Theological Term of the Week: Visible Church

visible church
“All those who profess faith in Christ and give evidence of their faith with their lives”;1 “all those who profess the true religion, together with their children.”2 

• From scripture: 

  To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours … . (1 Corinthians 1:2 ESV) 

• From Keach’s Catechism: 

  Question 105: What is the visible church?
  Answer: The visible church is the organized society of professing believers, in all ages and places, wherein the Gospel is truly preached and the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper rightly administered. (Acts 2:42; 20:7; Acts 7:38; Eph. 4:11,12)

• From the Westminster Larger Catechism: 

  Question 61: Are all they saved who hear the gospel, and live in the church?
  Answer: All that hear the gospel, and live in the visible church, are not saved; but they only who are true members of the church invisible.

  Question 62: What is the visible church?
  Answer: The visible church is a society made up of all such as in all ages and places of the world do profess the true religion, and of their children.

  Question 63: What are the special privileges of the visible church?
  Answer: The visible church has the privilege of being under God’s special care and government; of being protected and preserved in all ages, not withstanding the opposition of all enemies; and of enjoying the communion of saints, the ordinary means of salvation, and offers of grace by Christ to all the members of it in the ministry of the gospel, testifying, that whosoever believes in him shall be saved, and excluding none that will come unto him.

• From Concise Theology by J. I. Packer: 

  There is a distinction to be drawn between the church as we humans see it and as God alone can see it. This is the historic distinction between the “visible church” and the “invisible church.” Invisible means, not that we can see no sign of its presence, but that we cannot know (as God, the heart-reader, knows, 2 Tim. 2:19) which of those baptized, professing members of the church as an organized institution are inwardly regenerate and thus belong to the church as a spiritual fellowship of sinners loving their Savior. Jesus taught that in the organized church there would always be people who thought they were Christians and passed as Christians, some indeed becoming ministers, but who were not renewed in heart and would therefore be exposed and rejected at the Judgment (Matt. 7: 15-27; 13:24-30, 36-43, 47-50; 25:1-46). The “visible-invisible” distinction is drawn to take account of this. It is not that there are two churches, but that the visible community regularly contains imitation Christians whom God knows not to be real (and who could know this for themselves if they would, 2 Cor 13:5).

Learn more:

1. Brian Schwertley: The Visible Vs. The Invisible Church
2. John Calvin: Distinction Between the Visible and Invisible Chruch
3. James Bannerman: The Church in Its Twofold Character as Visible and Invisible

Related terms: 

• credobaptism
• invisible church 
• paedobaptism 
• saints

Filed under Ecclesiology

1From Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem. (This is a credobaptist definition.)

2From Systematic Theology by Robert Letham. (This is a paedobaptist definition.)

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Sunday's Hymn: Tell Me the Story of Jesus

Tell me the story of Jesus,
Write on my heart ev’ry word;
Tell me the story most precious,
Sweetest that ever was heard.
Tell how the angels, in chorus,
Sang as they welcomed his birth,
“Glory to God in the highest!
Peace and good tidings to earth.”

Tell me the story of Jesus,
Write on my heart ev’ry word;
Tell me the story most precious,
Sweetest that ever was heard.

Fasting alone in the desert,
Tell of the days that are past,
How for our sins he was tempted,
Yet was triumphant at last.
Tell of the years of his labor,
Tell of the sorrow he bore,
He was despised and afflicted,
Homeless, rejected and poor.

Tell of the cross where they nailed him,
Writhing in anguish and pain;
Tell of the grave where they laid him,
Tell how he liveth again.
Love in that story so tender,
Clearer than ever I see:
Stay, let me weep while you whisper,
Love paid the ransom for me.

 —Fanny J. Crosby

 Other hymns, worship songs, or quotes for this Sunday:

• Father of Earth and Heaven at The Happy Wonderer
• Are We Telling the World? at The Outspoken Tulip 
• He took my place. I take his grace. at Tried With Fire
• Lord’s Day 4, 2020 at The Thirsty Theologian

Selected Reading: January 25, 2020

Some listening and reading (and baking!) recommendations.

Scripture

Jesus’s Own View of Scripture and How Do We Know the Bible Is God’s Word?
These are two mp3 downloads of Michael Kruger’s Sunday School class on key doctrines about Scripture.

Here’s the course description: “Ever since the serpent in the garden asked, ‘Did God really say?’, there have been never-ending challenges to the trustworthiness of God’s word. Even as believers, we can doubt and wonder about where the Bible came from, how it was put together, and whether it is really God’s word. This class will tackle some of these toughest challenges so that we can renew our trust and confidence in the inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible.” 

The handouts for these two classes are here and here. The audio to rest of the classes will be added each week to this post at Dr. Kruger’s blog. 

Communion

10 Things You Should Know about the Lord’s Supper
Another excellent addition to Crossway’s 10 Things You Should Know series. These points are adapted from Truth We Can Touch: How Baptism and Communion Shape Our Lives by Tim Chester.

Salvation

Regeneration 
Because I never grow tired of the basic truths of the faith. This one answers the question, “What does God actually do when a person comes to faith?” (Simply Put Podcast).

Hebrews

Who was Melchizedek?
I’ve been hosting a study of the New Testament book of Hebrews in my home, and found this short video on Melchizedek instructive. (I am also kind of proud of myself for finally learning how to spell Melchizedek.)

Food

Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies
I made these and they were everything a cookie ought to be: thin, crispy, chewy, and very butterscotchy.