Page 35 - Ecclesiology Textbook Masters

5. The true church practices ordinances in obedience to Christ’s commands. He commanded believers
to be baptized by immersion as an identification with His death, burial, and resurrection. He also told us
to partake in the Lord’s Supper to remember what He did for us on the cross. Both ordinances point to
Christ’s great sacrifice of love for the church. A true church obeys Christ and frequently practices both
ordinances.

6. The true church deals with sin and problems in the church. The true church does not ignore them.
Throughout the ministry of Paul, he frequently dealt with sin in the church. In fact, in I Corinthians 5, he
gave clear instructions on how to handle a moral problem in the church. It’s called church discipline. In
Matthew 18, Jesus gave us guidelines about how to handle a person who is walking in sin.

Albert Mohler, Jr. wrote, “…the decline of church discipline is perhaps the most visible failure of the
contemporary church. No longer concerned with maintaining purity of confession or lifestyle, the
contemporary church sees itself as a voluntary association of autonomous members, with minimal
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moral accountability to God, much less to each other.”

The goal of church disciple is restoration and reconciliation. Its purpose is to bring sinners to
repentance, keep sin from spreading to others, give a distinct and clear witness to the world, protect the
purity of the church, and honor Jesus Christ our Lord. It applies to those in the church who are publicly
known and outwardly practice rebellion against the Lord or violate Christ’s commands in relationships
with others. It should be practiced with those who practice heretical teachings (Gal. 1:8-9), divisiveness
(Romans 16:17-18, I Cor 1:10-13, 3:1-4), of idleness (2 Thess. 3:6, 11-2).

7. The true church is unified. The mark of the disciples of Christ is that they truly love one another. In
Jesus’ prayer for his followers in John 17, the word, unity, is found four times so it must be important.
The unity is centered around the purpose and mission of the church. The unity is visible to the world.

Some people have a false idea of what unity is within the church. It is not the absence of strife. Strife
caused by different opinions about how things are to be done will always exist until we are glorified in
heaven someday. It does not mean we all believe the same things and are similar in nature. It is not
unity at all costs. It is not withdrawing from the world in a monastery.

Unity comes as each member of the church submit to Jesus Christ, his teachings, and his Gospel. It is
centered around the Spirit of God controlling those who believe. Unity is obtained as people become
more like Christ. They, as Philippians 2 commands, have the mind of Christ in servanthood, preferring
others above themselves. Unity comes from every person in the church becoming committed to the
mission of the church. It comes as believers become dependent upon God through prayer.

So, what’s at stake if a church is not unified? The reputation of Christ to the World, the Gospel, and
a tainted bride of Christ! As William Toms said, “Be careful how you live. You may be the only Bible
some person ever reads.”
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20 R. Albert Mohler Jr., “Church Discipline: The Missing Mark,” Polity: Biblical Arguments on How to Conduct Church
Life, ed. Mark E. Dever (Washington DC: Center for Church Reform, 2005), 43.
21 https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/439742-be-careful-how-you-live-you-may-be-the-only

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