The Marks of a True Church
Published on Facebook, February 16, 2011
By Bud Powell
Acts
2:42 "And they continued stedfastly in the
apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in
prayers." Calvin sees here the marks of the true church, anticipating the
Belgic Confession.
It
is not faithful preaching that turns from the doctrine of the apostles; True fellowship is disrupted when men depart from the
path of obedience and defile the Lord Supper; prayer must bathe all
as our proper response to faithful preaching and fellowship. Acts 2:42 fleshes
out the Belgic Calvin says:
"Luke
doth not only commend in them the constancy of faith or of godliness, but he
saith, also, that they did constantly give themselves to those exercises which
serve to the confirmation of faith; to wit, that they studied continually to
profit by hearing the apostles; that they gave themselves much to prayer; that
they did use fellowship and breaking of bread very much.
"As
touching prayer and doctrine the sense is plain. Communication or fellowship,
and breaking of bread, may be taken diversely. Some think that breaking of
bread doth signify the Lord’s Supper; other some do think that it signifieth alms; other some that the faithful did banquet
together among themselves. Some do think that koinwnia, doth signify the celebrating of the Holy Supper;
but I do rather agree to those others who think that the same is meant by the
breaking of bread. For koinwnia, unless it have
somewhat added unto it, is never found in this sense; therefore, I do rather
refer it unto mutual society and fellowship, unto alms, and unto other duties
of brotherly fellowship. And my reason why I would rather have breaking of bread
to be understood of the Lord’s Supper in this place is this, because Luke doth
reckon up those things wherein the public estate of the Church is contained.
Yea, he expresseth in this
place four marks whereby the true and natural face of the Church may be judged.
[The Belgic telescopes these into three--cwp]
"Do
we then seek the true Church of Christ? The image thereof is lively depainted and set forth unto us in this place. And he beginneth with doctrine which is, as it were, the soul of
the Church. Neither doth he name all manner of doctrine, but the doctrine of
the apostles, that is, that which the Son of God had delivered by their hands.
Therefore, wheresoever the pure voice of the gospel
doth sound, where men continue in the profession thereof, where they exercise
themselves in hearing the same ordinarily that they
may profit, without all doubt there is the Church." Calvin in his commentary on Acts 2.
