The Church
The body of Christ and its two great signs: why we need the church, and what baptism and the Lord's Supper mean.
The Church
Why do I need the church?
The church is not optional for the Christian: it is the family and body of Christ, the place where the Spirit works through word and sacrament, where gifts serve the whole, and where believers are built up and sent out. Lone Christianity is not biblical Christianity.
The Church
What is baptism?
Baptism is the sign and seal of the new covenant: the believer, having trusted Christ, is immersed into His death and resurrection, publicly identifying with Him and being joined to His people. It is commanded by Jesus and received through faith, not a way of earning salvation.
The Church
What is the Lord's Supper?
The Lord's Supper is the meal Jesus gave His church in memory of Him: the bread and the cup proclaim His death until He comes, and believers share it in faith, examining themselves, receiving Christ, and renewing communion with Him and with one another.
The Church
What does a healthy church look like?
A healthy church is not a perfect church; it is one that keeps the apostolic marks: faithful teaching of the word, the gospel at its center, love among its members as a real body, prayer and the Table practiced together, and care that reaches both inward and outward. It grows as every part does its work under Christ the head.
The Church
Should infants be baptized, or only believers?
In the New Testament, baptism is given to those who repent and believe, following a profession of faith: the Gospels and Acts consistently show belief leading to baptism. Some faithful churches, seeing the covenant as one sign given from infancy, baptize the young children of believers as well. This is an honest difference among godly Christians, tried since the early church. Follow Scripture, your church, and a clear conscience, and hold the shared center: baptism belongs to those who belong to Christ.
The Church
How often should the church celebrate the Lord's Supper?
The New Testament does not fix an exact frequency. Its own words are 'as often as' you eat the bread and drink the cup, so that you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. The first church broke bread regularly and gathered to do so on the first day of the week, and Paul's warning to examine oneself governs how we come more than when. Celebrate it often, worthily, and in remembrance of Him.
The Church
What is the church?
The church is not a building or a program; it is the people of God, the whole company of those joined to Christ by faith. Scripture calls it the body of Christ, the bride of Christ, the household and temple of the living God, and the assembly Christ is building. It is the community that belongs to Him and grows into Him, lived out in local gatherings now and gathered in fullness when He returns.
The Church
What is church discipline?
Church discipline is the loving, orderly way the church helps its members turn from sin and stay in the way of Christ: private appeal first, then witnesses, then the church, and for the unrepentant, the last step of removal from fellowship. Its goal is never punishment; it is restoration, the purity of the church, and the saving of souls. Jesus commanded it, and the New Testament expects it.
The Church
Does baptism save a person?
Baptism is commanded and precious, but Scripture is clear that the water does not save apart from faith in Christ. Salvation is by grace through faith, and baptism is the sign and seal of that salvation: it pictures dying and rising with Christ and expresses the faith that trusts Him. The New Testament ties baptism to the response of faith and forgiveness, but it never makes the rite the ground of salvation.
The Church
What is the difference between baptism and the Lord's Supper?
Baptism and the Lord's Supper are the two ordinances Jesus gave His church, and each is rooted in His command. Baptism happens once, at the beginning, and pictures entering into union with Christ in His death and resurrection. The Lord's Supper is repeated, and keeps the church returning to remember the body and blood of Christ until He comes. One marks the start of the Christian walk; the other sustains it along the way.
The Church
Who may take the Lord's Supper?
The Lord's Supper is for those who belong to Jesus and come in faith: believers who examine themselves and discern the Lord's body. It does not require perfection, but it does require confession, since Paul warns against taking it in an unworthy manner. The table is for the church, the body of Christ, and its participants are called to come with humility, repentance, and love for the brothers.
The Church
How is Christ present in the Lord's Supper?
At the Supper Jesus said, 'This is my body' and 'This is my blood,' and the church has always recognized a real presence of Christ at His table, while describing it differently. The historic views range from the bread and wine becoming His body and blood to a spiritual presence received by faith to a memorial of His once-for-all sacrifice. All agree on what matters: Christ is the host and the gift, the Supper is communion with Him, and His sacrifice is not repeated but proclaimed.
The Church
What does a church need from its leaders?
A church needs leaders whose character is fit for the calling, who shepherd the flock like the Chief Shepherd rather than lording over it, who teach the word and guard the flock from error. Scripture puts far more weight on character and on shepherding than on worldly ability, and it measures leaders by Christ's pattern of humble service. Such leaders are a gift of God to His church.
The Church
What kind of authority did Jesus give church leaders?
Servant authority, and nothing else. Jesus forbade His followers the thrones and honorific titles of the world: greatness in His kingdom is service, elders shepherd willingly as examples rather than lording it over the flock, and every leader remains under the authority of the one Teacher, the Christ.
The Church
What does Peter say about Peter?
Peter's own letters and history show a man who consistently pointed away from himself. He confessed Jesus as the Christ, needed correction himself, refused worship at Cornelius' house, and wrote as a fellow elder telling shepherds not to domineer. Read him closely and he keeps handing the spotlight back to his Lord.
The Church
Does God require His servants to stay unmarried?
No. Scripture counts forbidding marriage a mark of departure from the faith, calls marriage honorable in every station, and treats married ministry as normal, with singleness a gift some receive for undivided devotion. Neither state is required, neither ranks above the other, and both are received with thanksgiving.
The Church
What is the church's mission in the world?
The church exists to make disciples of Jesus and to be, before the watching world, the people of God: witnesses to Christ, salt of the earth, lights in a dark place. The risen Lord gave the mission Himself, and the Spirit supplies its power. We speak the gospel with words and adorn it with lives that make those words believable.
The Church
Who are God's chosen people?
God chose Israel as His people through Abraham's covenant, and that choice was never revoked. But Scripture also reveals a mystery hidden for ages: that Gentiles in Christ are grafted into the same olive tree, becoming fellow members with Israel of one body. The church is not a replacement for Israel; it is the fullness of what Israel was always called to be, a people from every nation joined to the God of Abraham by faith in Jesus.