Thread by @AnglicanMan19, What is the Church? We know it’s purpose is to preach the [...]

What is the Church? We know it’s purpose is to preach the Word and administer the sacraments. Is it a particular communion, sect, or denomination? Is it just Protestants? Is it all people who see Jesus as the messiah? [THREAD]

The Church is defined in Scripture as those who believe in Christ whom God called out of darkness of this world into his light; they are members not because they chose it, but via divine grace. It includes all who profess their belief in Christ and are subject to lawful ministry.

When Apostles were sent out by our Lord, their works became Christ’s works, in their pursuit of the sanctification of mankind and the preservation of truth against the lies of antichristian teachers. Apostolic ministry is a means of grace by divine institution.

All the particular churches of the various communions of the Universal Church must derive their origin from the Apostles, either by proving that they were originally founded by the apostolic preaching or were derived from churches founded by them.

Any churches which lack such a clergy is not part of the true Church. Scripture tells us the Church is always to exist; therefore such a ministry must also exist, from Pentecost to the apocalypse, without interruption. It is and always has been, as Christ originally instituted.

The Old Testament shows that those who usurped the lawful priesthood and took on their duties without divine authority, like King Uzziah, were rebuked and punished by the Almighty. Likewise after Christ, a commission to the priesthood absolutely requires the authority of God.

No one can take this office upon themselves, nor discharge its duties with authority, but those who are called and set apart by the Church, according to God’s will. This cannot be discerned by feeling by an internal impulse; without miracles or proper commission it is prohibited.

Any society not actually founded by the apostles, nor the successors of the churches they founded, but were instead, from the moment of their inception, separated from the religion of that body, are not part of the holy institution founded by the apostles of Jesus

This means that the Assyrian, Old Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Anglican Communions all possess apostolic ministry and, so long as they teach the essential orthodox faith, they are part of the true Church, despite their excesses, sicknesses, and errors.

It is undeniable that these communions have massive problems (the Romans w/the Papacy, Mariolatry, transubstantiation; EOs w/extra-scriptural, mystical teachings like toll houses; Anglican fellowships crippled by liberalism, etc), but they uphold the fundamentals and the Creeds.

Most of their people have not apostatized from apostolic faith, but were fed from their parents or instructors some doctrines contrary to the truth. As Laud said, they are “misled... neither heretics nor schismatics in the sight of God, and are therefore in a state of salvation.”

But what of the Lutherans? They, like the Anglicans, were originally part of the Western communion, but broke w/ Rome over the overreach of the Papacy and the corrupt late medieval practices it fostered, causing most Lutherans to lose the historic episcopate; are they unchurched?

Luther and the Lutherans were separated from the Roman church unintentionally. Luther repeatedly made entreaties to his bishop, to Rome itself, with great humility and respect to seek purification of the Western church; there was no desire for schism.

For decades, Luther and his followers sought reconciliation and intervention, appealing to the King of France for help, to their Emperor for a national synod, but it was to no avail. They were excommunicated by the Roman see through an abuse of authority, and it would not yield.

The Lutherans were driven entirely by circumstance to adopt their system. It was not designed by Luther, nor Melanchthon, nor their successors to be permanent. Their structures and governance were intended as a temporary arrangement, until they could recover the communion.

But the Vatican thwarted all their efforts at restoration, even with the huge concessions the Lutherans were prepared to make. The Council of Trent made it even harder, and over time, the Lutherans forgot that their system was merely provisional, and came to accept separation.

The separation of the Reformed churches was similar, with Rome expelling them, and not the other way around. The Calvinists ordained men to other offices, never claiming the priesthood, revealing their acceptance that the Church catholick alone retained the apostolic vocation.

The Reformed went astray early on, misinterpreting a few passages in the Fathers, by which they now claim to recognize only the validity of presbyterian ordination. The evidence against this is so great, and regrettably we must, at best, have serious doubts of their validity.

Beyond these, 1000s of “denominations”, every doctrine is made a matter of dispute, and denied or corrupted by a schismatic spirit which demands absolute agreement or division. Their ministry lacks the authority of the apostles and their churches are merely voluntary associations

God did not intend for his Church to be a kingdom divided against itself on every issue, displaying chaotic confusion even in the most elementary principles of religion, and a bizarre modes of worship, from the comical to the blasphemous.

Christ’s mission on earth was the sanctification of his people. Any society or group which denies our obligation to perform good works, that one may freely indulge in wicked behavior and unrepentant sin, is anathema to Jesus Christ.

Conversely, any group which claims the true church is only comprised of perfect Christians, that sinners cannot be true members of it, as the Novatians, Donatists, and Pelagians taught, is at odds with the Bible’s teaching that the Church is composed of evil men as well as good.

Facing the challenges of the 21st century, we cannot afford such mindless divisions to go on any longer. We need the zeal many denominationalists have for Scripture brought back into the Church; likewise they need catholicity and a valid sacramental life from apostolic ministry.

The problem is all the more accuse by the turmoil in every branch, sect, and denomination, by those who seek to conform the Christian life to present-day societal standards. This is a surrender of the apostolic faith, for we are not if the world.

I pray this decade sees people turn from sectarianism and denominationalism to return to, and rejuvenate, the Church Catholic. A harvest is coming, for the Lord says: “Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

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