Chapter 3: The Nature and Extent of Church Power

3-1. The power which Christ has committed to His Church vests in the
whole body, the rulers and those ruled, constituting it a spiritual
commonwealth. This power, as exercised by the people, extends to the choice
of those officers whom He has appointed in His Church.

3-2. Ecclesiastical power, which is wholly spiritual, is twofold. The
officers exercise it sometimes severally, as in preaching the Gospel,
administering the Sacraments, reproving the erring, visiting the sick, and
comforting the afflicted, which is the power of order; and they exercise it
sometimes jointly in Church courts, after the form of judgment, which is the
power of jurisdiction.

3-3. The sole functions of the Church, as a kingdom and government
distinct from the civil commonwealth, are to proclaim, to administer, and to
enforce the law of Christ revealed in the Scriptures.

3-4. The power of the Church is exclusively spiritual; that of the State
includes the exercise of force. The constitution of the Church derives from
divine revelation; the constitution of the State must be determined by human
reason and the course of providential events. The Church has no right to
construct or modify a government for the State, and the State has no right to
frame a creed or polity for the Church. They are as planets moving in
concentric orbits: "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God
the things that are God's" (Matthew 22:21).

3-5. The Church, with its ordinances, officers and courts, is the agency
which Christ has ordained for the edification and government of His people,
for the propagation of the faith, and for the evangelization of the world.