The Apostles’ Creed: The ChurchSample

Invisible Church: 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 Whereas the visible church includes everyone who is part of God’s covenant community, the invisible church is composed only of those who have been united to Christ in salvation. For this reason, it is sometimes called the “true church.” We might think of the invisible church as a smaller group contained entirely within the visible church. Generally speaking, we treat most people in the visible church as if they were truly saved, giving them the benefit of the doubt. But the reality is that only God can see the heart, as we see in Scriptures like Psalm 44:21 and Acts 15:8. And as a result, at this stage in history, only God can identify the invisible church with full certainty. Although we’ll focus primarily on the invisible church as it exists on earth at any given moment, it is important to recognize that the invisible church also includes every believer who has ever lived, both before Christ’s earthly ministry and after. Usually, Scripture is addressed to the visible church rather than to the invisible church, but it generally gives its audience the benefit of the doubt with regard to their salvation. There are some noteworthy exceptions to this, such as 1 Corinthians 5, and 1 Timothy 1:19-20. And some of the letters to the churches in Revelation 2–3 are not very optimistic about their audiences. But in general, the authors of Scripture expected their readers to believe and trust in God, and to obey Him faithfully. The goal was for everyone to be proven faithful — for the entire visible church to be part of the invisible church. When Jesus returns, He will completely purify his church. He will purge all the unbelievers from it, so that the invisible church will be identical to the visible church. We see this in places like Matthew 7:21-23 and 13:24-30, 1 Corinthians 3:12-15, and 1 Peter 4:17-19. But until that time, the identity of those in the invisible church will be known with certainty only to God. The fact that there is currently an invisible church within the visible church has important implications for everyone who claims to be a Christian. And one of the greatest implications is that the church needs to hear the gospel on a regular basis. We know there are unbelievers in the visible church. And that means that church membership is not enough to guarantee our salvation. And for this reason, we have to continue to teach, and to preach the gospel of redemption not only to ourselves, but to others as well. We have to make sure that the unbelievers in our congregations are invited to come to Christ and to be part of the invisible church. When the Apostles’ Creed affirms that the church is holy, it means that the church is in covenant with God, that it is set apart as God’s special people, dedicated to His service. It also means that the ultimate goal of the church is moral purity, and even that the present experience of believers in the church hides them in the moral purity of Christ. Beyond this, as we submit ourselves to the Lord’s commandments, we are constantly purified from the sin we commit, bringing us closer to the goal of perfect holiness that God has laid out for us.