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The Church Our Mother: Why Believers Must Remain Within Her Care | John Calvin · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reformed Thinking. Hello.
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Today we're doing a deep dive into a collection of materials
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that really get to the heart of the Reformed understanding of
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the church. We're looking at its nature, its
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structure, and crucially, how God's grace works within its
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boundaries. Yeah, this is all about the
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absolute necessity of the church.
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The sources we're looking at give this.
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This really comprehensive framework they do, and they draw
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a very clear line between what God knows in secret and His
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divine counsel and what He has given to us here on earth.
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The outward visible tokens were meant to follow exactly.
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So our mission today is pretty straightforward.
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We want to clarify how these sources define the visible
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church, first of all, right? And then why unity inside that
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body is so indispensable for spiritual life?
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And tying into that, how the continuous forgiveness of sins
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is directly linked to, you know, staying in that communion of
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Saints. Yeah.
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We're. Going to have to wrestle with
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this idea that the church is somehow both hidden and visible
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at the same time. Perfect in Christ, but as we all
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know, very flawed in its human members.
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It's a tension you feel every Sunday.
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It is, and it all goes back to God's consideration for us, for
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our weakness. What do you mean by that?
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Well, the sources say it's because of our I'm quoting here
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our ignorance and sloth and our fickleness of disposition.
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That's not very flattering. No, but it's realistic because
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of that. God didn't just leave us to
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figure things out on our own. He provided outward helps.
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Yes, he set up an ordered way for us to come to him.
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He instituted the ministry, the sacraments, everything needed to
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foster holy agreement of faith and for right order.
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OK, so let's unpack this concept of the twofold church.
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First, that seems to be the foundation we need to get a
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handle on the difference between what we can see and what is, you
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know, known only to God. Let's start with the invisible
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church. This is the one that is, as the
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sources put it, actually in God's presence.
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OK? It's made-up solely of all the
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elect, from the beginning of the world to the end.
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So this isn't a group you can join or see.
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No, these are the ones who are children of God by adoption,
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true members of Christ because they've been sanctified by the
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Holy Spirit. And this definition, it really
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points to a fundamental theological reality, doesn't it?
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That the true perfect church is completely known by God and,
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well, completely unknown by us. That's the key.
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The sources are so strict on this.
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The knowledge of who the elect are is an exclusive prerogative
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of God. It.
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Belongs to him alone. Absolutely, and this works as a
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vital check on human pride. On our presumption, we are
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explicitly told that we are not commanded to distinguish between
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the reprobate and the elect. That's not our job.
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It's for God alone, not for us to do.
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If you try to take on that knowledge, you're stepping onto
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ground that only God can stand on.
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So even when we look at the people and the pews around us,
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people who profess faith. Even then, yeah, the sources say
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his eyes alone see the ones who are unfaintedly holy and will
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persevere to the very end. The final list, you could say,
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of the invisible church. It just passes our
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understanding. You know, that sounds incredibly
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liberating when you think about it.
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How so? Well, since we don't have access
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to the divine register, we're freed from that awful task of
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trying to judge who is really saved and who isn't.
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We just have to deal with the outward signs, not the internal
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decrees of God. Precisely.
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And that's why we must leave to God alone the knowledge of His
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Church. The sources use some pretty
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vivid language to show why our perception just isn't up to the
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task. I remember this part.
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They say the elect are often a small and contemptible number
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hidden in a huge multitude. Yes, and then there's that other
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analogy that really drives it home.
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The wheat and the chaff, right? A few grains of wheat covered by
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a pile of chaff. It's such a powerful picture.
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You see this huge pile of stuff, but the real substance, the true
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spiritual food, is tiny and completely hidden inside.
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Which just eliminates any possibility for us to be
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arrogant about figuring out who belongs to the truest form of
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the church. It forces to depend on God's
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ordained means, the things he's told us to look for, rather
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than, you know, trying to find visible perfection of the
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people. Indeed, it puts the focus where
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it should be. OK, so if the invisible church
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is defined by God's secret election, let's shift to the
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visible church, the one that, as the sources say, falls within
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our knowledge. The visible church is defined as
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the whole multitude of men spread over the earth who
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profess to worship one God and Christ.
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So this is the group we can actually see and interact with.
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Yes, this is the multitude we are commanded to Revere and keep
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communion with. This is the structure God has
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established for our governance and our spiritual provision.
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O how does this visible group show its faith?
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What are the, you know, the observable signs that unite
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them? The sources layout 3 core
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elements. 1st is initiation. Members are brought into the
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faith by baptism. That's the outward sign of
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entry. The second is Unity.
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The Lord's Supper. They show their shared
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commitment to doctrine and love by partaking in the Lord's
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Supper. That's the ongoing sign of
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community. The third.
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The third is the basis for it all.
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They must have agreement in the Word of the Lord, and they have
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to preserve the ministry that God set up for the preaching of
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that Word. This structure seems to support
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the idea that the Church is a single entity.
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It's often called Catholic or Universal.
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That concept of universality is absolutely central.
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The sources are very clear that there could not be two or three
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churches. Why not?
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Because that would mean that Christ be torn asunder, which
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cannot happen. Christ is the one indivisible
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head, so the Church must be his one singular body.
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So even though this universal church is, you know, spread out
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all over the world. Divided and dispersed in
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separate places, as they say. It includes all these individual
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churches and towns and villages set up according to human need,
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but they're all still bound together, yes.
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They are united in Christ. They depend on one head and they
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grow together into one body. They live in one faith, hope and
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love, and they all receive the same Spirit of God.
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So it doesn't matter if you're in a tiny village, church or a
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massive urban one. If you are bound by the bond of
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the same religion and agree on the one truth of divine
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doctrine, you belong to the one holy Catholic Church.
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This distinction is so vital for everything else we're going to
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talk about, because the visible Church will by its very nature
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contain many hypocrites, ambitious, greedy, envious
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persons. Evil speakers and some of quite
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unclean life. So God had to give us an
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objective way to know where His true church is.
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We can't look at the people. You have to look at the means he
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uses. Right.
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And that's a perfect transition. That transition is critical
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since we can't see the invisible church.
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God knew we needed some kind of criteria to judge the visible
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claims a congregation makes. He gave us a way to check.
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He accommodated himself to our human capacity.
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He set out these visible Marks and tokens so we can recognize a
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true Christian society and, you know, safely embrace it.
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And these are the two essential marks.
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They function as the what is it, the touchstone?
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The touchstone Yes, for testing any claim to be the church.
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OK, so what's the first mark? The first is the Word of God,
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which must be purely preached and heard.
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And that's not just about, you know, having Bibles in the
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building. No, not at all.
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It's about the active public, pure proclamation of the Gospel.
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The heavenly doctrine has to be taught without corruption.
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And the second. Mark the sacraments administered
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according to Christ's institution.
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Meaning they have to be done the way Christ set them up in the
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scriptures. Precisely.
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They have to be held and practiced just as He commanded,
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and when these two marks are present, that gives us the
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certainty we need. And the certainty here is a big
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deal. The sources say that wherever
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these two marks exist, it is not to be doubted a Church of God
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exists. They are a sufficient pledge and
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guarantee that you can safely embrace that community.
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Which shifts the whole basis of your certainty.
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It moves it away from the perfection of the people.
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Which is impossible to find. And puts it on the purity, the
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means of grace. That must have been such a
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relief theologically. Just remove so much anxiety.
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It does. You're given a clear objective
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standard. If you focus on the individual
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members, you'll just be judging and despairing all the time,
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right? But if you focus on the marks,
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you receive God's guarantee. And that clarity is so vital
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because the sources also warn that Satan is constantly
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plotting to remove and do away with one or both of these marks.
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His goal is to destroy the genuine distinction of the
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Church. So if he can corrupt the Word or
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the sacraments, he basically makes Christ's body invisible
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again. In a way, he destroys its public
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witness. Exactly.
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The enemy doesn't always have to, you know, burn down the
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building. Often the strategy is just to
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corrupt its distinguishing features from the inside.
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OK, let's talk more about these instruments of grace.
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You said earlier they were instituted because of our human
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ignorance and sloth and fickleness of disposition.
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How do these things actually work to build our faith?
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Well, they enable faith to be begotten, increased in advance
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to its goal. OK, so think about the ministry
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of the Word. God instituted pastors and
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teachers through whose lips He might teach His own.
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He uses people. He prefers to address us in
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human fashion through interpreters, and the reason is
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kindness. Instead of just thundering at us
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from heaven. Right, which would be
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terrifying. He comes down to our level, to
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our capacity. So the preaching of the gospel
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is the specific place where God displays and unfolds his power
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to save. Precisely.
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God breathes faith into us, but it says only by the instrument
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of His gospel. Faith comes from hearing the
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proclaimed Word. So there's a necessary divine
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order here. Yes, God has bound us to this
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ordinary manner of teaching. This is why the church gets
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called the pillar and ground of the truth and the faithful
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keeper of God's truth. It's the structure that
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preserves and deliters this essential gospel instrument.
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But there's a really important qualification here about the
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ministers themselves. A very crucial 1.
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They are indispensable instruments, yes, but the
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sources are so careful not to elevate the minister to some
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kind of divine status. So how do they define the limits
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of a minister's authority? Well, ministers are called
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Christ's coworkers when it comes to advancing the gospel, but
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Paul himself immediately clarifies the limits.
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He says that he assigns himself the function of imparting
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salvation, and he's a coworker of God.
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But then he adds this qualifier only with the might, which he
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mightily inspires within me. So they're not operating on
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their own power. It's God's inspiration working
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through them. That's it.
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It keeps the ultimate power distinct from the human agent.
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The source of salvation is God, but the minister is the
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necessary instrument. That's why Paul says that thing
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about planting and watering. Neither he who plants nor he who
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waters is anything, but it is God alone who gives the growth.
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The minister is nothing, the instrument is nothing without
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the divine grace that actually makes it work.
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They are necessary, but they are completely dependent.
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OK, let's go back to the second mark then.
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The sacraments. We said they have to be
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administered rightly. But how do these external,
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visible signs work to Foster and strengthen faith in a way that
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just hearing the word might not do on its own?
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It's a great question. While the Word begets faith
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through hearing, the sacraments confirm and seal that faith by
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sight and by, you know, tangible participation.
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They are a physical pledge of the promise we hear.
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That's a great way to put it. Think of it like this.
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The Word proclaims God's mercy. The sacraments physically apply
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and ratify that promise to you as an individual.
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So they give a concrete repeated assurance, yes.
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They were set up because of our human sloth and our tendency to
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forget. They meet our need for a
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tangible sign that acts as a kind of physical bond,
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guaranteeing that the promises of God are true and that they
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apply to you. And both of these the word and
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the sacraments, when they are established as the
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distinguishing marks. They can never exist without
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bringing forth fruit and prospering by God's blessing.
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OK. Moving on from the marks, we get
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to this very powerful concept of the church as the mother of all
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the godly. Yes, it's a highly rhetorical
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metaphors for, but it's theologically very precise.
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So what does this maternal role tell us about the Church's
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absolute necessity for believers?
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It tells us that the Church is the exclusive, divinely
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appointed environment for spiritual existence.
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The necessity is put in very stark terms.
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There is no other way to enter into life unless this mother
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conceives you, gives birth to you, nourishes you, and keeps
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you under her care and guidance until you mature.
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So spiritual life begins and continues only inside the
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structure. It suggests a complete
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dependence. A lifelong dependence.
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That's the key. Because of our weakness, which
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doesn't go away, God desires believers to grow up into
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spiritual manhood solely under the education of the Church.
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You can't graduate basically. You cannot be dismissed from her
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school until you have been a pupil all your life.
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Wow. This prevents any kind of claim
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to self-sufficiency or, you know, independent spiritual
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maturity. We are, the sources say, shut up
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in the prison House of our flesh, and the church is the
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structure God has ordained to draw us near to Him, even while
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we are still far off. And as the pillar and ground of
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the truth and the faithful keeper of God's truth, the
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church is what ensures that the gospel itself doesn't just, you
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know, perish in the world. Right.
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It guarantees that the message needed for salvation will be
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preserved and delivered to us. It's the structure that
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maintains that holy agreement of faith and for right order.
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Without it, the treasure of the Gospel would just be scattered
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and lost because of human corruption and opposition.
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That's correct. So given this absolute
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necessity, the warning against schism, against leaving the
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Church, it has to be severe. It is.
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What happens, according to the sources, to those who
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voluntarily separate themselves from this mother?
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The consequences are stated in the most serious theological
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terms possible. Away from her bosom, 1 cannot
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hope for any forgiveness of sins or any salvation.
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So the benefit of forgiveness is woven into the very fabric of
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the church. So much so that believers cannot
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enjoy it unless we abide in communion with the Church.
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The language used to describe people who break that communion
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is well, it's pretty hard to hear what specific terms are
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used for someone who leaves a true Christian.
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They are counted as a traitor and apostate from Christianity.
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That's strong. It is, and that's if they
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arrogantly leave any Christian society that holds to those two
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true marks. Violating that unity is a
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sacrilegious disloyalty to the marriage Christ has with us.
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Separation is considered the denial of God and Christ.
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Why is leaving the church the same as denying Christ?
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That feels like AI don't know an extreme equation.
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Because the Church is His body and He is the head.
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You can't reject the body without rejecting the head.
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I see. To violate the Church's unity is
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to diminish Christ's own authority and to deny the
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corporate reality of His rule. The Lord commands unity for the
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building up of the body of Christ.
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So to reject the means of grace is to reject the wisdom of God's
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plan for your own salvation. It's not just a breach of
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fellowship, it's theological treason against the rule of
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Christ. And the sources warn that people
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who try to sever or break the sacred bond of unity risk being
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bewitched by pestilent errors and phallus delusions.
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Yes, they reject the divine means and are then left to
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wander in the wilderness of their own judgement.
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This also brings us back to that idea of the church delivering
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spiritual food. What happens to those who reject
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that nourishment? They spurn the spiritual food
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divinely extended to them through the hand of the Church,
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and so they deserve to perish in famine and hunger.
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The church is the only essential means to reject it is to reject
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God's provision for your weakness and need.
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And ultimately, the sources say, no hope of a future inheritance
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remains unless we are united with all other members under
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Christ our head. So the necessity of the Church
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is established as the structure for life.
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Now let's connect this to the continuous assurance of
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salvation. The sources point out that in
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the Creed, the article on the forgiveness of sins comes right
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after the part about the Church. A probably follows mention of
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the church, yes. What does that order teach us?
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It teaches that continual grace for sins remains in Christ's
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church. Forgiveness is necessary for
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your first entry into the church and Kingdom of God, for sure,
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but it's just as necessary for your continued residence there.
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This benefit is limited to the citizenry and household of the
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Church. The whole structure exists to
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deliver this continuous pardon. And this perpetual forgiveness
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is called the sole anchor of salvation.
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That's incredibly strong language.
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Why is this teaching so critical?
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It's brought up to fight against delirious spirits.
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Specifically, the sources are referencing historical groups
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like the Novationists and certain Anabaptists of that
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time. And what were they teaching?
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They taught that sins you commit after you're baptized could not
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be forgiven by the Church. Let's just pause on that for a
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second. For anyone listening, Who were
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the novationists and why was their view so dangerous that
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these sources had to confront it so directly?
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The Novationists were a schismatic group in the early
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church back in the 3rd century. OK, they took a very rigorous
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position, they argued the people who had denied the faith under
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persecution. They were called the Lapsai, or
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who committed other grave sins that they could not be restored
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to communion and forgiven. Even if they repented.
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Even if they repented. So if they believed that the
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church basically stops being a place of grace for struggling
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believers, it just becomes a museum for people who are
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already perfect. Exactly.
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And the Reformed tradition sees that teaching as snatching away
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the sole anchor of salvation from the Church.
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Because if forgiveness stops at baptism, the visible church is
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kind of pointless. It is because, as we've already
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established, the visible Church is full of sinners.
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The doctrine of perpetual pardon is what preserves the existence
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and the efficacy of the Church for actual sinful human beings.
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Let's talk more about the nature of this perpetual pardon.
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How does the Lord not just adopt believers once, but continuously
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preserve them? Well, the Lord doesn't just
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adopt us once, He through the same means, He preserves and
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protects us there. So it's an ongoing process.
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It has to be. The necessity is rooted in our
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reality. Believers carry the traces of
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sin around with us throughout life.
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So because we're always imperfect.
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We always need the Lord's constant grace and forgiving our
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sins, the sources say. We can scarcely abide 1 moment
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in the Church without it. That suggests our spiritual
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breathing depends on daily, even momentary apartment.
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Precisely. The Lord's covenant is forever
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inviolable. It promises mercy even when his
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people transgress. And this parting isn't limited.
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The sources state very clearly that the Lord forgives, not once
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or twice, but as often as men cry out to Him.
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That's why we're taught to pray daily.
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Forgive us our debts, yes. Confessing ourselves as
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continuous debtors. And that daily prayer is not in
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vain. It results in a promised
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absolution. But we need to be clear, the
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source of the forgiveness is divine, but the delivery system
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is the Church. Absolutely.
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Forgiveness is rooted entirely in God's mercy and generosity.
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It's mediated by Christ's merit and applied through the
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sanctification of the Spirit. God alone is the one who
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forgives sins. But the Church has this critical
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ministerial role in dispensing the benefit.
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This is where the power of the keys comes in.
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Yes, this benefit is dispensed to believers through the
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ministers and pastors of the Church, either by the preaching
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of the Gospel or by the administration of the
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sacraments. The power of the keys is God's
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system for declaring pardon and for guiding the Body.
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The power of the keys sounds like a, you know, a massive
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authority. What exactly is this power and
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how does it work without taking over God's own authority to
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forgive? It's not a power to create
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forgiveness, it's a power to apply or declare it OK.
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The keys are twofold. There's the key of doctrine,
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which is preaching the gospel, and the key of discipline, which
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involves admonishing and in extreme cases excommunicating.
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So when ministers faithfully preach the gospel.
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They are announcing God's pardon to those who are penitent.
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They loose or bind consciences, not by their own personal
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decree, but by declaring what God's Word has already decreed.
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So when a godly conscience hears the gospel promises of pardon
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declared by the minister in the church, their assurance is
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strengthened because they're getting an objective, visible
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application of a divine promise. That is exactly where the power
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of the keys chiefly stands out. It secures godly consciences.
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The minister holds the keys as an instrument unlocking the
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promise of Christ to the believer.
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They apply that soul anchor of salvation over and over again to
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God's people. So the power isn't in the hand
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holding the key, it's in the. Lock the key fits, which is
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Christ's promise. We've established that the
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church is absolutely necessary for life and salvation.
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Yet we also know, and we've said it a few times, that the visible
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church is imperfect and full of sinners.
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Right. The sources take this tension
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head on. They acknowledge this inevitable
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mixture. Indeed, Christ gives us parables
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for this very reason, to manage our expectations right.
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He compares the Church to a net gathering all kinds of fish,
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good and bad, or to a field sown with good seeds scattered with
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tares. And the threshing floor, a place
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where a grain lies hidden under chaff until the winnowing.
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So the Church is always laboring under this unavoidable mixture
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until the day of judgement. Which means any believer who is
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out there looking for a church that is besmirched with no
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blemish is well, they're looking in vain.
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They're actually defying what Christ himself taught.
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Correct. The visible membership will
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always have hypocrites, ambitious people, greedy,
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envious, unclean people all mingled within it.
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And they are tolerated. They're tolerated either because
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they can't be convicted by a proper tribunal or, more often,
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because a vigorous discipline does not always flourish as it
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ought. I find the historical context
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here so helpful. Even churches like the ones in
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Corinth and Galatia, I mean they had horrible misdeeds, serious
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moral corruption, even doctrinal error.
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And yet Paul still recognize them as the Church of Christ.
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That's the ultimate test case, isn't it?
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And why? Because the Ministry of the Word
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and the administration of the sacraments remained
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unrepudiated. The marks were still there.
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Marks were there, which confirms that the presence of the true
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Marks is a sufficient pledging guarantee to embrace that
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society as the Church, even if it otherwise swarms with many
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faults. So given all that, what is the
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clear mandate for believers when they see sin and failure in the
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church? What are we supposed to do?
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We are mandated to maintain unity.
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Violating it is seen as sacrilege.
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So godly and peaceable people are told to do three things.
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First, mercifully to correct what they can, 2nd patiently to
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bear what they cannot correct, and 3rd lovingly to bewail and
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mourn the faults until God steps in.
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And we are not permitted to spurn the Church's authority or
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break its unity as long as it still has the two essential
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marks. That's the rule.
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Does this patients extend to disagreements over doctrine?
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It does specifically for non essential matters.
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And how are those defined? Those are differences of
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opinion. They can be unknown without harm
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to the sum of religion and without loss of salvation.
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Those things we can disagree on and still both be saved.
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Exactly. Those differences should in no
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wise be the basis of schism. We are warned not to
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thoughtlessly forsake the Church because of any petty
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dissensions. This sets a very, very high bar
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for separation. You can really only leave if the
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essential marks, the purity, the word and sacraments are gone or
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corrupted. That is the line.
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You endure institutional sloth. You endure moral hypocrisy.
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You endure non essential doctrinal disagreements.
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Because the efficacy of the the means of grace is God's doing.
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It doesn't depend on the perfection of the members.
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This also addresses a really common anxiety, the fear that an
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individual might be polluted or, you know, harmed by the
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unworthiness of others, especially at the Lord's Supper,
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right? What do the sources say about an
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individual's responsibility there?
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Well, when it comes to the Lord's Supper, Paul requires
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that each individual prove himself.
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He's to examine his own faith and repentance.
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He doesn't say examine the whole church.
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No, he doesn't instruct the individual to examine the
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worthiness of everyone else in the room.
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The key insight here is that you are not harmed or soiled by the
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unworthiness of another, whether that person is the minister or
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the person sitting next to you. So my relationship with God is
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direct. The effectiveness of the Supper
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for me is tied to God's promise and my faith, not the moral
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purity of the person handing me the bread.
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Exactly. To think otherwise is to assume
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that your salvation depends on external human purity, which is
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an impossible standard. The sacraments work because they
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are Christ's institution, not because they are administered by
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perfect people. So it sounds like the impulsed
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schism that search for the perfectly pure church is often
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rooted in a flawed view of 1's own holiness.
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The sources strongly suggest that that the overscrupulousness
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that leads to defection often springs from pride and arrogance
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and false opinion of holiness. They fail to restrain their
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dislike of wickedness and they just neglect the patience that
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God requires. And the warning is severe.
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It is those who try to sever or break the sacred bond of unity
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risk bewitching themselves with pestilent errors and phallus
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delusions. The ultimate message, then,
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running through this whole deep dive, is that our certainty of
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Christ's presence is tied to his ordained means, the visible
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structure that holds up the Word and the sacraments.
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Not to the subjective purity of the people gathered in.
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It that's a huge take. Away Our deep dive really
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confirms that the Church isn't some optional accessory for the
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Christian life. No, it is the necessary ordinary
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man manner that God has prescribed.
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He set it up to accommodate our weakness to deliver faith,
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spiritual food and perpetual reconciliation.
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And the sources are so clear, there is no other way to enter
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into life than through the motherly care of the Church.
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And it is the only place where the promise of continual grace
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for our sins is secured. The assurance of faith, then, is
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intrinsically connected to spaying in this Communion, where
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the word is purely preached and the sacraments are rightly
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administered. It's here, within this
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prescribed structure, that we receive the benefits dispensed
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through the keys of the Church, protecting us with that sole
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anchor of salvation, perpetual forgiveness.
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What stands out to me the most is the, I guess, the magnificent
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realism of this theology. Yes, God's promise is
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sufficient, Despite that inevitable mixture of wheat and
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tares. The purity of the means, the
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Word in sacraments, is a much more secure guarantee of
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Christ's presence than the observable perfection of the
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members. God desires believers to remain
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pupils under the church's education until they reach
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maturity. So this leaves us with a
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practical question to reflect on.
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If the purity of the means is your guarantee, how does
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recognizing this divine certainty change how you
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approach the imperfections, the faults, the sloth, the pride
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that you will inevitably see in the Church today?
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Knowing that and doing them is actually part of your lifelong
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spiritual education.