Baptism “is an act of obedience

(Baptist Faith and Message 2000). Accordingly, the nature of baptism is a human act by which

faith in God’s provision of salvation is expressed. It is not salvific but testifies to salvation

already experienced.

meanings, as indicated in the New Testament. First, on the basis of Jesus’s command to baptize

“in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt 28:19), baptism

associates new believers with the triune God. Second, as noted above, immersing baptism vividly

portrays new believers’ identification with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ (Rom 6:3-

5; Gal 3:26-28). A third meaning of baptism is cleansing from sin, in accordance with Peter’s

Pentecost message: “Repent and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the

Escape from divine judgment is a fourth meaning of baptism. Just as Noah and his family

escaped God’s judgment of the flood (the antitype), so also Christians escape from divine

judgment via baptism—the plunging under water as a type of death (1Pet 3:20-21). As a fifth

meaning, baptism symbolizes incorporation into the church. It is the initiatory rite, signaling new

believers’ intention to follow obediently and faithfully the mediator of the new covenant, Jesus

Lord’s Supper

The second ordinance to be discussed in terms of its nature is the Lord’s Supper, also referred to

as (Holy) Communion (1Cor 10:16-17), the Eucharist (Greek eucharistia = thanksgiving), the

instructions in 1 Corinthians (10:14-22; 11:17-34). In the early church, only baptized believers in

proper relationship to Christ could participate in this ordinance, which was celebrated weekly.

some believed that the sacrifices are the bread and wine as fruits of divine creation, while others

held that the sacrifices are the actual body and blood of Christ. Others focused on the Lord’s

Supper as an act of commemoration. Still others considered it in strongly symbolic terms. The

early church also underscored several benefits of participation in the Lord’s Supper, including

release from death, nourishment, and sanctification.