Ephesians 5:25b–27 “Even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That
[Jesus] might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or
wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish”.
I
found this short study on the doctrine of the church as summarized in the
Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed. The church as an essential part of God’s plan,
so understanding what the Bible teaches about the church is key for fulfilling
our high calling as the bride of Christ. Four biblical characteristics of the
church are identified in the creedal phrase one, holy, catholic, and Apostolic
church. Today we will consider the church’s holiness.
Sometimes
it is hard to believe that the church is a holy body, a communion of saints
(meaning those sanctified). That is because we hear so often of scandals in the
church that reveal its abiding sin. Ministers commit moral failures. Laypeople
squabble over minor issues and church bodies split. The list goes on. Were the
Apostles and church fathers being naive when they called the church a holy
body?
Galatians 5:16-17 “Walk
in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh
lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary
the one to the other: so that you cannot do the things that you would.”
The
answer has to be no. Participants in the early church councils were well aware
that
Sin
is an ever-present reality for the church on this side of glory because we are
still in the flesh. Yet they also understood that despite the sin that remains,
God regards the communion of saints as holy. After all, both the Old Testament
and the New Testament refer to the people of the Lord as “saints,” that is,
“holy ones”. Often, as for example in the case of the Corinthian Christians,
these saints were anything but upright in conduct. Yet sinful believers are
still called holy, and that is because the basic meaning of the word holy is
“set apart unto God.” The Lord has called a people out of this world and set
them apart for Himself. They are His special possession even though they still
sin. Consequently, they are holy.
Romans 3:10-12, 19-24 “As it
is written, There is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that
understand, there is none that seek after God. They are all gone out of the
way; they are together become unprofitable; there is none that do good, no, not
one. Now we know that what things soever the law said, it said to them who are
under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become
guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be
justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of Sin. But now the
righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law
and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus
Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For
all have sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by
His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
We
typically associate holiness with moral purity, and that is appropriate given
the ways that Scripture describes the Lord as free from evil. The creed also
says that this kind of
holiness is characteristic of God’s people—though the church will not be
perfectly holy until it is glorified. Such experiential or practical
holiness is characteristic of the church because all those who believe in
Christ have the Holy Spirit, who is working in them so that they “work out
their salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12–13). This work is slow,
sometimes even barely perceptible, but it is occurring because the Lord
promises to conform us to the image of His Son.
Nobody is perfect and everyone is a sinner, so all need a Savior. We
should find it greatly comforting that God regards all those who trust in Christ
alone as holy. No matter how slowly our sanctification—our growth in
holiness—seems to be progressing, we know that the Lord is keeping His promise
by His Spirit to conform us to Christ. When we sin, let us remember this great
truth as we repent and mortify the flesh, and let us press on in our efforts to
please Him with all that we are.
Blessings.
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