UNIT IX - The Doctrine of the Church
"Church" in the New Testament
The Church - Visible and Invisible
The Church and the Churches
Doctrine - True and False
The Lutheran Confessions
The Evangelical Lutheran Church, The True
Visible Church of God on Earth
The Christian and the Lodge
"To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." (I Corinthians 1:2)
"Thank God, a seven year old child knows what the church is, namely, holy believers and sheep who hear the voice of their good Shepherd. So children pray: 'I believe in one holy Christian Church.' Its holiness does not consist of surplices, tonsures, albs, or other ceremonies of theirs, which they have invented over and above the Holy Scriptures, but it consists of the Word of God and true faith." (Smalkald Articles, III,XII)
"The church is not merely an association of outward ties and rites like other organizations, however, but it is mainly an association of faith and of the Holy Spirit in men's hearts. To make it recognizable, this association has outward marks, the pure teaching of the Gospel and the administration of the sacraments in harmony with the Gospel of Christ. This church alone is called the body of Christ, which Christ renews, consecrates, and governs by His Spirit." (Apology of the Augsburg Confession, VII & VIII, 5)
The New Testament word "church" (Greek - "ecclesia") was used in secular Greek to refer to the town meetings of the Greek city states. The citizens were summoned to the gathering by the town crier who would move through the streets calling the people out. Accordingly the meeting was designated the "ecclesia" ("ek" = "out" : "kaleo" = "to call"), literally, the assembly of those who had been called out.
The Bible takes this non-religious term and transforms its meaning. In Scripture, "ecclesia" becomes the designation for the gathering of God's people, those who have been called out of the world by the power of the Holy Spirit, to assemble together around Word and Sacrament.
We use the word "church" in a bewildering multitude of ways; to refer to buildings, organizations, corporations, denominations, congregations, and institutions. All of this variety can cause us to become confused about what the "church" really is. The Bible only uses the word "church" in one way: PEOPLE - CALLED OUT - TOGETHER, to assemble around Word and Sacrament. That is the "CHURCH". The old Sunday School song expresses the Biblical sense perfectly as the children sing:
"I am the church. You are the church. We are the church, together.
The Church - Visible and Invisible
The Invisible Church - Inward Fellowship of Faith
The Holy Christian Church is all the people of God; everyone, everywhere who believes in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Membership in this church is not a matter of race, nationality, or denominational affiliation. It is an inward fellowship of faith. "Thus the Christian Church is physically dispersed among the pope, Turks, Persians, and Tartars, but spiritually gathered in one gospel and faith, under one Head, that is Jesus Christ." (Great Confession, Martin Luther, 1528) It is faith, and faith alone, which determines membership in this church. But faith is hidden. Its presence cannot be conclusively identified by outward appearances. Only God can see into the hearts of men. Hence only God knows who are truly His. And so, in that sense, the church is "invisible". "This is why natural reason cannot recognize it, even if puts on all its glasses...Christendom will not be known by sight, but by faith. And faith has to do with things not seen (Hebrews 11:1)." (Preface to the Revelation of St. John, Martin Luther, 1546)
The Visible Church - Outward Fellowship of the Means of Grace
Since the invisible church is an inward fellowship of faith, it can be found wherever the means through which God promises to create and strengthen saving faith are present. (Isaiah 55:11; Matthew 28:18-19; Titus 3:5-7; Matthew 26:26-29; I Corinthians 11:23-25) Thus the Gospel in Word and Sacrament (The Means of Grace) become the external "marks" which enable us to identify and recognize the invisible church. The "Visible Church" is the sum total of all those who profess to be Christians and participate in the outward fellowship of the Means of Grace. "And we do not speak of a fictitious church that can nowhere be found, but we say and know for sure that this church, in which saints live, is and remains truly on earth, namely, that some children of God are here and there in the whole world, in all kinds of kingdoms, islands, lands, cities, from the rising to the setting of the sun, who have rightly learned to know Christ and His Gospel, and we say that this church has these outward marks; the ministry of the Word, or the Gospel and the Sacraments." (Apology of the Augsburg Confession, VII,VIII,20)
It is, of course, a fact that unbelieving hypocrites, who do not truly belong to the invisible church, are mixed up with the believers among those who profess Christianity and gather around the means of grace (cf. The Parable of the Tares Among the Wheat - Matthew 13:24-30,36-43). Therefore although the Bible tells us who the church is (all believers) and where the church is (wherever the marks of the church are present) we can never combine the two into an identification of particular persons as believers in any given place. God knows His own (2 Timothy 2:19) and on the Day of Judgement He will separate the tares from the wheat. In the meantime we are to put the best construction on everything and operate by the rule of love which is, of course, often and easily deceived.
It is the will of God that every believer seek the outward fellowship of other Christians and participate together with them in Word and Sacrament, to praise and glorify God, and to encourage one another in our faith and life.
"Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching." (Hebrews 10:25)
"Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God." (Colossians 3:16)
"Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; His greatness no one can fathom. One generation will commend Your works to another; they will tell of Your mighty acts. They will speak of the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and I will meditate on Your wonderful works." (Psalm 145:3-5)
"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer...Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts." (Acts 2:42,46)
"I rejoiced with those who said to me, 'Let us go to the House of the Lord.'" (Psalm 122:1)
God desires that this outward fellowship among Christians be based upon the pure teaching of His Word and the Scriptural administration of the Sacraments which are the "Marks" of the church.
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:19)
"To the Jews who had believed Him, Jesus said; 'If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. And you will know the truth and the truth will set you free." (John 8:31-32)
"I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message, that all of them may be one." (John 17:20-21)
"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." (Acts 2:42)
"I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought." (1 Corinthians 1:10)
"Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one spirit - just as you were called to one hope when you were called - one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all...to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is, Christ." (Ephesians 4:3-6,12-16)
The Bible sternly warns against the dangers of false doctrine. Toleration of doctrinal error and church fellowship with those caught up in doctrinal error is firmly prohibited. Christians are called upon to "avoid" and "beware of" those whose teaching deviates from the truth of God's Word. Doctrinal indifference is lovelessness. Our failure to confront those who hold to false teaching or who follow false teachers jeopardizes their salvation and serves to confirm them in their error. Scripture rejects easy-going permissiveness and urges us instead to "speak the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:16) Toleration of false teaching undermines and ultimately destroys the authority of the Word of God.
"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves." (Matthew 7:15)
"Watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people." (Romans 16:17)
"Do not be yoked together with unbelievers...'Come out from among them and be separate,' says the Lord...Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God." (2 Corinthians 6:14,17, 7:1)
"But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again; if anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned...I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ." (Galatians 1:8-9,11-12)
"A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough. I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be." (Galatians 5:9-10)
"As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversy rather than God's work which is by faith. The goal of this command is love." (I Timothy 1:3-5)
"Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene...and they destroy the faith of some." (2 Timothy 2:16-18)
"Therefore, rebuke them sharply so that they will be sound in the faith, and will pay no attention to Jewish myths and the commands of those who reject the truth." (Titus 1:13-14)
"Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him." (Titus 3:10)
"If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work." (2 John 10,11)
"We are surely prepared to observe peace and love with all men, provided that they leave the doctrine of faith perfect and sound for us. If we cannot obtain this, it is useless for them to demand love from us. A curse on the love that is observed at the expense of the doctrine of faith, to which everything must yield - love, an apostle, an angel from heaven, etc.!...We can be saved without love and concord with the Sacramentarians, but not without pure doctrine and faith...Doctrine is heaven; life is earth...Therefore, there is no comparison at all between doctrine and life. 'One dot' of doctrine is worth more than 'heaven and earth' (Matthew 5:18); therefore we do not permit the slightest offense against it. But we can be lenient toward errors of life. For we, too, err daily in our life and conduct; so do all the saints, as they earnestly confess in the Lord's Prayer and the Creed. But by the grace of God our doctrine is pure; we have all the articles of faith solidly established in Sacred Scripture." (Galatians Commentary, Martin Luther, 1535)
"For the sectarians who deny the bodily presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper accuse us today of being quarrelsome, harsh, and intractable, because, as they say, we shatter love and harmony among the churches on account of the single doctrine about the Sacrament. They say that we should not make so much of this little doctrine...This is especially so because they agree with us on other articles of Christian doctrine. To this argument of theirs we reply with Paul: 'A little yeast leavens the whole lump.' (Galatians 5:9) In philosophy, a tiny error at the beginning is very great at the end. Thus in theology a tiny error overthrows the whole teaching...For doctrine is like a mathematical point. Therefore it cannot be divided, that is, it cannot stand either subtraction or addition. On the other hand, life is like a physical point. Therefore it can always be divided, and can always yield something...Therefore doctrine must be one eternal and round golden circle, in which there is no crack; if even the tiniest crack appears then the circle is no longer perfect...If they believed that it is the Word of God, they would not play around with it in this way...and that one doctrine is all doctrines and all are one, so that when one is lost all are eventually lost, because they belong together and are held together by a common bond...Therefore, if you deny God in one article of faith, you have denied Him in all; for God is not divided into many articles of faith, but He is everything in each article, and He is one in all the articles of faith." (Galatians Commentary, Martin Luther, 1535)
A "confession" is a formal written statement of what a Church believes and teaches. Actual practice within a church body must be judged by its confession. The Confessions of the Lutheran Church were written at the time of the Reformation and published in the Book of Concord in 1580. Congregations and pastors of the evangelical Lutheran Church are pledged to honor and uphold the Lutheran Confessions because they express the doctrines of Holy Scripture. The Confessions are not a rule of faith beyond or in addition to the Bible, but an affirmation of the doctrines of Scripture over against those who have denied those doctrines. "The distinction between the Holy Scripture of the Old and New Testaments and all other writings is maintained, and Holy Scripture remains the only judge, rule, and norm according to which as the only touchstone all doctrines should and must be understood and judged as good or evil, right or wrong. Other symbols and other writings are not judges like Holy Scripture, but merely witnesses and expositions of the faith, setting forth how at various times the Holy Scriptures were understood in the church of God by contemporaries with reference to controverted articles, and how contrary teachings were rejected and condemned." The Lutheran Confessions include:
The Apostles' Creed - (Third Century AD)
The Nicene Creed - (325 AD)
The Athanasian Creed - (Fourth Century AD)
The Augsburg Confession - (1530 AD)
The Apology of the Augsburg Confession - (1530 AD)
The Smalkald Articles - (1537 AD)
The Treatise on the Power and the Primacy of the Pope - (1537 AD)
The Small Catechism - (1529 AD)
The Large Catechism - (1529 AD)
The Formula of Concord - (1577 AD)
The Evangelical Lutheran Church, The True Visible Church of God on Earth
by Dr. C.F.W. Walther - 1866
Thesis I
The one holy Christian church on earth, or the church in the proper sense of the term, outside of which there is no
life and salvation, is, according to God's Word, the sum total of all those who truly believe in Christ and are
sanctified through this faith.
Thesis II
While the one holy Christian Church, as a spiritual temple cannot be seen, but only be believed, there are
nonetheless unmistakable outward marks by which its presence can be known. These marks are the pure preaching
of the Word of God and the uncorrupted administration of the holy sacraments.
Thesis III
In an improper sense Scripture calls also those visible communions "churches" which, though consisting not only of
believers or such as are sanctified through faith, but having also hypocrites and wicked persons, nevertheless teach
the gospel in its purity and administer the holy sacraments according to the gospel.
Thesis IV
Scripture even calls such visible communions "churches" as are guilty of partial deviation from the pure doctrine of
the Word of God as long as they still retain God's Word essentially.
Thesis V
Fellowships which, though retaining God's Word essentially, nevertheless err obstinately in fundamentals of the
Word of God are, insofar as they do this, not "churches" in the sense of Scripture but factions or sects, that is,
heretical fellowships.
Thesis VI
Fellowships that disrupt the unity of the church through errors not destroying the foundation of faith, or because of
persons, ceremonies, or matters of life, are, according to God's Word, sects or separatistic fellowships.
Thesis VII
Fellowships that call themselves Christian but do not recognize the Bible as the Word of God and so deny the Holy
Trinity are, according to God's Word, not churches, but synagogues of Satan and temples of idols.
Thesis VIII
While ecclesiastical writers at times call those fellowships true or real churches that retain God's Word essentially,
in distinction from those that are not churches, nevertheless, a true visible church in the strict sense of the term, in
opposition to heterodox churches or sects, is only that in which God's Word is proclaimed in its purity and the
sacraments are administered according to the Gospel.
Thesis IX
While, according to the divine promises, it is impossible for the one holy Christian church ever to perish, it is indeed
possible, and it has actually happened at times, that in the full sense of the term there was no true visible church,
namely one in which the preaching of the pure Word of God and the administration of the uncorrupted sacraments
was carried on by an uncorrupted public ministry.
Thesis X
The Evangelical Lutheran Church is the sum total of all who without reservation profess the doctrine that was
restored by Luther's Reformation and was in summary submitted in writing to the emperor and the realm at
Augsburg in 1530, and was treated and expounded in other so-called Lutheran symbols, as the pure doctrine of the
divine Word.
Thesis XI
The Evangelical Lutheran Church is not the one holy Christian church outside of which there is no salvation,
although it has never separated itself from the same and professes no other.
Thesis XII
If the Evangelical Lutheran Church has the marks that it preaches the Gospel in its purity and administers the
sacraments according to the Gospel, it is also the true visible church of God on earth.
Thesis XIII
The Evangelical Lutheran Church recognizes the written Word of the apostles and prophets as the sole and perfect
source, rule, and norm, and as the judge of all doctrine; (a) not reason; (b) not tradition; (c) not new revelations.
Thesis XIV
The Evangelical Lutheran Church professes the clarity of Scripture.
Thesis XV
The Evangelical Lutheran Church recognizes no human interpreter of Scripture whose official interpretation must
be regarded as infallible and binding; (a) not any individual person; (b) not any special class; (c) not any special or
universal church council; (d) not the whole church.
Thesis XVI
The Evangelical Lutheran Church accepts God's Word as it interprets itself.
(A) The Evangelical Lutheran Church leaves the decision solely to the original text.
(B) The Evangelical Lutheran Church, in its interpretation of words and sentences, adheres to linguistic usage.
(C) The Evangelical Lutheran Church recognizes only the literal sense as the true meaning.
(D) The Evangelical Lutheran Church maintains that there is but one literal sense.
(E) The Evangelical Lutheran Church is guided in its interpretation by context and purpose.
(F) The Evangelical Lutheran Church recognized that the literal sense may be either the proper of the improper one; however, it does no deviate from the proper meaning of a word or sentence unless the Scripture itself forces it to do so, namely by either the textual circumstances or a parallel passage or the analogy of faith.
(G) The Evangelical Lutheran Church interprets the obscure passages in light of the clear.
(H) The Evangelical Lutheran Church takes the articles of faith from those passages in which they are expressly taught, and judges according to these all incidental expressions regarding them.
(I) The Evangelical Lutheran Church rejects from the very outset every interpretation which does not agree with the analogy of faith (Romans 12:6)
Thesis XVII
The Evangelical Lutheran Church accepts the written Word of God as God's Word in its entirety, regarding nothing
set forth in it as superfluous or unimportant, but everything as necessary and important; it accepts also all doctrines
which necessarily follow form the Scripture words.
Thesis XVIII
The Evangelical Lutheran Church assigns to every doctrine of Scripture the rank and significance which it is given
in God's Word itself.
(A) As the foundation, core, and guiding star of all teaching it regards the doctrine of Christ or of justification.
(B) The Evangelical Lutheran Church distinguishes sharply between Law and Gospel.
(C) The Evangelical Lutheran Church distinguishes sharply between fundamental and non-fundamental articles set forth in Scripture.
(D) The Evangelical Lutheran Church distinguishes sharply between what God's Word commands and what it leaves to Christian liberty.
(E) The Evangelical Lutheran Church distinguishes sharply and carefully between the Old and New Testaments.
Thesis XIX
The Evangelical Lutheran Church adopts as an article of faith no teaching not shown with incontestable certainty to
be contained in the Word of God.
Thesis XX
The Evangelical Lutheran Church highly esteems the gift of Scriptural interpretation as it is given by God to
individual persons.
Thesis XXI
(A) The Evangelical Lutheran Church is sure that the doctrine set forth in its confessions is the pure divine truth,
because it agrees with the written Word of God on all points.
(B) The Evangelical Lutheran Church demands of its members, and especially of its teachers, that they acknowledge its Confessions without reservation and are willing to be obligated to them.
(C) The Evangelical Lutheran Church rejects every fraternal or ecclesiastical fellowship with those who reject its Confession either completely or in part.
Thesis XXII
The Evangelical Lutheran Church administers the holy sacraments according to Christ's institution.
Thesis XXIII
True Evangelical Lutheran local churches or congregations are only those in which the doctrine in which the
doctrine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, set forth in its symbols, is not only officially recognized but is also
professed in public preaching.
Thesis XXIV
The Evangelical Lutheran Church practices fellowship of confession and Christian love with all who are one in the
faith with it.
(Walther and the Church, John M. Drickamer, Translator. Concordia Publishing House: St. Louis, Missouri, 1981. Used by Permission)
"The Synod has declared itself firmly opposed to all societies, lodges, and organizations of an unchristian or antichristian character...Pastors and laypeople alike must avoid membership or participation in any organization that in its objectives, ceremonies, or practices is inimical to the gospel of Jesus Christ or the faith and life of the Christian Church. It is the solemn, God-given duty of every pastor properly to instruct his people concerning the sinfulness of all organizations that
1. explicitly or implicitly deny the Holy Trinity, the deity of Christ, or the vicarious atonement;
2. promise spiritual light apart from that revealed in Holy Scripture;
3. attach spiritual or eternal rewards to the works or virtues of men; and/or
4. embrace ideologies or principles that clearly violate an express teaching of Holy Scriptures concerning the relationships of men to one another.
The Synod instructs its officials to exercise vigilant care and urges all pastors and congregations to carry out these provisions and faithfully eradicate all compromise or negation of the Gospel through members' identification with objectionable organizations." (1992 Handbook, Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod)
"That the fundamental difference embodied in the historic creeds of Christendom and those of our modern secret orders has not been clearly thought out is indicated by the fact that many pledge themselves to both. There are lodge-men who, in the churches, subscribe to the doctrine that 'we are accounted righteous before God only for the merit of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, by faith, and not for our own works or deservings' and enthusiastically join in the singing of hymns in which that idea is embodied. Then in their lodge meetings they just as enthusiastically assent to the following declaration: 'Although our thoughts, words, and actions may be hidden from the eyes of men, yet that All-seeing Eye...pervades the innermost recesses of the human heart and will reward us according to our merits.'...One of these declarations excludes the other. Men cannot consistently subscribe to both....It remains for us as loyal Christians constantly to walk in the fear of God, following in the paths of righteousness as defined by the commandments, which serve as a rule for godly living. We dare never flirt with the works of darkness. It is unthinkable that we would be willing to silence our confession of Christ as our Savior and to dilute the truth which we have learned from God's inerrant divinely inspired Scriptures. We can never afford to compromise our Christian ethics with the materialistic, pleasure seeking world in which we live...Prove your loyalty be refusing to have nay traffic with an organization which stifles your Christian confession, dims the light of the eternal truth you have received from Holy Scripture, and compromises your Christian way of life to the point of making it indistinguishable from the way of the world." (Masonry in the Light of the Bible, Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, Missouri, 1964)