Purity & Unity of the Church

PURITY AND UNITY OF THE CHURCH

SUMMARY

The purity of the church is its attribute of holiness, or conformity to God’s will. The unity of the church is its attribute of oneness and absence of divisions.

MAIN THEMES

• Two traditional attributes of the church are its purity, or holiness, and its unity, or oneness.

• The church is pure in a positional sense, a purposive sense, and an instrumental sense.

• The church is united in a positional sense, a purposive sense, and an instrumental sense.

KEY SCRIPTURE: John 17; Romans 12:16; 2 Cor 11:2-3; Eph 2:18-22; 4:1-16; 4:25-29

John 17 (ESV)

1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. 6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. 20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

Romans 12:16 ESV

16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.

2 Corinthians 11:2–3 ESV

2 For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. 3 But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

Ephesians 2:18–22 ESV

18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Eph 4:1–16

Ephesians 4:1–16 ESV

1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” 9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Ephesians 5:25–29 ESV

25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church,

Philippians 2:2 ESV

2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

UNDERSTANDING THE DOCTRINE

Major Affirmations

Two of the four traditional attributes of the church are its holiness and unity. (All four characteristics are treated together in chapter 35; the church’s catholicity/universality, or mission, is also addressed further in chapter 43, and the church’s apostolicity is addressed further as a criterion for canonicity in chapter 7.) Both purity and unity can be understood in three ways: (1) positionally, both are realities for the church because of God’s work of setting it apart for his purposes and granting it oneness; (2) purposively, both are essential aims for the church as it matures; (3) instrumentally, both are essential processes fostering the church’s growth.

Purity in a Positional Senses

The purity of the church is

“its degree of freedom from wrong doctrine and conduct, and its degree of conformity to God’s revealed will for the church.”27

In a positional sense,

the church is already holy, being set apart and consecrated by God. By definition, then, the church is pure.

Purity in a Purposive Sense

In a purposive sense, purity is an essential aim: the church orients itself toward perfect holiness as its divinely established goal.

Purity in an Instrumental Sense

In an instrumental sense, the church pursues greater and greater purity so that it grows. This pursuit of holiness is a means for the church to mature.

Some churches are more pure, while others are less pure. For example, the churches in Philippi and Thessalonica exhibited few if any disturbances to their purity. By contrast, the churches of Corinth and Galatia, beset by doctrinal and moral problems, were less pure. Empirically, some churches stand out today as more pure churches. They are characterized by faithful preaching, genuine worship, strong community, fruitful mission, and more. Oppositely, other churches are noted as less pure, characterized by shallow preaching, superficial worship, weak relationally, lack of missional engagement, and more.

Additionally, a church may be characterized by more pure aspects and less pure aspects. For example, a church may strongly reflect God’s will in terms of its preaching and teaching but be less conformed to God’s will in terms of prayer and missional engagement. Returning to the purposeful sense of purity, the church should aim at greater holiness in all areas, not just some.

“In the instrumental sense of purity, a church should identify the areas of both more purity and less purity. It should work hard to maintain and even increase the holiness of its more pure aspects, giving thanks to God for those areas that please him. Furthermore, the church should develop ways forward to bring its less pure aspects into conformity with God’s will. Focusing on people and processes that can work to bring greater purity in those areas is a wise approach to employ.” Dr. Greg Allison

The unity of the church is its attribute of oneness, a sense and practice of harmony that extends to its doctrine, life, community identity, and mission, along with its absence of divisions. In a positional sense, the church is already united, endowed by the Spirit with the gift of oneness. By definition, then, the church is united. In a purposive sense, unity is an essential aim: the church orients itself toward perfect oneness as its divinely established goal. In an instrumental sense, the church works hard to maintain the unity with which it has been endowed. This upholding of oneness is a means for the church to mature.

The source of the church’s unity is the Triune God, who eternally exists as three persons in perfect unity.

This eternal trinitarian unity is not uniformity but unity in diversity. The three are distinct persons, but not three different gods. There is only one God, and the three distinct persons are perfectly united in oneness.

Though the church can never experience the same kind of oneness as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, its members are united by means of the Spirit and thus form one body. Following the pattern of trinitarian unity, the church is called to embrace unity in diversity. The church does not demand that every member be the same, thus denying their individuality and uniqueness of personality, gifting, and calling.

Endowed with the gift of unity, the church does not have to create this reality. Rather, it must work hard to maintain this conferred oneness. It does so by focusing on its many commonalities, expressing the requisite attributes like humility and gentleness, being eager to preserve this gift, and more. In seeking to maintain its unity, the church is helped by the Spirit of unity.

Biblical Support

Scripture underscores both the purity and unity of the church in three ways: (1) Positionally, the church is already holy (1 Cor. 1:1–2) and united (Eph. 4:3). (2) Purposively, both are essential aims for the church as it matures, with the church urged to be “holy and without blemish” (5:27) and to “attain to the unity of the faith” (4:13). (3) Instrumentally, both are essential processes fostering the growth of the church, which is exhorted to “strive for peace with everyone [unity], and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14). Biblical support for the church’s purity will be presented first, followed by support for the church’s unity.

We begin with biblical support for the church’s purity. Remarkably, the members of the Corinthian church are described as “those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints” (1 Cor. 1:2). This positional idea of purity is God’s work of setting the church apart for his purposes such that even the worldly Corinthian church was holy.

Moreover, the holiness of the church is the purpose for which Christ sacrificed himself: “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, … that she might be holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5:25–27). The image of a beautiful and chaste bride adorned for her husband is the biblical vision for the church’s perfect future purity (2 Cor. 11:2–3). The actualization of this vision becomes the church’s aim.

In the instrumental sense of purity, the church separates itself from whatever is not pure, cleansing itself “from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 6:14–7:1). As it aims at perfect purity, the church, which is already positionally pure, purifies itself and pursues greater purity.

Biblical support for the church’s unity is next. The template for the church’s unity is the unity of the Triune God, expressed in Jesus’s prayer to the Father, “Keep them [Christ’s disciples] in your name, … that they may be one, even as we are one” (John 17:11; see also 17:21, 22). Such unity specifically encompasses a never-before-seen oneness between Jews and Gentiles, reflected in Jesus’s mission to unite the two: “So there will be one flock, one shepherd” (10:16). This mission is being accomplished: “In him [Christ] you also [Jews and Gentiles] are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Eph. 2:18–22).

Indeed, it is the Holy Spirit who grants unity to the church, which is then called not to create unity but to be “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3). Positionally, therefore, the church is united. Purposively, the church’s aim is to “attain to the unity of the faith” (4:13). Instrumentally, the church must “strive for peace with everyone” (Heb. 12:14). Practically speaking, the church encourages its members to “live in harmony with one another” (Rom. 12:16), “being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind” (Phil. 2:2). Factions that develop because of quarrels over spiritual leaders (1 Cor. 1:10–17), socioeconomic differences (11:17–34), disagreements among members (Phil. 4:2–3), and critical judgment due to differences in personal preferences (Rom. 14) are not allowed in the church.

Paul surrounds the Spirit’s gift of oneness with seven commonalities that further unite the church: “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Eph. 4:4–6). Because all Christians share these seven commonalities, the unity of the church is fostered. Still other factors unify the church or express its unity: one loaf of bread shared during the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 10:17), “one voice” directed to the glory of God in worship (Rom. 15:6), a common confession of faith (for example, 1 Tim. 3:16), unity-fostering attitudes of humility, gentleness, patience, and bearing with one another in love (Eph. 4:2), and eagerness and hard work to maintain unity (4:3).

Major Errors

1. Exclusivistic claims by certain groups that they are the only pure church. Historically, there has been a steady stream of such fringe movements, which often denounce established churches as being unbiblical, compromised, worldly institutions. Such groups fail to consider the pervasiveness of sin within their own midst.

2. Attempts at formal church (re) union that amount to little more than agreement on some lowest common denominators. In such cases, truth is often sacrificed for the sake of unity. While the recognition of commonalities is important, covering over divergences is unhelpful and will fail to achieve a lasting unity.

27 Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994), 873 (italics in original have been omitted).

Allison, Gregg R. 2018. 50 Core Truths of the Christian Faith: A Guide to Understanding and Teaching Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books: A Division of Baker Publishing Group.