Westminster 1647

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Of the Church

Of the Church

Of the Church - Chapter of the Westminster Confession of Faith

  1. 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 fulness of him that filleth all in all.493

    • 493. Ephesians 1:10,22,23.
    • Ephesians 5:23,27,32.
    • Colossians 1:18.

  2. 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,494 and of their children;495 and is the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ,496 the house and family of God,497 out of which there is no ordinary possibility of salvation.498

    • 494. 1 Corinthians 1:2.
    • 1 Corinthians 12:12,13.
    • 495. 1 Corinthians 7:14.
    • Acts 2:39.
    • Ezekiel 16:20,21.
    • Romans 11:16.
    • Genesis 3:15.
    • Genesis 17:7.
    • 496. Matthew 13:17.
    • Isaiah 9:7.
    • 497. Ephesians 2:19.
    • Ephesians 3:15.
    • 498. Acts 2:47.

  3. Unto this catholic visible Church Christ hath given the ministry, oracles, and ordinances of God, for the gathering and perfecting of the saints, in this life, to the end of the world: and doth by his own presence and Spirit, according to his promise, make them effectual thereunto.499

    • 499. 1 Corinthians 12:28.
    • Ephesians 4:11-13.
    • Matthew 28:19,20.
    • Isaiah 59:21.

  4. This catholic Church hath been sometimes more, sometimes less visible.500 And particular churches, which are members thereof, are more or less pure, according as the doctrine of the gospel is taught and embraced, ordinances administered, and public worship performed more or less purely in them.501

    • 500. Romans 11:3,4.
    • Revelation 12:6,14.
    • 501. 1 Corinthians 5:6,7.
    • Revelation 2:1-29.
    • Revelation 3:1-22.

  5. The purest churches under heaven are subject both to mixture and error;502 and some have so degenerated as to become no churches of Christ, but synagogues of Satan.503 Nevertheless, there shall be always a Church on earth to worship God according to his will.504

    • 502. 1 Corinthians 13:12.
    • Revelation 2:1-29.
    • Revelation 3:1-22.
    • 503. Revelation 18:2.
    • Romans 11:18-22.
    • 504. Matthew 16:18.
    • Psalms 72:17.
    • Psalms 102:28.
    • Matthew 28:19,20.

  6. There is no other Head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ:505 nor can the Pope of Rome, in any sense, be head thereof; but is that Antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that exalteth himself in the Church against Christ, and all that is called God.506

    • 505. Colossians 1:18.
    • Ephesians 1:22.
    • 506. Matthew 23:8-10.
    • 2 Thessalonians 2:3,4,8,9.
    • Revelation 13:6.