Q. 39. Where is the true Church visible on earth?

The true Church of Christ is visible in a congregation of believers where the pure gospel is preached, the sacraments are properly administered, and church discipline is practiced for the correction of faults.

Acts 2:41–42; 20:7; 1 Corinthians 5:12–13; 10:17; Ephesians 2:20; Galatians 1:8–9; 2 Thessalonians 3:6; 1 Timothy 3:15; 2 Timothy 4:2–3; Hebrews 10:24–25; 2 John 1:9–10.

  • AOR 19
  • Belgic Confession 29
  • Augsburg Confession 7
  • WCF 25

Visible … congregation. The Church is not merely an invisible or spiritual reality. The Church is always somewhere. The Greek word ekklesia, commonly translated as “church,” literally means “assembly.” The Church is called out of the world to assemble in local congregations where the gospel is preached and the sacraments are administered.

Believers. The church is a “communion of saints” (Apostles’ Creed). All true believers are saints or holy ones, set apart to God in Christ.

Pure gospel. God calls together his people by his Word. Every true church is “evangelical” in at least this sense: the “gospel” (euangelion in Greek) is preached there (see Q. 28). “The true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God” (Martin Luther, 95 Theses 62). “The false church … assigns more authority to itself and its ordinances than to the Word of God” (Belgic Confession 29).

Sacraments. When the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the Church at Pentecost, those who believed the gospel were baptized in water and immediately devoted themselves to the breaking of sacramental bread (Acts 2:41–42; cf. 20:7). Baptism is the sacrament of entrance into the church (Q. 44); the Lord’s Supper is the sacrament of the church’s unity in Christ (Q. 46). The sacraments visibly mark off the church from the world. “The true church … makes use of the pure administration of the sacraments as Christ instituted them” (Belgic Confession 29). “The false church … does not administer the sacraments as Christ commanded in his Word; it rather adds to them or subtracts from them as it pleases” (Belgic Confession 29).

Discipline. The Church must maintain its purity by confronting sin in the body (see Q. 40). While no church is perfect, the true Church strives after holiness and is not indifferent to blatant sin in its members. “The true church … practices church discipline for correcting faults” (Belgic Confession 29). “It pertains to the discipline of the Church that inquiry be made of evil Ministers, and that they be accused by those that have knowledge of their offenses; and finally, being found guilty, by just judgment be deposed” (AOR, 26).

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