PART ONE: OUR
MOTHER
Chap. 4: A “Reformational” Understanding of Our Mother
A “Reformational”
Church: Reformed, and Always Reforming
In order to better
understand the visible Church, let us consider what it means to be
“reformational” or “Reformed and Always Reforming”. Why would we need (or
want!?) a “Reformational” understanding of the visible Church? Well,
don’t forget an important implication of the Church being visible is that she
has been providentially watched over and guided by God’s gracious Spirit
throughout all of history. In fact, as Christ said in some of his final
words: “I am with you even to the end of the age.” Christ will never
leave nor forsake his Church.
We should study the
“Reformational” understanding of the visible Church, because the Church of the
Reformation was simply part of the visible Church. As Christ’s visible
Church today, we should study with the visible Church in every age, and thus
the reason why studying together with all the saints, both dead and living, is
so important. But let me make a remark about “Reformed”.
I admit that when some
hear the term “Reformed” today, they conjure up in their minds an unfair
caricature. Some Evangelicals imagine a group of narrow-minded, lukewarm,
confessional Christians who aren’t very nice and who quote Calvin a lot and
talk about election all the time. This is a caricature and no Evangelical
Christian should allow this caricature to cloud his or her judgment.
Sure, there are Christians who happen to call themselves “Reformed” who need to
grow in the grace of Jesus, but no matter what kind of Evangelical we are,
Reformed or otherwise, we are all learning as Christ’s disciples how to be more
loving and humble. All Evangelical Christians rely on He who began a good
work in us to complete it (Phil. 1:6).
What I would like to do in
this chapter is more particularly speak of what it means to have a
“Reformational” understanding of the Church as our Mother, by studying the
historical story of the Reformation, and asking God to give the modern
evangelical Church wisdom to know more about the Church as a gift of Christ as
an institution, family, and school. Additionally, I want to remind all
that the term “Reformed” is so much more than a mere “Tulip” [Note: TULIP is an
acrostic that sums up historical Reformed Calvinism’s emphasis on how God saves
an individual].
Being Reformed is a way of
thinking that constantly asks the question: “Is this Biblical?”
to whatever the visible Church preaches and teaches, how she behaves, and what
she assumes to be true. You know we Evangelicals criticize our Roman
Catholic friends for being too traditional, and even raising tradition above
Scripture. But did you know that anytime we teach something, or do
something and assume it is biblical without asking the question “Is this
Biblical?” we are guilty of raising tradition above Scripture as well (whether
it is custom or cultural methodology, or way of doing something like evangelism
or worship)? If we set out with good intentions to be and do Church in
this world in a manner that is merely pleasing to us, or because something
seems to be successful or “works”, we are as guilty of raising tradition above
the Bible as anyone else; We need to keep this in mind. If you believe
the Bible is the Word of God, then you should always be asking: “Is it
Biblical?”
We should remember that
for now my simple definition of “Reformed” is to ask the question of every
teaching and practice within the visible Church “Is this Biblical?” and seek to
answer it not only with other Christians in my generation, but how it has been
answered by those in our family who came before us. To be “Reformed”
foundationally means has two aspects, one is historical, and the other is
theological. So being “Reformed” essentially means that you 1)
Historically trace your evangelical lineage back to the Reformation of the
Sixteenth Century where the gospel was again clearly proclaimed; and 2)
Theologically, you constantly ask the question of every teaching and practice
in the Church “Is this Biblical?”
We will consider this
further as we seek to understand more of the “Reformational” aspect of
Scripture, but let me say that being “Reformed” according to my simple
definition above is something dynamic, not static. “Reformational” which
is the term I prefer is like the concept of love; it is not a past-tense kind
of thing. We are not merely “Reformed” (past tense as if we have fully
arrived!), but rather we should all be “Reformational” or always
“reforming”. Why? Because of what I said above; all Christians should
constantly be asking “Is this Biblical?”
Do we want to “do church”
and to “be church” (teaching and practice) apart from what the Scriptures
teaches us? No! All Evangelical, Bible-believing Christians should desire to be
obedient to God’s Word. How do we do this? We ask about all that we teach
(whether we are consciously confessional or not) “Is this Biblical?” and has
this been taught by other biblical teachers in the past and present. We
also ask in matters of practice such as worship, evangelicalism, and whatever
other Christian privilege, no matter how much it works, feels right, or seems
right, “Is this Biblical?”
I want you to ask if what
I have taught you even in this chapter “Is this Biblical?” I am seeking
to be by God’s grace, but I ask your patience and your willingness to listen as
we seek to find a “Reformational” way of doing and being the visible
The Marks of a
We should all thank God
that no visible branch of the one
How do we find a faithful
visible branch of Christ’s one holy catholic apostolic church if we have come
to better understand the visible aspect of it? How do we find the right
congregation of visible saints where we can “fit in” and be more faithful to
Christ and obedient to his Word to seek unity and one-minded-ness as we learned
that we are commanded to do in the last chapter? This can be a difficult thing
that we must first humbly ask God prayerfully for wisdom and help in guiding us
according to Scriptural principles. We should remember that as Christ’s
people, we are called to strive together for unity and one-minded-ness and this
must begin in our formally joining a congregation of Christ’s people. Let’s
realize that we are called to work, labor, strive together in order to be a
faithful Church.
With this struggle to
remain in the Church even though we have perhaps been misguided by error in
biblical teaching in your past, and might have experienced real personal pain
by other Christians in a local congregation, the reformer and theologian of the
Sixteenth Century, John Calvin and the pastor-elders of the Reformation give us
help in recognizing the true marks of the visible Church so that we can seek to
be a part of the visible Church on earth, even though we have had bad
experiences because we want to be obedient about being one and seeking
unity.
But the question you might
ask is “Why should Calvin speak on this issue in our study?” In this
chapter, I want to begin to put into practice what we learned in the last
chapter concerning being and doing church together with all the saints both
dead and living. Those dead saints (sorry!) of the Reformation,
particularly the teacher and theologian John Calvin, can aid us with wisdom to
better understand our present situation. John Calvin and the other
Reformers, or Evangelicals who were seeking to be faithful to Christ’s gospel
and His visible Church, were in a similar situation back then that we are in
presently.
How is there a similar
situation in Evangelical Churches today and with the Evangelicals like John
Calvin in the Sixteenth Century Reformation? For John Calvin and the
other Evangelicals seeking to make the gospel of the Lord Jesus known to all
during the Reformation, those who had been deceived by the Church of Rome were
hurting people looking for the true visible
Those who stayed in the
visible Church of the Reformation, who heeded Calvin’s advice about staying
regardless of abuses, needed to know how to identify a faithful visible
congregation of Christ’s Church. These evangelicals cared about the
teaching of the Word of God and did not want to send the wrong message to the
world that because the largest branch of the visible
Some of the evangelicals
of the Reformation left the visible Church entirely because of abuses, and
these evangelicals became known as “Radical Reformers” because many of the
Reformation’s pastor-elders perceived them to be “throwing the ecclesiastical
baby out with the Roman Catholic bathwater”. Some of the Radical
Reformers who left the visible Church and tried to "start over"
individualistically, were denying the unity or one-ness of Christ’s Church as
well as declaring in essence that the gates of hell had prevailed against Christ's
visible Church here on earth. The Radical Reformers were called to
repentance for leaving the visible Church and for separating
individualistically from the one Institution, family and school that was
founded on the apostles and the prophets (Eph.
From within the church,
and as a defense of Christ’s visible Church, Calvin wrote so that those who
were looking to find their true mother and to continue to grow in grace and
holiness might be able to recognize her (even though the largest branch of the
visible Church had become corrupt). Calvin taught that we could always
recognize our mother by true teaching of the Word and the right administration
of the two sacraments Christ had instituted in baptism and the Lord's Supper,
and by implication, discipline (discipline was added as a third mark in his
discussion of the sacraments in his Institutes)[1].
Calvin says that the two
most important marks or signs of a true visible Church of Christ here on earth
(no matter what denomination or name is on the sign in the front of the
building, whatever the branch or congregation of the one holy catholic and
apostolic church) are the right preaching and teaching of God's Word and the
right administration of the Sacraments. He writes:
"From this the
face of the church comes forth and becomes visible to our eyes. Wherever we see
the Word of God purely preached and heard, and the sacraments administered
according to Christ's institution, there, it is not to be doubted, a church of
God exists (cf. Eph. 2:20). For [Christ's] promise cannot fail: 'Wherever
two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them"
(Matt.
Calvin and
The Roman Catholic
communion in the Sixteenth Century taught that she was the one and only true
“mother” of all saints, the only visible Church on earth primarily because of
their doctrine of Peter and supposed apostolic succession.
What Calvin was teaching
so brilliantly was that if Rome, the largest branch of the visible Church, had
forsaken the gospel, then this communion, although it looked like a church from
the outside, was not a Church at all, but an empty shell; a woman perhaps, but
one without a gospel soul, and therefore not our true “mother” who gives birth
to us, nurtures and feeds us with the gospel. He argues against
“For no man in his senses
will admit the principle which the Papists take for granted, that what is here
granted to Peter [in the keys of the Kingdom in Matthew 16:18-19] was intended
to be transmitted by him to posterity by hereditary right; for he does not
receive permission to give any thing to his successors…Though the uninterrupted
succession were fully established [by Rome], still the Pope will gain nothing
by it till he has proved himself to be Peter’s lawful successor….Though the
Bishop of Rome had been the lawful successor of Peter [because Peter supposedly
died at Rome], since by his own treachery he has deprived himself of so high an
honor, all that Christ bestowed on the successors of Peter avails him nothing.
That the Pope’s
court resides at
Even today the face of the
church comes forth and is visible to our eyes through the faithful preaching of
the Word, the right administration of the sacraments, and we should add as a
third mark biblical discipline that is meant to restore sinners and uphold the
peace and purity of Christ's visible Church in doctrine and
life (and this third mark of discipline was added in
the Belgic Confession, the Scots Confession, and the Westminster Confession and
Catechisms which are other faithful confessions of what God’s word
teaches).
The third mark of
discipline was needed to uphold the first two: preaching and teaching of the
Word and the right administration of the sacraments.[2]
The Word of God:
Verbal and Visible
The Bible teaches that we
must seek to strive for unity and to be one-minded, not merely as members of a
local and faithful congregation of Christ’s institution, family and school, but
also with those saints who came before us. The three marks of the Church
articulated in the Reformation of the Church of the Sixteenth Century are
helpful in trying to find a true and faithful congregation of God’s people so
that you can obediently and formally seek unity with the one holy catholic
apostolic Church. You should seek prayerfully to find a pastor, who is in
submission to other pastor-elders, one who is accountable to faithful
pastor-elders within his own generation, but also a pastor who is faithful to
the faithful pastor-elders and teachers who shepherded God’s flock long before
your pastor was born (meaning the pastor interprets his Bible with those who
faithfully interpreted their Bibles before he was born).
Let me have you consider
four sets of questions that we will consider in more detail in part two on the
ordained ministry. As you read and consider prayerfully these four
questions, think about how we often try to disconnect or remove the Word of God
out from the visible Church. The Word and the
Church should be distinct but never separated. God has not given his
people the Bible to be used outside, or apart from Christ’ Church.
Rather, Christ has given the Bible or the Word of God to be taught by
pastor-elders within the Church and this should be considered in our day.
Consider these questions:
1)
How
do you know that the books of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God?
In other words, how do you know that there are 66 books, specifically 27 books
in the New Testament? Did the Word of God in completed form fall out of heaven,
or do we depend upon the Church under the providential guidance of the Holy
Spirit to discover what books are inspired long before we were born? If we
trust God’s Spirit and His Church to collect and gather inspired books, why
can’t we interpret these Bibles with God’s Spirit and His Church?
2)
How
do you interpret these 66 books and know for a fact that this is not just your
opinion but the teaching of the faithful Church throughout history? In other
words, how do you avoid relativism in interpretation (i.e. “I think it means
thus and such…”)? When you lay your head on your pillow each night, how
can you know before Christ himself that you are correctly “handling the Word of
truth” (2 Tim.
3)
Who
has Christ instituted on earth to preserve the Word of God and to teach it to
His people?
4)
Where
does the new birth “ordinarily” take place, and if it takes place
“extraordinarily”, where does the new life find food and drink to grow and
mature? Even if the new birth (being “born again”) takes place outside the
visible Church, doesn’t the new life depend upon discipleship under the Word in
the Church? In other words, are we called merely to conversion, or discipleship
in the Word together with all the saints?
Have you ever thought
about these questions? At this point, I want to stress the importance of
the right teaching and interpretation of the Word of God within the
visible Church. We will look in more detail later, but think about why
the Word and the Church should go together, hand in hand, as the Bible and
reason seem to indicate.
Additionally, we should
seek to find a congregation where baptism and the Lord’s Supper are rightly
administered. What this means is that Christ has given us baptism as an
initiation into the visible Church (whether you believe in infant baptism or
merely believer’s baptism, you will agree that it is an initiation into the
visible Church of Christ, but that is another book and another conversation),
and the Lord’s Supper as a commemoration of being members of the visible
Church.
This is not a book on
baptism or the Lord’s Supper (what is called “sacraments” historically), but
simply stated, these are two practices Christ has ordained for his Church so
that he can communicate his grace by His Spirit to His people as they are done
by faith, believing in God’s promises fulfilled in Christ. Both of these
practices are commanded by our Lord, and they are to be administered only by
pastor-elders who have been called, ordained, and given the ministry of serving
Christ’s people (more on this in part two).
The Word of God written in
our Bibles is the verbal Word of God, where when we received the words spoken by
faith, we receive the instruction of our Lord Jesus himself. The Word
of God visual, or baptism and the Lord’s Supper, show forth the faithfulness of
God in Christ that the written word speaks about and we also see and believe by
faith. In baptism and the Lord’s Supper we see what we hear in the
verbal written Word of God. These two must go together as we learn
together with all the saints.
Discipline as Your
Mother’s Children and Restoration to Her Loving Arms
The third mark of the
Church is discipline, and this mark is the one most often misunderstood.
Before we look at this biblically, allow me to ask you how much you believe in
accountability? Because of our sin, we all need it, especially
pastor-teachers who have been given the awesome responsibility of teaching the
truth of Scripture, together with all the saints, to the people of God.
The souls of the people of God are under their pastoral leadership as shepherd
of the flock of God.
Discipline maintains the
proper and official and formal accountability that we need as the sinful, yet
saved people of God. Disciple is designed to bring repentance and it is
restorative in nature (Heb. 12:1-8; cf. Matt.
As the Apostle Paul
teaches in 1 Corinthians 5, the visible Church cannot “judge the world”, and
this implies a power of disciplining those in error or who live wrongly.
But the visible Church has been given the power by Christ, particularly those
in the apostolic office of minister (Matt.
1 Corinthians 5:1-7: It is actually reported that there is sexual
immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans,
for a man has his father's wife. 2 And you are arrogant! Ought you
not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. 3
For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have
already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. 4 When
you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with
the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 you are to deliver this man to Satan
for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of
the Lord. 6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little
leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you
may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb,
has been sacrificed.
This scriptural teaching
concerning discipline shows that we are to discipline those in the Church who
live inconsistently from the gospel of Jesus, and those who err in their
teaching as well. We are to “judge” in a good way, in order to
discipline, and bring restoration (v. 5), and keep the peace and purity of the
visible Church (vv. 6-7). If we do not practice discipline in the visible
Church, we are saying to the world that we don’t care much about the peace and
purity of Christ’s institution, family and school. If we do not practice
discipline then how do we keep our pastor-elders accountable to Scripture
alone? If we do not practice disciple, how can we make sure the Word of God is
rightly preached and the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper are
rightly administered?
If we do not discipline,
we do not show forth real love. Even God himself shows his love in
discipline:
Hebrews 12:4-11: In your struggle against sin you have not yet
resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you
forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? "My son, do not
regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. 6
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he
receives." 7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God
is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not
discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have
participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9
Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected
them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10
For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he
disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11 For
the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it
yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by
it.
According to this passage
in Hebrews 12, discipline is something that all loving parents do. The
discipline of our “mother” is the same. The Church is the place where
Christ has given some who he calls to apostolic ministry, the awesome
responsibility of “binding on earth that which is bound in heaven”, and
“loosing on earth that which is loosed in heaven” through the keys of the
Kingdom (more on this in part two). It is not legalistic to have
discipline in the visible church in order to seek unity, one-minded-ness, peace
and purity, it is rather very loving and God-like according to Hebrews 12, and
it is designed to bring sanctification and holiness (Heb. 12:11).
We will consider this
further in part two on the ordained ministry, but I ask you to ask yourself
three more questions at this time:
1) How do you know that
you’re hearing the truth of the Word of God when it is preached every Lord’s
Day? Do you make this judgment individualistically based on the fact that the
pastor happens to agree with your interpretation? If this is all you have to
find truth, then you might be a relativist. That is, you might think that
it is merely true for you, but you have no greater objectivity than that?
I am not trying to hurt any feelings here; I just want you to consider this.
2) Do you participate in
baptism and the Lord’s Supper frequently? Do you place a high regard of these
institutions of Christ, just because Christ has instituted them, or do you
think they are something you can take or leave? Do you emphasize other means to
become more like Christ other than what Jesus has instituted? For instance, do
you teach that small group Bible studies and Evangelical “quiet time” are more
important than baptism and the Lord’s Supper? Small group Bible studies and
“quiet time” may be an additional means for God’s Spirit to encourage the
people of God, but do you in practice deny what Christ has instituted and
appointed for his Church in baptism and the Lord’s Supper? (Remember what we
learned above, when we do not ask “Is it Biblical?” we can easily fall into the
same error as our Roman Catholic friends by setting up a tradition above the
teaching of Scripture- -do you do this?).
3) Is there accountability
in your congregation? Is the pastor studying with other men in his generation
as well as those pastor-elders who taught the Bible correctly before him
(‘apostolicity’)? If your pastor, or another member of your congregation, or
yourself sinned against God publicly and got out of line with regard to
biblical teaching, is there any formal discipline that would hinder this sinful
life and erring doctrine?
Other institutions,
families and schools realize the importance of discipline in order to operate
decently and in order (cf. 1 Corinthians 14:33, 40), how much more should
Christ’s institution, family and school on earth have these in place not only
to better seek unity and one-minded-ness, but also to obtain peace and purity
in each congregation as the light of the world, as the world watches us as to
whether we believe sin and error in teaching is really wrong or not.
Discipline is another important reason why we formally join local
congregations, with a goal toward seeking unity together with all the saints,
as well as to submit humbly under faithful pastor-elders so that they can
shepherd our souls (1 Peter 5:1-7; Hebrews 13:7, 17).
In every institution in
this country you have rules, even the pagans knows and recognizes these
things. If you break the rules there are consequences. In families,
we discipline our children because they have said or done something wrong, or
inappropriate, or sinful. Why? Because we want our visible family to be
seen as healthy. In schools (and boy do I know about this one!), we have
disciplinarians and principals to help children to be obedient, so that there
will be peace and purity in the learning process.
How much more do we need
to seek to find our one mother, the visible
If Christ has established
these three marks, and I believe he has as I tried to show scripturally above,
then we have an obligation to be obedient to Christ in the Church. We
should use the three marks of the Church to keep us from being part of an
unfaithful congregation who calls itself a “church”, so that we might truly
grow and mature into the likeness of Christ. Do we really believe two
particular Scriptures below where the Apostle Paul teaches plainly for all
Christians to remember:
ESV Ephesians 4:13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of
the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the
fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children,
tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by
human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
ESV 2 Timothy 4:3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but
having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their
own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth
and wander off into myths. 5 As for you, always be
sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your
ministry.
Do you believe these
warnings from Paul? If it is a possibility to remain children (Eph.
4:14), to be deceived by every wind of doctrine and by human cunning and
deceitfulness (Eph. 4:13), and to be tossed around the sea of differing
opinions and interpretations of the Word of God, then don’t you think it would
seriously behoove us all to look for our mother by these three marks. If
there is coming a real time when people will not endure sound teaching, and
will accumulate to themselves teachers to suit their own passions, who will
lead the people of God away from the truth into myth-telling, then don’t you
think we should seriously and prayerfully seek the Lord’s help to find a true
congregation of Christ’s saints?
In our next chapter we
will discuss the wisdom we can learn from other evangelicals of the Reformation
of the Sixteenth Century.