The Church is the agent of the evangelistic missionary enterprise. In Matthew 16:18 Jesus tells Peter He will build His church and the gates of Hell would not prevail against it. I Peter 2 reminds us that we are living stones being built up as a spiritual house. This is a great work of God.
But what is the Church that Jesus and Peter are talking about? The basic idea is of a gathered assembly. It is the gathered assembly of God’s people drawn from the world to show forth the praises of Him who, in mercy, has brought them out of darkness into His marvelous light. This gathered assembly is to be the light of the gospel to those who dwell in darkness (I Pet. 2:9).
Scripture uses many different descriptive phrases to picture the Church: the congregation of believers, the household of God, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, the bride of Christ or the body of Christ, a temple, and a kingdom. These terms speak both of the global nature of the Church (Eph 5:25) and of a particular local manifestation of the people of God (Eph 1:1, 2:19).
The Westminster Divines capture this truth in chapter 25 of the Westminster Confession of Faith:
The catholic or universal church, which is invisible, consists of the whole number of the elect, that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one, under Christ the Head thereof; and is the spouse, the body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all.
The visible church, which is also catholic or universal under the gospel (not confined to one nation, as before under the law), consists of all those throughout the world that profess the true religion; and of their children: and is the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, the house and family of God, out of which there is no ordinary possibility of salvation.
Notice the concluding statement in WCF 25:2 “… out of which there is no ordinary possibility of salvation.” The Divines are not saying that there is no possibility of salvation outside the church, but they are reminding us that ordinarily one finds the way out of darkness into the light among the gathered people of God. Another way of saying this is if you want to be near to a train, get close to railroad tracks.
So how is this task to be fulfilled? First, the covenanted community fulfills its task by its communal life as believers. Jesus said, “By this they will know you are my disciples, by the love you have for one another” (Jn 13:35). All the walls of division are broken down. We are one new man in Christ. We, by the Spirit, keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Eph 4:3).
Next, the church fulfills its task by its unquestioned obedience to the Word of God as the only rule of faith and practice. The Scriptures not only give us our marching orders but also give us directions on how to fulfill this mandate. As the Church keeps in step with the Spirit, God will use her to glorify his blessed name (I Pet. 2:12).
The covenanted community also fulfills its task by its uncompromising opposition to evil and the kingdom of Satan. We seek to persuade men, knowing the weapons of our warfare are not weak. We stand against all that stands against God, seeking to bring all thoughts captive to Christ (II Cor.10:3ff).
And lastly, the covenanted community fulfills its task by its full orbed worship of God in Spirit and truth (Jn 4:24). Jesus promised to dwell in the praises of his people. It is Christ who must be heard for salvation. He is most assuredly heard among his gathered people (Jn 10:3).
Christ has appointed the Church as the covenanted community to this great and glorious task to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. It is her responsibility to see his mandate fulfilled. And Christ has not left her to do this in her own strength. No! He has given his Spirit to the church as the supplier of all we need to win the nations to Christ the Lord.
Dr. Curto (DMin, Westminster Seminary California) has served as the professor of Missions and Apologetics at GPTS since 2004.
Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary initially published this article on Medium here.
