Theological Term of the Week

invisible church
“[T]he company of those who truly believe in Jesus Christ and are the recipients of salvation, both those who are currently alive and those who have died.”1

• From scripture:

 But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” … . (2 Timothy 2:19 ESV)

• From The Westminster Larger Catechism: 

Q. 64. What is the invisible church?

A. The invisible church is the whole number of the elect, that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one under Christ the head.

Q. 65. What special benefits do the members of the invisible church enjoy by Christ?

A. The members of the invisible church by Christ enjoy union and communion with him in grace and glory.

• From Systematic Theology by Louis Berkhof:

This church is said to be invisible, because she is essentially spiritual and in her spiritual essence cannot be discerned by the physical eye; and because it is impossible to determine infallibly who do and do not belong to her. The union of believers with Christ is a mystical union; the Spirit that unites them constitutes an invisible tie; and the blessings of salvation, such as regeneration, genuine conversion, true faith, and spiritual communion with Christ, are all invisible to the natural eye; — and yet these things constitute the real forma (ideal character) of the Church. …[T]he term “invisible should be understood in this sense…

Learn more:

1. Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry: What is the church?
2. Brian Schwertley: The Visible vs. The Invisible Church
3. John Calvin: Invisible and Visible Church
4. Harmony of the Reformed Confessions: Visible/Invisible Church

Related terms:

• visible church
• universal church
• local church

Filed under Ecclesiology

1From Dictionary of Theological Terms by Donald K. McKim.

Do you have a term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms in alphabetical order.

Round the Sphere Again: The Beginning and the End

The Problem
At For the Love of God, D. A. Carson gives brief commentary on Genesis 3.

[T]he heart of all human problems is rebellion against the God who is our Maker, whose image we bear, and whose rule we seek to overthrow. All of our problems, without exception, can be traced to this fundamental source: our rebellion and the just curse of God that we have attracted by our rebellion.

Have you ever noticed that God’s curses are related to the duties he assigned humankind before the fall? 

The Solution
It is God who will make everything right again during the second coming. Michael J. Kruger writes that it is important for believers to be future-oriented, because if we are not, we

• will forget that redemption is more than “spiritual”: Downplaying the physical aspects of redemption “can create a quasi-Gnostic spirituality amongst Christians, where the spiritual and physical are pitted against one another.”
• will lose perspective regarding the problem of evil: The second coming provides “an essential perspective without which the problem of evil could not be addressed.”
• will lack an appropriate context for personal holiness: “If we only focus on this current world, then holiness is going to seem strange and out of place… . But, what if our minds were set on another world?  What if our hearts were longing and waiting for a future world? A world where “righteousness dwells”?  If we did that, then holiness has a context where it is meaningful. Holiness and godliness make sense.”

Read the whole post at Canon Fodder for more explanation of these points.

A Catechism for Girls and Boys

Questions about Prayer

108. Q. In whose name should we pray?
          A. We should pray in the name of the Lord Jesus.

(Click through to read scriptural proof.)

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