Q. 38. What is the Church?

• WCF 25.1
• Belgic Confession 27

Catholic or universal … all times and places. The word catholic means “through the whole” or “universal,” from the Greek word katholikos, a compound of kata and holos, used in Acts 9:31 (“the church throughout all”). The term was in use to describe the Church by at least the early second century (Ignatius, Letter to the Smyrnaeans 8.2), long before the Roman Catholic Church had any formal existence. It pervades the literature of every Christian tradition. Protestants refuse to cede the word “catholic” to those who define catholicity by conformity to Rome and its bishop instead of agreement concerning the doctrine of the gospel and the administration of the sacraments (Augsburg Confession 7). “This holy church is not confined, bound, or limited to a certain place or certain people. But it is spread and dispersed throughout the entire world, though still joined and united in heart and will, in one and the same Spirit, by the power of faith” (Belgic Confession 27).

Church … of God … Christ … the Holy Spirit. “The church is the primary work of the holy Trinity, the object of Christ’s mediation and the subject of the application of his benefits” (Francis Turretin, Institutes of Elenctic Theology, 18.1.3).

People of God. The Old Testament tells the story of God and Israel, whom God redeemed out of Egypt and promised at Mt. Sinai that they would be his “treasured possession among all peoples,” “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:5–6; cf. 2 Samuel 7:23–24). God’s plan for his people is fulfilled in the Church, which is the remnant of believing Israel united with believing Gentiles in Christ: “you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession” (1 Peter 2:9).

Bride. The one-flesh union of marriage is a type of the union between Christ and his Church (Ephesians 5:31–32). The Church is the covenant bride of Christ.

Body. Christ is embodied in the Church. “Wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the catholic church” (Ignatius, Smyrnaeans 8.2). The Church is united with Christ as a body to a head. The members of the Church are likewise interconnected and interdependent as eyes, ears, hands, feet, and joints are joined in the human body. God exalted Christ and “put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:22).

House and temple. The Church is “a spiritual house” (1 Peter 2:5), “a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:22).