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Genuine Church Unity. 

By J.C.Ryle.

 

There is one true Church, outside of which there is no salvation, a Church to which we must belong or be lost eternally.  What are the marks of this Church? 

 

  1. The one true Church is composed of all believers in the Lord Jesus. It is made up of all God’s elect, of all converted men and women, of all true Christians. In them we can discern the election of God the Father, the sprinkling of the blood of God the Son, the sanctifying work of God the Spirit, in them we see members of Christ’s true Church.

 

It is a Church of which all the members are all born again of the Spirit. They all possess repentance towards God, faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ and holiness of life and conversation. They all hate sin and they all love Christ. They worship differently and after various fashions but they all worship with one heart. They are all led by one Spirit. They all build upon one foundation. They all draw their faith from one single book. They are all joined to one great centre, Jesus Christ. They all, even now, can say with one heart, “Hallelujah” and they all can respond with one heart and voice, “Amen and amen”.

 

It is a Church which is dependent upon no ministers upon earth, however much it values those who preach the gospel to its members. The life of its members does not hang on church membership, on baptism or the Lord’s supper, although they highly value these things. It has only one Great Head, one Shepherd, one chief Bishop, and that is Jesus Christ. He alone, by His Spirit, admits the members of this Church, though ministers may show the door. Till He opens the door no man on earth can open it. Once let a man repent and believe the gospel and at that moment he becomes a member of this Church. Like the penitent thief he may have no opportunity of being baptized, but he has that which is far better than any water-baptism, the baptism of the Spirit.

 

It is a Church whose existence does not depend on forms, ceremonies, cathedrals, churches, chapels, pulpits, fonts, vestments, organs, endowments, money, kings, governments, magistrates, or any act of favour whatsoever from the hand of man. It has often lived on and continued when all these things have been taken from it. It has often been driven into the wilderness or into dens and caves of the earth by those who ought to have been its friends. But its existence depends on nothing but the presence of Christ and His Spirit and so long as they are with it the Church cannot die.

 

This is the Church to which the promises of future glory belong. This is the body of Christ. This is the Bride. This is the flock of Christ. This is the household of faith and the family of God. This is God’s building and the temple of the Holy Spirit.

 

This is the Church of the first-born, whose names are written in heaven. This is the royal priesthood, the chosen generation, the peculiar people, the purchased possession, the habitation of God, the light of the world, the salt of the earth. This is that Church to which the Lord Jesus promises, “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” and to which He says, “I am with you always, even unto the end of the world” (Matt. 16 v18 & 28 v20).

 

2. This is the only Church which possesses true unity. Its members are entirely agreed on all the weightier matters of faith, for they are all taught by one Spirit. About God, Christ and the Spirit, about sin and their own hearts, about faith, repentance and the necessity of holiness, the value of the Bible and the importance of prayer, and the resurrection and judgment to come. About all these points they see eye to eye. 

 

3. This is the only Church which possesses true sanctity. Its members are holy. They are not merely holy by profession but holy in name and holy in love. They are all holy in deed and reality, in life and truth. They are all more or less conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. They are all more or less like their great Head. No unholy man belongs to this Church.

 

4. This is the only Church which is truly universal. It is not the Church of any one nation or people. Its members are to be found in every part of the world where the gospel is received and believed. It is not confined within the limits of any one country, nor pent up within  any particular forms or outward government. In it there is no difference between Jew and Greek, black and white, Episcopalian and Presbyterian - but faith in Christ is all. Its members will be gathered from north and south and east and west in the last day, and will be of every name and denomination, kindred, people and tongue, but all one in Christ Jesus.

 

5. This is the only Church which is certain to endure to the end. Nothing can altogether overthrow and destroy it. Its members may be persecuted, oppressed, imprisoned, beaten, beheaded and burned, but the true Church is never extinguished. It rises again from its afflictions. It lives on through fire and water. When crushed in one land it springs up in another.  All oppressors have laboured in vain to put down this Church. They slay their thousands and then pass away. The true Church out-lives them all. It is an anvil that has broken many a hammer in this world and will break many more. It is a bush which is often burning but is not consumed.

 

6. This is the Church which does the work of Christ upon earth. Its members are a little flock and few in number compared with the children of the world. One or two here and two or three there, but these are they who shake the universe. These are they who change the fortunes of kingdoms by their prayers. These are they who are the active workers for spreading the knowledge of pure faith. These are the life-blood of a country, the shield and defence, the stay and support of any nation to which they belong.

 

7. This is the Church which shall be truly glorious at the end. When all earthly glory is passed away then shall this Church be presented without spot before God’s throne. Thrones, principalities and powers upon earth shall come to nothing. Dignities, offices and endowments shall all pass away, but the Church of the first-born shall shine as the stars at the last and be presented with joy before the Father’s throne in the day of Christ’s appearing. When the Lord’s jewels are made up and the sons of God take their place, one Church only will be named and that is the Church of the elect.

 

8. This is the Church for which a true minister of the Lord Jesus Christ labours. What is it to a true minister to fill the building in which he preaches, to see communicants come up more and more to his table? It is all nothing unless he can see men and women “born from above”, unless he can see souls converted and brought to Christ, unless he can see here one and there another coming out from the world, taking up the cross and following Christ, and thus increasing the numbers of the one true Church.