Hi all,
I promised William an explanation of my views on the 'visible/invisible' Church. Since the thread we started on has become so large, I thought it might be better to start a new one.
William directed me to a part of Calvin's
Institutes where, speaking of the 'Invisible Church', he wrote, '[It] includes not only the saints presently living on Earth, but all the elect from the beginning of the world.'
Calvin was doubtless thinking of Heb 12:22-23, and I quite like the concept of being in union, not only with Christians worldwide, but also with the Church in time. I only observe that 'invisible church' is his name for it. It does not appear in the Scriptures.
Calvin continued, 'Often, however, the name 'church' designates the whole multitude of men spread over the earth who profess to worship one God and one Christ.' Here I start to have problems. The great majority of the usages of the word
ekklesia are for a local church, a specific one such as Corinth, Ephesus, Smyrna etc. It is also used of the whole company of the elect (eg. Eph 5:25ff). However, for the moment, let us move on because Calvin continues, 'In this church are mingled many hypocrits who have nothing of Christ but the name and outward appearance.'
Now in the Church of Geneva and elsewhere at this time, this was undoubtedly true. Every single person born was baptized into the church, and they were presumed to be Christians. Openly professing atheists would have had a hard time in Geneva and Anabaptists a harder one. So inevitably, there was a mass of people in the church who were told that they were Christians, who thought they were Christians, but who were no more born again than a dog. So long as they showed up in church and were outwardly pious and moral, and didn't listen to Calvin's preaching too hard, there was nothing to disturb their consciences. Outward morality was rigidly enforced. Apparently in 1542-46, 58 people were executed and 76 banished in a town of 16,000 inhabitants. The power of the State was extensively used to enforce the edicts of the church. Of course, it had to be, because the majority of the church was unregenerate.
But is this the biblical pattern? I don't think so.
Ekklesia means 'that which is called out.' Paul writes, 'To the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints' (1Cor 1:2). A little later he says, 'And such
were some of you. But you (all of you) were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.' He assumes that
everyone in the
ekklesia is a born again Christian, and this is the pattern throughout the NT letters. Check it out!
The
ekklesia is the bride of Christ. Israel is described as a mixed multitude, an unfaithful wife, a harlot, Oholah and Oholibah, but the Church, never. Of Israel it is said, 'There is [only]a remnant saved by grace', but of the
ekklesia it is written, 'We are bound to give thanks to God for you ['all of you'], brethren loved by the Lord, because God, from the beginning chose you for sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth' (2Thes 2:13); and again, 'But you [all of you] have an anointing from the Holy One' (1John 2:20).
Now of course it is true that 'certain men have crept in unnoticed' (Jude 4). Paul knew that 'savage wolves will come in among you' (Acts 20:29), but such people are not part of the
ekklesia. They are 'spots in your love feast' not to be tolerated in the House of God. 'Take heed!' says Paul; 'watch!'. The Church must be kept pure, so far as in us lies. What we are not to do is to mutilate so dreadfully the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares (Matt 13:24ff) by thinking that the field represents the Church, when our Lord clearly tells us that it is the world.
The church in Geneva fell, just as the English Commonwealth under Cromwell fell, because it tried to impose Christian values upon an unregenerate people (cf. 1Cor 5:12-13). We are the
Ekklesia, the Called-out ones. Let us keep our churches pure, 'without fault in the midst of a crooked generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast [KJV: 'holding forth'] the word of life.'
I suspect I may be in a very small minority on this, so I shall back off for a while, and let you guys tear strips off me. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/bravo.gif" alt="" />
Blessings to all,
Steve
