by John H. Gerstner

There are fundamentally two views of the church. There are variations of these and mixtures of them, but fundamentally only two views. This division runs through the various denominations or "churches," as we shall see.

The first conception of the church is stated as follows: It is that body of persons who profess faith in Christ, who are subordinate to properly appointed officers, and who associate with those of like profession and practice. We must consider each of these things separately.

First, they profess faith in Christ. This usually signifies more than saying that they believe in someone whom they themselves call Christ. Their profession must recognize that Christ is a particular historic person who was none other than God incarnate. This is invariably considered as the minimum profession of Christianity. Insistence is on the fact that Christ is no mere man, no mere reformer, but the very Son of God. Profession of faith in Christ may be all that is required, but it must be an orthodox profession. Usually Christ, being regarded as divine, is also recognized as a member of the Trinity. Furthermore, His divinity is seen as necessary to His work of redemption, the acknowledgment of which is usually regarded as essential. The person affirms faith in Christ as God and Savior.

Second, those who make this profession do so to certain men called church officers, who are thought to be appointed by Christ. After all, it is argued, there must be someone to determine when men make satisfactory confessions. It is thought that these officers are indicated in the Bible. The Roman Catholic church finds the pope to be the recipient of the keys of the kingdom (or church), and he indirectly appoints the necessary subordinates (the priesthood). The Anglican church acknowledges no order higher than the bishop (except administrative), who is thought to be in succession from Peter, to whom the keys were given, and by whom they were transmitted to the bishopric. Those who defend this view are advocates of episcopal order, or government by bishops. Others, such as Presbyterians, believe that the officers are ministers (on one level and equal) associated with representatives of the congregation (elders); and still others, such as Congregationalists, regard the congregation itself as retaining and not delegating its authority.

Third, persons who profess faith in Christ to these duly appointed officers are received into the fellowship of like-minded persons. This fellowship constitutes the church. If a person professed Christ and acknowledged certain officers, but was not recognized by them, he would not be admitted to this fellowship, and therefore, in spite of all, would not be in the church. It is to be understood, furthermore, that membership in this society is not inalienable. A person may be excommunicated; that is, he may be cut off from the communion of the church and no longer be considered a member.

This is a very understandable and apparently sound view of the church. But is it true? Is a person who professes faith in Christ and is received by officers into a fellowship of life professors truly a member of the church in the biblical sense of the word? We admit that he may be, but this does not satisfy advocates of this doctrine who teach that there is no "maybe" here, but only certainty. Such a person, they say, is undoubtedly a member of the church of Christ with all its benefits and privileges. They will say that if a person is a member of a certain local church or denomination, he is truly a member of the church of Christ. So long as he is not cut off from the communion of this body by excommunication, he is not cut off from Christ. So these advocates cannot accept my statement that members of their church may be members of the church of Christ. No, they say, they are members of Christ's church.

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This is part twenty-five of John H. Gerstner's small book entitled Theology for Everyman, originally published in 1965 (Moody Press, Chicago). That book was subsequently republished in 1991. It has since fallen out of print and we thought it would be good to revisit this book here on the blog. Over the past weeks, we've been working our way through the book. Here is where we've been so far: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6 Chapter 7 and Chapter 8.