Unity and Truth : Part II
by Martin Davie:
Part II: The unity of the Church
In Part I we noted that there are two forms of the Church. There is the Church invisible consisting of all who are, or who will be, the people who belong to God. There is also the Church visible which is the community that exists in this world and is made up of all those who profess the Christian faith, whether their profession is merely nominal, or reflects a saving relationship with God in Christ and hence membership of the Church invisible. In the words of the Westminster Confession, in spite of its mixed nature, the Church visible is ‘the house and family of God, out of which there is no ordinary possibility of salvation.’ [1] This is because it is the community in which God’s word is preached and the sacraments are administered and in which, as result, sinners are able to enter into, and be sustained in, a saving relationship with God in Christ.[2]
In Part II we shall go on to consider the forms of unity that are proper to these two forms of the Church.
The unity of the invisible and visible Church
In his book Taking God Seriously J I Packer writes:
‘Christian unity is something distinct from both church union and Christian fellowship. Simply and basically, it is the stage of being united to, alive in, and governed by, Jesus Christ our living Lord, in company with all other Christians, past and present, those now with Christ in the heavenly Jerusalem of Hebrews 12:22 and those on earth with us today. As each Christian is in Christ and is one with him, so all Christians are one with each other in and through him. ‘Christian’ here means, quite specifically, a believer who is born again, knows Christ, is indwelt by the spirit, and seeks to live in love to the glory of the triune God. Christian unity is the active, acknowledged togetherness of all Christian people, who shared their supernatural life in their Savior’s love and who love each other across all boundaries of race, colour social standing, and denominational church identity. From this standpoint Christianity is a divine gift and foretaste of heaven and is entirely the fruit of God’s grace.’ [3]
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