Showing 10 results for “institutes”
What is the institute of a church? The institute of a church includes the preaching of the Word, the administration of the sacraments and the exercise of Christian discipline. It also includes all catechetical instruction and family visitation. To say that the Lord never blesses the institute of a c
In the New Testament, the church institute is no longer identified with the children of Abraham; the church institute is now the local congregation, “an assembly of those who are saved” as The Confession of Faith defines it.[2] John Calvin refers to the church institute as God’s “own institution”,
The church as institute is the gathering of believers in any one locality under the office of Christ, that is, under the ministry of the Word, the rule of elders, and the office of mercy vested in deacons. If believers do not gather under the office of Christ, they do not in such gatherings manifest
When we speak of the church as institute, we speak of the ruling body in the church – the consistory, of the preaching of the Word, of the sacraments, of Christian discipline. Under the church as institute is the teaching of Catechism, for that is also part of the preaching of the Word. Therefore, t
The visible Church, which is also catholic or universal under the Gospel . . . consists of all those throughout the world that profess the true religion; and of their children: and is the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, the house and family of God, out of which there is no ordinary possibility of
While it is certainly true that parachurch organizations can include all such organizations, it is also clear that a certain distinction has to be made here. This distinction arises out of a common yet very important distinction in the nature and idea of the church. All theologians in the Protestant
The reference to the instituted church as the house of God clearly shows the importance of the church institute, and also indicates the relationship between the universal body of Christ and the manifestation of that body upon this earth. In studying the church, it is good to start with considering t
The concept of the Church of Christ as an organism is directly related to the idea of the Church as institute. Scripture plainly shows this relationship and, in fact, by implication demands that the Church of Christ as organism become instituted in the world. In this connection, and by way of introd
The Church Institute The reference in Psalm 48 is to the church institute, the congregation that gathers for worship on the Lord’s Day, with a pastor, elders, and deacons. The reference is to the church that you can see. Psalm 48 is not extolling the church universal, or catholic—the church made up
Catechism is to be sharply distinguished from societies in the church. That is true because while societies are part of the church organism, Catechism is part of the church as institute. The church as institute is the body of Christ as it comes to manifestation in this world in the preaching of the