Yes, Virginia, there is. The true church is made up of all those churches that confess the true faith. We can divide the true church into the visible church and the invisible. The former contains all those who have a credible profession of faith. The latter includes only those who have actual possession of faith. The visible church, until the end, will always be a corpus per mixtum, a mixed body consisting of wheat and tares.
That is true of the individuals therein but also the doctrine confessed. That is, when we say the true church confesses the true faith we do not mean she does so perfectly. We all have errors in our thinking, and they, like tares in our hearts and minds, will be there until the end.
Typically those looking for the one, true church are looking for a visible institution, an entity with an address. The problem is there have been competing institutions making this claim for thousands of years. Do you suppose when the Jerusalem Council made their declaration against the Judaizers that the Judaizers all repented? Do you think those who didn’t repent converted to some other religion? No, they continued on, claiming that they would faithfully pray for that schismatic group in Jerusalem. They promised to welcome them back with open arms if they would simply repent and be circumcised.
That wasn’t the last split either. There were many more long before the Reformation, and have been more since then. The one-true-church buffet offered a long and heavy laden table filled to the brim with options. Eastern or Western rite? Pre or post Vatican II? Pope Snap or Pope Crackle or Pope Pop? The Reformation may have expanded the menu but it was already quite a tome.
Which ironically is what so often makes people go off in search of the “one true church.” It’s confusing, disheartening and more than a little scary to not know which group has it all together. The defining quality, however, of the one true church, is that it is made up of all those who know they have nothing together and know their only hope isn’t the one true church but the one true Savior.
The one true church, like every pretender to the title, has within its walls areas of disagreement. Those who baptize babies and those who don’t can’t both be right. Those who say the cup is literally the blood of the Lord and those who say it is not cannot both be right. They can, however, be a part of the same body. For the body is the body of Christ.
The one true church is that place where there is liberty on secondary matters and immovability on the primary, where we confess that we are sinners whose only hope is in the God-Man, Jesus Christ who died for our sins, was raised again and is seated at the right hand of the Father. Where we confess that He will come again to judge the quick and the dead. Where we confess our belief in one, holy and catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting..
This is the tenth installment of an ongoing series of pieces here on the nature and calling of the church. Stay tuned for more. Remember also that we are having a grand re-opening of Sovereign Grace Fellowship Sunday September 8 at 10:30 AM at our new location, 12811 Garman Road, Spencerville, IN. Please come join us.
Do you believe that a Roman Catholic who believes the doctrine and teaching of the Roman Catholic church has eternal life in heaven?
Thanks,
No. Rome teaches that anyone who says a man is justified by faith alone should be damned.
Mass yes, elements no.
I have so many friends that were raised in the Roman Catholic church. What is the best approach to explaining the gospel in Scripture vs. RCC?
Great question. I’d begin with, “how does a sinful man find peace with God?” I actually have a book I helped with answering that question coming soon.
Can’t wait to read your upcoming book.
Thanks!
Are you saying that the children of believing parents who do not have a credible profession of faith, or an actual profession of faith, are not part of the true church? I’m in a Southern Baptist church where our leadership does not believe our children are part of the true church. Ironically they also believe in an age of accountability.
I’m not saying one way or the other. If the Baptists are right, they are not. If the paedobaptists are right they are a part of the visible church. No one knows who is in the invisible church.
Maybe I’m entirely too simple minded, but does it make sense to say that the children of believers may not be part of the church, but every child, (of believers and non believers), who dies before reaching some specific time that they are deemed “accountable” is saved? I struggle with the logic there.
No, it’s hard any way you look at it. Even if all who die as children end up in heaven that doesn’t mean all who are children are saved
Thanks, RC Jr! This confession made my day. Praise God for the One True Church!