What are we to think of self-proclaimed Christians who have
little or nothing to do with the visible church? We will first admit that only God knows whether
or not these people are truly born again. We will also admit that the church
has historically allowed for the possibility that some people outside the visible
church are indeed saved. The Westminster Confession of Faith says, “Out of [the
visible church] there is no ordinary
possibility of salvation.” [1]
The word ordinary grants the exception to the rule. It says that salvation normally
brings people into the church, while acknowledging that, under extraordinary
circumstances, some true believers may remain outside the visible church.
The existence of exceptions should not provide a sense of
assurance and security for those who knowingly refuse to participate in the
visible church. Unfortunately, it is very easy to use exceptions to justify wrong
behavior. We are often too quick to argue that “My circumstance is different!” If we are honest with ourselves, we are all
familiar with our own self-justifying tendencies. We have all rationalized
wrong behavior at some time or another.
To show how easy it is to rationalize exceptions, consider
this illustration: A video once made the
rounds on social media. Ben Shapiro, a conservative, Jewish pro-life advocate, was
filmed presenting his pro-life position at a college. After his talk, he took
questions from the audience. One defiant young lady took her turn at the
microphone and asked, “What would you say to a woman who is pregnant because of
rape or incest?” Knowing that less than 1% of all abortions occur in cases of
rape or incest, Shapiro responded, “Okay, if I grant that abortion should be
permitted under those particular circumstances, would you be willing to discuss
preventing abortion in all other circumstances?” The young lady quickly replied that women
should always have the choice to abort regardless of the circumstances: “It’s
her body. She should be able to do what she wants with it.”
This scene quickly demonstrated that the young lady’s exception
was simply a rationalization for the position she truly wanted. In her heart, she
believed the exception in one case should be the rule in all cases. Similarly,
Christians outside the church should be quick to examine whether or not their “exceptional
circumstances” are simply justifications for doing what they want instead of
what God wants.
Lest there be any misunderstanding, let me state clearly
that the Bible teaches that salvation is only and always by faith in Jesus
Christ. Baptism never saves anyone.
Neither does participating in communion or joining a church. We have already
seen that non-Christians exist within the visible church. Presumably they have been baptized and
regularly partake of communion. Obviously being in the visible church does not
guarantee salvation. So why has the church historically insisted that salvation
and the visible church are ordinarily inseparable?
There are at least three reasons: The first is that the
church is the divinely ordained steward of the Gospel through which God saves
souls. The apostles were first commissioned by Christ to build his church by
proclaiming the Gospel throughout the entire world. Repeatedly in Scripture they
warned the church against adulterations of the Gospel. Alongside the Apostles, God
gifted prophets, evangelists, and pastor/teachers for the purpose of keeping
the church on the same page with regard to doctrine and practice (Ephesians 4:11-16).
Today, the church sends out Gospel-preachers
to every tribe, tongue, and nation. As the Gospel spreads, church elders are to
be ordained in every location (Titus 1:5). They are to continue the divinely-ordained
process of stewardship and instruction (Titus 1:9).
The second reason is that the church is in the business of
accrediting claims to salvation. This is
done through baptism, communion, and church discipline (how and why will be the
explained in a later chapter). As a bivocational pastor who is also a college
educator, I borrow the word “accreditation” from the academic world. Simply
put, accreditation is the process by which an agency certifies that a college
is what it says it is and does what it says it does. Similarly, the church uses
baptism, communion, and church discipline to certify that Christians are what
they say they are and do what they say they do. Once “accredited,” the church provides
their ministry-home and assembles them regularly for worship and instruction
according to the plan of God.
The third reason is that the Word of God teaches that Christians
do not knowingly continue in sin. Those
who do should not consider themselves Christians, and churches have no grounds
to consider them Christians. The First
Epistle of John was written to inform people how they can know whether or not
they have truly been born again. It
presents many different applications of a very simple formula: All believers keep God’s commandments. Those
who do not keep God’s commandments are not Christians:
1 John 2:3-6And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
Additionally, does the church have grounds to consider
them Christian? Baptism and communion are a primary means by which the church
certifies its confidence in people’s profession of faith.[2]
Through these, the church declares that it believes someone is truly a
Christian. Excommunication is the means by which the church withdraws that
confidence. What then is the church to think of all those who refuse to participate
in the church’s sacraments and submit to the church’s discipline? At the least the church has no normal grounds to consider
them Christians, no matter what they may believe about their own
salvation.
Now back to the exceptions. What might be some legitimate, extraordinary
examples of true believers outside the visible church? As it should be, it is hard to say with 100% confidence. The
following spring to mind: What if you are the only believer in a large,
third-world community? What if you are a believer in a country that has made it
impossible to gather with other believers? What if you were taught incorrectly
through no fault of your own? What if you move to a new area and can’t find a
good church? What if you are disabled
and unable to attend church? What if you
are a Christian in a family that forbids you or otherwise makes it difficult
for you to be a part of a church? I am
sure others can think of many other possibilities.
[1]
The Westminster Confession of Faith is not the Bible, and therefore does not
carry its authority. However, it is a widely-accepted, historical expression of
what the Bible teaches. It originated in the 1600s and is still the official “statement
of faith” for presbyterian churches. All churches have creeds and confessions,
whether they are stated or unstated, old or new, short or long. Few are as time-tested and widely received as
the Westminster Confession of Faith. The
Baptists have their own version called the London Baptist Confession of Faith.
It is almost as old and borrows heavily from the Westminster Confession.
[2]
In Presbyterianism, the children of believers are baptized into the church even
though they do not yet possess personal faith in Jesus Christ. They are known as non-communing members because
they may not yet participate in communion. Later, when their faith is confirmed,
they are admitted to communion as an expression of their own faith in Christ
and the church’s confidence in their profession of faith.
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