Great Doctrines - Grace Church of DuPage

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D OCTRINAL OCTRINAL LLESSON
L ESSON SSECTION
S ECTION 31 TTHE
T HE NNATURE
N TURE OOF
O TTHE
T HE CCHURCH
C HURCH
DOCTRINAL SUMMARY
The Church of God as it exists on the earth is both visible and invisible. Martin
Luther was the first to make this distinction. The Church is invisible because she is
essentially spiritual and you cannot determine infallibly those who do and do not belong
to her. The union of believers is a mystical union; the Spirit that unites them constitutes
an invisible tie; and the blessings of salvation such as true faith, regeneration, genuine
conversion, and spiritual communion with Christ are all invisible ~ and yet these things
constitute the true form of the Church. But although the church is the spiritual body of
Christ, it has its imperfect embodiment in the visible Church.
And so this invisible Church assumes a visible form; just as the human soul is adapted
to a body and expresses itself through that body, so the invisible Church necessarily
assumes a visible form in the external organization through which it expresses itself.
The Church becomes visible in Christian profession and conduct, in the ministry of the
Word and of the ordinances, and in external organization and government.
Also, the Church is both an organism and an organization. The Church as an organ
ism is the communion of believers, with all their gifts and talents being exercised for
the work of her Lord. The Church as an institution is an agency for the conversion of
sinners and the perfecting of the saints, it exists in an institutional form and functions
through the means which God has ordained.
AS YOU PRAYERFULLY CONSIDER YOUR RESPONSE:
God has accomplished His will for all of the saints eternally, purposefully, perfectly,
and for His glory. Behold what is yet to come! (Eph. 1:15-23)
HOMEWORK:
Read Ephesians 1-3 daily.
Read Grudem, chapter 44, Sec. A-1, 2, 3, 6; B-1&2
Notes
GREAT DOCTRINES IV ~ THE CHURCH PART 4~SECTION 31~PAGE 3
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