改革宗信仰基础23：基督教会的标志和使命Basics of the Reformed Faith:Marks and Mission of Christ’s Church

作者： Kim Riddlebarger  译者：寇正华

https://wscal.edu/blog/basics-of-the-reformed-faith-marks-and-mission-of-christs-church

http://www.reformedbeginner.net/basics23-marks-and-mission-of-the-church/

新约中没有这样一类人：他信耶稣基督，但同时却不是地方教会的成员。原因很明显，我们认为这是理所当然的。因为借助于凭信心与基督联合，所有的真信徒变成基督身体的成员，新约假设，那些基督身体的成员将自然地等同于同样信耶稣并且在不信的世界面前宣告他为主的在地方聚集的人。可悲的是，许多美国人持有完全不同的假设。

鉴于美国文化中的坚定的个人主义和我们先天对权威的怀疑。许多将自己看作忠实地相信圣经的基督徒的美国人，在他们对耶稣基督的个人信仰与在地方教会中的会员身份之间没有建立关系。这是我们今天最紧迫的问题之一，而且这是因为对教会教义和同质性信徒在地方聚会中的会员身份的必要性的普遍无知。事实上，约翰加尔文在其以赛亚书注释中写道，“我们不能变得接纳神但没有在一个且相同的信中联合，即没有成为教会的成员。”对加尔文来说，“唯独本于恩典，唯独藉着信心称义”与在基督教会中的会员身份这两件事是不可分割的，因为圣经清楚地表明，所有藉着信心被主称义的人，主也将他们聚集在一起，作为可见的聚会，地方教会。

如果所有宣信耶稣基督的人必须连于同质性信徒的地方教会，并且负基督的轭，那么我们如何能区分哪个教会是同质的并且忠于福音而且按着神的话语施行圣礼？我们是在问我们自己，教会中的人是否爱耶稣，以及教会是否有好的节目给我们的小孩吗？或者我们看教会是否宣讲福音，按着圣经的指示施行圣礼，并且愿意通过惩戒某些成员来维护这些事情，也就是惩戒教导反对该教义的成员或者通过他们的生活表明他们不真信教会教导的教义的那些成员。教会的标记是客观的（我们能清楚地看见）。这些标记不是源于参与者的虔诚和诚意（这是我们无法确定的）。

这是人们经常感到困惑的地方。教会可以是一个真教会——宣讲福音、施行圣礼，并且惩戒其成员——但在当中仍有犯罪的成员以及非基督徒（宣信真理，但不相信福音的人）。我们能想到一些基督徒群体，他们称自己为教会，他们为了敬拜和服侍基督而聚集，但未拥有真教会的标记。然而，这样的群体（而不是真教会）可能包括许多真基督徒。关于会众是否是真教会或者是否具有假教会的一些标记的讨论并不表示参加这样的教会的所有人都是非基督徒。

真教会的第一个标记是纯正的福音宣讲。这是其他所有事情的基础，并且有效地界定了教会的使命。这个弄错了，就没有什么重要的了。如果这个标记不存在，则教会不能拥有其他任何标记（因为，例如，圣礼是从福音中而不是从教会或牧师那里获得效力）。纯正的福音宣讲所必需的是保罗所说的基督活画在人眼前（加3:1）。它包含对耶稣基督为罪人死、埋葬和复活的忠实传讲，如林前15:1-8中所定义的。宣讲福音就是讲神藉着他的儿子使罪人与他自己和好（罗5:8-11，林后5:18-21）。传讲神通过十字架显明他的爱和他的公义，向着应得神忿怒的人满足他公义的怒气（罗3:20-25）。根据罗马书10:14-17，信心通过听这福音传讲而产生。纯正的福音宣讲包含非常具体的内容：传讲基督通过他的主动顺服和被动顺服、他的死和复活而拯救罪人的工作。在讲道中以一些模糊的方式谈论基督不是宣讲福音！

教会的第二个标记是正确地施行圣礼。因为我们仍是罪恶的，即使我们现在唯独藉着信心接受基督的善功而被称义，我们全都倾向于心硬，并且我们都感到不断地追求罪恶。神准确地赐给我们圣礼，因为我们是软弱和罪恶的。因为神应许在福音里将我们从罪的罪疚和辖制中拯救出来，所以同样在圣礼中，神以可见和有形的方式确认在福音里所作的应许。事实上，这是如此有形，以至于我们能感受到湿润。如此有形，以至于我们将与耶稣给他的使徒的相同的要素（饼和酒）实际地拿在手中并且用我们的嘴品尝。而且这些圣礼是基于相同的约中的应许——“凡劳苦担重担的人，可以到我这里来，我就使你们得安息”（参见太11:28）！

真教会的第三个标记是其运用教会纪律来纠正并惩治罪。这方面的关键圣经文本是马太福音18:15-17。在这段经文中，我们的主为我们确立了处理争端的要求和程序，其中最高的上诉法庭是教会。在林前5:4-5节中，保罗说到的是逐出因其不悔改的罪而给教会带来了丑闻的宣信的信徒。在林前5:13中，保罗命令哥林多教会从他们当中逐出一个邪恶的人——一个收了他的继母作为他的妻子的人。忽略这样的行为并且不通过除去违规方来处理这样的行为，就是让整个聚会冒着面临神审判的危险。像教会会员身份一样，教会纪律也不是一个选项。

这三个标记（宣讲基督、正确施行圣礼和教会纪律）不仅确定了一个（忠于神的话的）真教会，这些标记还界定了教会的使命。

Basics of the Reformed Faith: Marks and Mission of Christ’s Church

Kim Riddlebarger

The New Testament has no category for someone who is a believer in Jesus Christ but who is not also a member of a local church. The reason is so obvious that we take it for granted. Since all true believers become members of the body of Christ by virtue of their union with Christ through faith, the New Testament assumes that those who are members of Christ’s body will naturally identify with a local assembly of those who likewise believe in Jesus and confess him as Lord before the unbelieving world. Sadly, many Americans have completely different assumptions.

Given the rugged individualism of American culture and our innate suspicion of authority, many Americans who consider themselves faithful Bible-believing Christians make little connection between their own personal faith in Jesus Christ and membership in a local church. This is one of the most pressing issues of our day and it arises from a general ignorance of the doctrine of the church and the necessity of membership in a local congregation of fellow like-minded believers. In fact, John Calvin writes in his commentary on Isaiah, “We cannot become acceptable to God without being united in one and the same faith, that is, without being members of the church.” These two things, “justification by grace alone through faith alone,” and membership in Christ’s church are inseparable for Calvin, because the Bible clearly indicates that all those whom our Lord justifies through faith, he also gathers together is a visible assembly, a local church.

If it is true that all those who profess faith in Jesus Christ must join with a local congregation of like-minded believers and then submit to the yoke of Christ, then how can we tell which church is like-minded and faithful to the gospel and administers the sacraments according to the word of God? Do we ask ourselves if the people in a church love Jesus and if the church has good programs for our kids? Or do we look to see whether or not the church preaches the gospel, administers the sacraments as commanded in Scripture, and is willing to defend these things through disciplining its members who teach against this doctrine, or who by their lives, demonstrate that they really don’t believe the doctrine taught by the church. The marks of the church are objective (we can see them clearly). These marks do not stem from the piety and sincerity of those who attend (which we cannot determine).

Here is where people often get confused. A church can be a true church–preach the gospel, administer the sacraments and discipline its members–yet still have sinful members and non-Christians within its midst (people who profess the truth, but who don’t believe the gospel). We can think of groups of Christians who call themselves a church, who assemble for worship and to serve Christ, and yet  do not possess the marks of a true church. Yet, such a group (while not a true church) may include many people who are truly Christians. The discussion as to whether or not a congregation is a true church or whether it has some of the marks of a false church does not at all imply that all people who attend such a church are not Christians.

The first mark of a true church is the pure preaching of the gospel. This is the foundation for everything else and effectively defines the church’s mission. Get this one wrong and nothing else matters! If this mark is not present then a church cannot possess any of the other marks (since, for example, the sacraments draw their efficacy from the gospel, not from the church or the minister). The pure preaching of the gospel entails what Paul calls the public placarding of Christ (Galatians 3:1). It involves the faithful proclamation of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ on behalf of sinners as defined in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8. To preach the gospel is to speak of God reconciling sinners to himself in the person of his Son (Romans 5:8-11; 2 Corinthians 5:18-21). It is to proclaim that through the cross, God manifests his love and his justice, satisfying his just anger toward people who deserve his wrath (Romans 3:20-25). According to Romans 10:14-17, faith comes about through the hearing of the proclamation of that gospel. The pure preaching of the gospel involves very specific content: proclaiming Christ’s saving work for sinners through his active and passive obedience, his death and resurrection. To talk about Jesus in some vague way in a sermon is not preaching the gospel!

The second mark of the church is the proper administration of the sacraments. Since we remain sinful, even though we are presently justified by the merits of Christ received through faith alone, we are all prone to hardness of heart and all of us feel the constant pull toward sin. God gives us the sacraments precisely because we are weak and sinful. Since God promises to rescue us from the guilt and power of sin in the gospel, so too in the sacraments God confirms the promise made in the gospel in a visible and tangible way. In fact, so tangible that we get wet. So tangible that we actually hold in our hands and taste with our mouths those same elements (bread and wine) which Jesus gave to his apostles. And these sacraments are based upon the same covenant promise–“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (cf. Matthew 11:28)!

The third mark of a true church is that it exercises church discipline so as to correct and punish sin. The critical biblical text in this regard is Matthew 18:15-17. In this passage, our Lord establishes both the need and procedure for us to deal with our disputes, in which the highest court of appeal is the church. In 1 Corinthians 5:4-5, Paul speaks of excommunicating professing believers whose unrepentant sin brings scandal upon the church. In 1 Corinthians 5:13, Paul commands the Corinthian church to expel a wicked man from their midst–a man who had taken his step-mother as his own wife. To ignore such behavior and not deal with it by removing the offending party is to risk bringing down God’s judgment upon the entire assembly. Like church membership, church discipline is also not an option.

These three marks (the preaching of Christ, the proper administration of the sacraments, and church discipline) not only identify a true church (which is faithful to God’s word), these marks define the mission of the church.