Repost from less than a year ago? “Protecting the Westminster Standards from the PCA’s Book of Church Order?”

Yes, due to this:

I do find the BCO’s statement “the visible church, which is his [Christ’s] body” (PP 3) to be, at best, an unhelpful choice of words.

The WS seem to be careful to apply the term “body” (WCF 25.1), of which “Christ is the head” (WCF 25.1; WLC 64) only to the invisible church. Of course, contra “all the baptized,” it is only members of this body who are said to enjoy “union with Christ” (WLC 65, 66).

The distinct terms “kingdom of Christ”, “the house and family of God,” and “society” are used in the Standards to reference the visible church (WCF 25.2; WLC 62).

Frankly, especially given the current state of things, I think the BCO statement should be amended accordingly

So here we go again:

I hear people claim that the Westminster Standards insist that only the “invisible Church” is “the body of Christ.”

In the Book of Church Order, here is preliminary principle #3:

Our blessed Saviour, for the edification of the visible Church, which is His body, has appointed officers not only to preach the Gospel and administer the Sacraments, but also to exercise discipline for the preservation both of truth and duty (emphasis added).

If anyone really thinks that the Westminster Confession contradicts this, they need to get it amended to say:

Our blessed Saviour, for the edification of the visible Church, which is not His body because only the invisible church may be described in this way, has appointed officers not only to preach the Gospel and administer the Sacraments, but also to exercise discipline for the preservation both of truth and duty.

Likewise, the beginning of the preface about Jesus being “THE KING AND HEAD OF THE CHURCH” would need to be rewritten so that it no longer included the emphasized words:

Jesus Christ, upon whose shoulders the government rests, whose name is called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace; of the increase of whose government and peace there shall be no end; who sits upon the throne of David, and upon His kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgment and justice from henceforth, even forever (Isaiah 9:6-7); having all power given unto Him in heaven and in earth by the Father, who raised Him from the dead and set Him at His own right hand, far above all principality and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come, and has put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the Head over all things to the Church, which is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all (Ephesians 1:20-23); He, being ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things, received gifts for His Church, and gave all offices necessary for the edification of His Church and the perfecting of His saints (Ephesians 4:10-13).

After all, this too makes the “body of Christ” the church with offices–offices that are visible.

Of course, if we are to make these revisions to the BCO, we would need to edit the Scriptures on which it is founded. Actually, I can’t see any way to edit First Corinthians 12.12-30. It would need to be completely expunged from the Bible:

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the higher gifts.

All of this editing and expunging is necessary if the Westminster Confession teaches that only the invisible Church is the body of Christ and that the visible Church is not the body of Christ. What I find odd, however, is that I don’t see anywhere in the Westminster Standards that make that precise claim. I see that the Westminster Confession affirms that the invisible Church is the body of Christ, but I don’t see them excluding the visible Church from being the body of Christ. In fact, chapter 25 of the Westminster Confession goes on to use First Corinthians 12.28 as a source for describing the visible Church:

Unto this catholic visible church Christ hath given the ministry, oracles, and ordinances of God, for the gathering and perfecting of the saints, in this life, to the end of the world: and doth, by his own presence and Spirit, according to his promise, make them effectual thereunto.

So I don’t see a reason to insist that the Westminster Confession contradicts the PCA’s Book of Church Order or First Corinthians 12.12-30.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *