"… you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it" (Matt. 16:18).
In the fourth century, the Council of Nicaea described the church in its Nicene Creed as “one, holy, catholic, apostolic church.” Today we will look at each of these adjectives that accurately describe what a church is according to the Scriptures.
First, the church is one. When the Nicene Creed was drafted, there was one, unified church. Since the Reformation, the church has been broken by schisms. In the United States today there are more than 2000 denominations. Yet, the true church is still unified. No matter how many disparate denominations there are, any that share one Lord, Jesus Christ, one faith, and one baptism are unified. In other words, where there is unity in the Spirit, there is communion of the saints. Unless the church’s doctrine undermines the truth of the Gospel and the foundation of faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, as the only means to salvation, you and the believing members of that church are jointly coheirs with Christ, members of the family of God.
Second, the church is holy. The church is a body of called out, consecrated people, and its people are really indwelt by the presence of the Holy Spirit. The indwelling presence does not convey perfection instantly, but it brings us into a state of holiness.
Third, the church is catholic, which means universal. This word does not mean we are all part of the church at Rome. It does mean, however, that believers from all over the world and in ages past share the same universal belief in Jesus Christ and in justification by faith alone—this is the heart of the Gospel.
Fourth, the church is apostolic. The authority of the apostles was not in the line of succession—pope to pope as is maintained by the Catholic tradition—but it remains intact in the sacred Scriptures. The church is apostolic because it is built on the confession, on the teaching, of the apostles. When Jesus told Peter that He would build His church on the rock, He did not mean that the church would be built on Peter’s apostolic lineage, but on His confession that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God, that salvation comes only through faith in Him. Such was the testimony of Peter and all the apostles, which we have declared to us today in the Bible.
Read 1 Corinthians 14:37; Galatians 1: 8–9, 11–12; and 1 Peter 1:16–24. What do these passages say about the apostles’ authority? Why is the teaching of the church founded on the teaching of the apostles as revealed in the Scriptures? Do teachings of men, not based on the Scriptures, have any authority to bind your conscience?
