According to Holy Scripture the Christian Church has certain undeniable characteristics for the very reason that it is the communion of all true believers (communui omnium fidelium). We may classify these characteristics as follows: -
a.The Church is invisible. (Ecclesia est invisibilis.) This follows from the fact that saving faith, which constitutes the means by which a person becomes and remains a member of the Church, is unseen of man, 1 Kings 8, 39; 19, 18; Rom. 11, 3-5; Acts 1, 24. The invisibility of the Church is, however, predicated only with respect to men, not with respect to God. Of men the words of Christ in Luke 17, 20. 21 hold; to God St. Paul's words in 2 Tim. 2, 19 apply (cp. John 10, 14. 27. 28).
All who affirm that the Church is either wholly (papists) or partly (modern Lutheran theologians) visible destroy the Scriptural concept of the Church and change it from a communion of believers to an "outward polity of the good and wicked" (externa politia bonorum et malorum~· aeussere Anstalt; Heilsanstalt), in which the believers only play a more or less important role.
Occasionally Lutheran theologians to-day speak of two aspects of the Church, a visible aspect: the Word and the Sacrame 1ts, and an invisible one: the true members of the Church. But it is logically incorrect to describe the marks of the Church (notae ecclesia) as an essential part of the Church. It is true, the Gospel and the Sacraments are true marks of the Church; for the Church is never found where these are not in use. Moreover, the Gospel and the Sacraments are also the means by which the Church is established and preserved; for without the means of grace there can be no believers, Is. 55, lO ff.; Rom. 10, 17; Matt. 28, 19. 20; Mark 16, 15. 16. But to call the means of grace a part of the Church or the Church itself is an absurdity.
The Church is the communion of believers, and since the faith of an individual is invisible to man, we rightly say: Ecclesia est invisibilis. Accordingly we must regard every one who professes the Christian faith and adorns this profession with a Christian life as a true member of the Church. To go beyond this and endeavor to ascertain the faith of an individual in any other way, Scripture expressly forbids, 1 Cor. 4, 5, since it is God's prerogative to know them that are His, 2 Tim. 2, 19; Col. 3, 3; 2 Cor. 5, 4. 5. Even in case we could really identify the living members of the Church, the communion of saints in its entirety would still be invisible to us; for not until Judgment Day will Christ reveal His Church in glory, Matt. 25, 34; Col. 3, 4; 1 John 3, 2.
To the objection of the Romanists, who aver that the Church is "a gathering of men so visible and palpable as is that of the Roman people or the kingdom of Gaul or the republic of Venice" (Bellarmine), but that an invisible Church of true believers is a mere "Platonic idea." or a. "figment of the mind," we reply that this communion of saints is so real that God knows and lovingly acknowledges all its members as His, 2 Tim. 2, 19; John 10, 27. 28, preserves this Church against the gates of hell, Matt. 16, 18, makes it the chief concern of His divine providence, Rom. 8, 28; Matt. 24, 22-24, and will finally receive it into eternal glory, Luke 12, 32.
On the other hand, the Church of Rome is not Christ's Church at all, but a human organization, founded upon commandments of men, Matt. 15, 9, and controlled by a deceiver, whom Scripture calls the Antichrist and the son of perdition, 2 Thess. 2, 3. 4, so that it is indeed outside the true Church (extra ecclesiam) both in this world, Gal. 5, 4; 3, 10, and in that to come, Gal. 4, 30.
b.The Church is one. (Ecclesia una est.) The unity of the Christian Church, which is expressly taught by Christ, John 10, 16, is based upon its unity of faith in the one Savior, Eph. 4, 3-6; for since the Church is the communion of believers, it is composed only of such as believe that they, being lost and condemned sinners, Rom. 3, 23. 24, are saved solely by grace, through faith in the atoning death of Christ, Rom. 3, 28. All who do not profess this Christian faith are not members of the Church, but outside the Church, 1 John 2, 23; 5, 12; Gal. 5, 4; 3, 10. Of the true members of the Church St. Paul says: "Ye are all one in Christ Jesus," Gal. 3, 28, so that the statement of our dogmaticians Omnes Christiani de evangelio consentiunt is indeed true.
c.The Church is holy. (Ecclesia sancta est.) This is true, 1) because all believers by faith possess Christ's perfect rightousness (imtitia fidei imputata, Phil. 3, 8. 9), and 2) because through faith they produce holy works (imtitia vitae), Rom. 6, 14. According to the imputed righteousness (justification) believers are perfect in the sight of God; according to their iustitia vitae they remain imperfect (iustitia inchoata, imperfecta) throughout their lives, Phil. 3, 12-16.
d.The Church is universal, or catholic. (Ecclesia est umversaUs sive catkolica.) This is true; for the Church embraces all believers at all times and in all places, Acts 10,43; John 8, 56; Rom. 4; Gal. 3, 6 ff. Even in the Old Testament the saints of God were such only because they believed in Christ Jesus, the promised Savior of the world, Rom. 3, 21. 22; 4, 3 f.
e.The Church is apostolic. (Ecclesia apostolica est.) This is true because all true members of the Church till the end of the world believe in Christ through the word of the apostles, John 17, 20; Acts 2, 42; Eph. 2, 20; Rom. 16, 17f. "APOSTOLICA dicitur ecclesia, quod doctrinam apostolicam fide amplectitur et integram tenet." The Romanists and Episcopalians trace the apostolic character of the Church to the "apostolic succession"; but the doctrine of "apostolic succession" is manifestly anti-Scriptural, since Scripture does not draw a distinction between bishops and presbyters, or elders, Acts 20, 17. 28; Titus 1, 5-7. In addition, it urges all Christians to avoid those who teach any other doctrine than that taught by the blessed apostles, Rom. 16, 17; Gal. 1, 6-8, even if they claim to possess apostolic authority, 2 Cor. 11, 12-14; Gal. 2, 4f.; 2 Pet. 2, 1. 2.
f.No salvation outside the Church. (Extra ecclesiam nulla salus.) All who desire to be saved must be members of Christ's Church. The papists apply this axiom wrongly to the Church of Antichrist, of which we may rather say: Intra ecclesiam nulla salus, namely, in so far as the members of this Church believe what Antichrist teaches, Rev. 13, 1-9; 14, 8-12; 20, 10. The axiom Extra ecclesiam nulla salus is true of Christ's Church because only those have life and salvation who believe in the Gospel of Christ and through this faith are members of the Church, John 3, 16-18. 36. The Church of Antichrist, on the other hand, makes salvation depend on the keeping of the Law (Council of Trent, Sess. VI, Can. 20) and thus leaves its members under the divine curse, Gal. 3, 10.