Unifying the Church

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Introduction
Miriam-Webster’s dictionary defines unity as the state of being in full agreement. When one reads the Bible it is clear that God’s will is for the church to be unified. In I Corinthians 1:10 the Apostle Paul instructs the church to be perfectly joined together in mind and speech and to have no divisions among them. Today we see various denominations, or as defined in Miriam-Webster’s dictionary, religious organizations united in their adherence to its beliefs and practices. This raises the question, where is this unified church that is described in the Bible? This paper will address the Protestant doctrine of the invisible church. The invisible church are the people who are not only outwardly religious but have also made a true confession of faith in the atoning work of Jesus Christ. According to scripture the invisible church will be revealed when Jesus Christ comes to gather His church. In order to fully understand the doctrine of the invisible church one must be able to distinguish between both the invisible and visible church. The visible church is simply defined as the place where people gather to worship, listen to the Gospel, and perform religious sacraments. Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone that says to me, ‘Lord, Lord.’ Will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the ones who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”, indicates that it is possible for some who are members of the visible church to not be members of the invisible church. It is possible for a person to gather in a place with people who outwardly confess belief in Jesus Christ and perform religious sacraments, but have actually made a false confession in their heart. This is also supported in Matthew 15:8 when Jesus says, “These...

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...is what makes the invisible church visible to the world, thus provoking faith in the hearts of unbelievers. In an article of this subject matter John Muether writes this: “As the manifestation of the invisible church to the world in time and place, the visible church, though imperfect, remains the true church, because it displays the marks of the church: the Word, sacraments, and discipline. And it is the only church that we can see and fellowship with; we have no Gnostic recourse to any other church than the visible church.”
The conclusion is this, one can perceive and understand the distinction between the terms visible and invisible church because the concept of the invisible church is scriptural. However, God’s purpose is for his glory to be revealed in the invisible church by means of the visible church members loving one another and working together as one.

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