The Church and the Communion of Saints

Invisible and visible

The Confession speaks of the catholic or universal church under two aspects. As invisible, it is the whole number of the elect of every age, gathered into one under Christ their Head — a church known perfectly only to God. As visible, it consists of all who profess the true religion, together with their children, and is the kingdom of the Lord Jesus, the house and family of God outside which there is ordinarily no salvation.

This distinction guards two truths at once: that the church's true unity rests in God's election, and that the visible church, though mixed and sometimes corrupted, remains the appointed place of ministry, ordinances, and gathering.

Christ the only Head

The Confession is emphatic that the Lord Jesus Christ is the sole Head of the church; there is no other, and no man can be such in his place. The visible church endures through every age, sometimes more and sometimes less visible, and particular churches are more or less pure as the gospel is taught, ordinances administered, and worship kept. Even the purest churches are subject to mixture and error, yet Christ always has, and ever shall have, a kingdom in this world.

The communion of saints

Those united to Christ by his Spirit share in his graces and are bound to one another in love. This communion calls believers to mutual duties, both spiritual and outward, as their gifts and needs require. The Confession carefully limits the claim: this fellowship does not make believers partakers of the substance of the Godhead, nor does it overthrow the rights of property and ownership. Communion of saints is union in grace, not a merging of persons or a community of goods.