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[Previous: The Purpose of the Church] III. The Authority of the ChurchA. Apostolic AuthorityThe twelve apostles of Christ led the New Testament church. The apostles' authority over the early church was based on their eyewitness accounts of the teachings of Jesus (John 15:26-27, Acts 1:21-22, 1 John 1:1-4). The apostles then established local churches, appointing elders in those churches (Acts 14:23, Titus 1:5). Upon the death of the apostles, the question is, did the apostles pass on their apostolic authority to the next generation of church leaders, or did apostolic authority end with the death of the last apostle? The question of apostolic authority is not a question of whether or not the appointed elders have the authority to lead the church (Hebrews 13:17). The question is whether these appointed leaders have the same authority to speak for Christ and speak authoritatively in developing theology. In the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Anglican churches, apostolic authority is believed to have been passed down from the apostles to the priests, bishops, archbishops and, in the case of Roman Catholicism, ultimately to the pope himself. In these churches, the practice of ordaining the clergy is a ceremony that installs in a person a measure of this apostolic authority. Matthew 16:18 is used as a key verse to promote the idea of apostolic authority. Protestantism, there is no sacramental distinction between the clergy and the laity. Instead all believers are considered priests with equal authority to participate in the leadership of the church (1 Peter 2:9). No single individual or earthly body has, therefore, the authority to expand the teachings of scripture or to speak as an apostle in extending Christian doctrine. The scriptures stand alone as our basis of authority. B. Ordinances of the Church1. Sacrament or Ordinance?Where apostolic authority really meets reality is in the nature of the church's ceremonial practices. While on the earth, Christ instituted two ceremonies for the church: baptism (Matthew 28:19) and the Lord's Supper (1 Corinthians 11:23-26). Over the centuries, the church has added additional ceremonies. Today the Roman Catholic Church recognizes seven sacraments: baptism, the Lord's Supper (known also as the Eucharist), confirmation, marriage, ordination, penance, and extreme unction. While the Roman Catholics hold to seven sacraments, baptism and the Lord's Supper remain the most important. Likewise, while Protestants hold to two ordinances, all seven of are practiced by Protestants in one form or another. The difference between Catholics and Protestants is not the number of the ceremonies, but the nature of them. Namely, are they sacraments or ordinances? The term ordinance means rule or commandment. Protestants believe the Lord's Supper and Baptism are practiced because Christ commanded it as an ordinance. The ceremonies themselves are memorials and are symbolic, but they hold no sacred or mystical power. The term sacrament means the ceremonies hold sacred and mystical power. Namely, through the practice of these ceremonies the very grace of God is dispensed on the participant. More specifically, salvation and the grace of God come to the individual through participation in the sacraments, and salvation cannot exist apart from participation in the sacraments. The ceremonies themselves are made sacred through the apostolic authority granted the priest through ordination. The real threat of Protestantism was not in the belief in justification by faith alone, but in the resulting removal of the sacramental system [1]. Roman Catholicism taught that grace could be dispensed to the individual merely by participating in the ceremony, even if that individual did not have faith. Luther opposed this viewpoint, believing instead that the grace of God is appropriated by faith outside of the sacramental system. For Luther, the sacraments were indeed mystical, but they were not magical. In removing the power of the sacrament from the church, now salvation could be attained outside of the church. If salvation could be achieved without the church, the clergy held no power over the laity. This was the chief threat of Protestantism to 16 th century Catholicism. To judge whether Luther or Catholicism is correct in their understanding of the sacraments/ordinances, we must look closer at the scriptural teaching on baptism and the Lord's Supper. 2. Baptisma. What is Baptism?Literally, the word baptism comes from the Greek word meaning “to immerse.” Baptism is a ceremony where we take those who have trusted their lives to Christ and desire to be His followers and we dunk them under water. But more than just a dunk in a water tank, Colossians 2:11-13 teaches that that baptism is full of meaning to the believer. • Baptism is a symbol of belonging to God . Paul states that the Colossian believers had been circumcised, not physically, with hands, but spiritually by Christ through the act of baptism. Just as circumcision was a symbol to the Jews that they belonged to God, so today baptism has replaced that symbol. Baptism is a symbol of belonging to God. • Baptism is a symbol of being part of the church . To the Jews, however, circumcision not only showed they belonged to God, but identified them as part of the Jewish community (Genesis 17:14) Just as circumcision was a symbol of being part of the Jewish community of faith, baptism is a symbol of being a part of the Christian community of faith (1 Corinthians 12:13). • Baptism is a symbol of our identification with Christ's burial . Paul states that we have been buried with Him in baptism. Baptism is how we as believers associate themselves with Christ's death on the cross and his burial in the tomb (Romans 6:3-4). • Baptism is a reminder that our sins are forgiven . When we bury our sins with Christ, when we have died to our sins, then we are reminded we have been pardoned of our sins. Baptism is a reminder that our sins are forgiven. It symbolizes washing away of our sins. • Baptism is a symbol of our identification with Christ's resurrection . Baptism is a symbol of our identification with Christ's resurrection. As we go come up out of the water, it symbolizes Christ being raised from the dead. We then associate ourselves with Christ's resurrection. • Baptism is a reminder that we have new life in Christ . Just as Christ's death brought about the forgiveness of our sins as we buried our sins in His tomb, so Christ's resurrection brings about within us new life. Baptism is a reminder that we have new life in Christ. b. Baptism as a sacramentIn addition to these symbolic meanings attached to baptism, Roman Catholics would state that baptism removes the taint of Adam's original sin from a person, regardless of whether that person believes. Therefore, it is crucial for salvation that one first be baptized. For this reason, infants are baptized as soon as possible. It is the act of baptism that matters, for grace is dispensed on the recipient through the authority of the church. c. Baptism as an ordinancei. Infant BaptismThe practice of infant baptism continued in Protestant churches after the reformation, and is still practiced in Lutheran churches today. However, Lutherans and other Protestants practicing infant baptism still see the importance of infant baptism through its connection with circumcision. Just as the Jewish infant boy was circumcised on the 8 th day after birth to note his connection with the Jewish community, infant baptism is seen as a tie to the Christian community. While infant baptism cannot save, it does recognize that being part of a Christian family and community does impart some measure of God's grace on the infant (1 Corinthians 7:14). ii. Adult BaptismNonetheless, there is no scriptural precedent for infant baptism beyond its tie to circumcision. There is no example of infant baptism in the New Testament. Instead, baptism was seen always as a public identification with Christ and an outward manifestation of salvation. However, some Protestants have so diminished the importance of baptism so as to, if not in doctrine, at least in practice, taught that baptism is optional. In an over reaction against baptism as necessary for salvation, baptism has been unbiblically divorced from salvation altogether. While baptism does not save, baptism is part of conversion. When asked why someone is being baptized, most often people state that it is out of obedience to Christ. However, nowhere in the New Testament is there a command for believers to be baptized. That is because it was presumed that all believers already are baptized. The relationship between salvation and baptism was so close it would never occurred to the writers of the New Testament to command believers to be baptized. The only command regarding baptism in the Bible comes from Jesus in Matthew 28, where he commands the church to “make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” It seems to me if there are believers who have not been baptized, it is not the individual who is being the disobedient, but the church! 3. The Lord's Suppera. What is the Lord's Supper?On the evening of Jesus' betrayal, He and His disciples celebrated the Jewish Passover feast. Jesus took the symbolism of the Passover and commanded us to celebrate the taking of bread and wine as an ongoing remembrance of His death on the cross (1 Corinthians 11:23-26). While the Jewish Passover commemorated the sacrifice of the Passover lamb, so the Lord's Supper commemorates the sacrifice of the Lamb of God who came to take the sins of the world. b. Communion as a sacrament: TransubstantiationWhen Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper, He stated that the bread “is My body,” and that the cup “is My blood.” Furthermore, Christ states that: (John 6:53-54) …unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. Based on this, the Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox believe that Christ's sacrifice on the cross continues in the celebration of the Eucharist (Lord's Supper) in mass. In the celebration, the priest transforms the bread and wine into the actual body and blood of Christ. This is called transubstantiation. That is, the bread and wine literally become the body and blood of Christ. By eating and drinking Christ's flesh and blood, the grace of God is transferred to the participant in accordance with John 6:53-54. c. Communion as an ordinance: Presence or Memorial?Such a viewpoint takes Christ's words too literally. If indeed He is the bread and wine, then He is also a door (John 10:9), and a vine (John 15:1) [2]. In addition, it fails to recognize the sufficiency of the cross in atoning for our sins (Hebrews 10:10-14). Protestants, therefore, deny the mystical impartation of grace through the celebration of the Lord's Supper. Nonetheless, within Protestantism there is debate as to the extent of the presence of Christ within the elements of communion. Lutherans believe in consubstantiation , which is the belief that the body and blood of Christ are found in, within and under the bread and wine, but not that the bread and wine actually become the body and blood. On the opposite extreme, Baptists and other evangelicals believe that the bread and wine are merely symbolic memorials, denying any mystical element to communion. Often this has resulted in making communion as a once-a-month obligatory event rather than the center point of Christian worship. The New Testament teaches that the celebration of the Lord's Supper was a central element of the early church's worship. It took place each time the church gathered and was the emphasis of the worship service. If the celebration is a mere memorial and does not have any mystical element whatsoever, why does Paul state that its abuse can lead to the death of the participant (1 Corinthians 11:29-30)? Furthermore, Paul seems to indicate in 1 Corinthians 10:14-22, that just as those who sacrifice to idols are actually sacrificing to demons, sharing in the fellowship of demons (1 Corinthians 10:20), that those who partake of the bread and the cup are sharing in the body and blood of Christ (1 Corinthians 10:16-17). 4. Church Governancea. Ordination as a SacramentIf, indeed, the sacraments are mechanisms by which the grace of God is imparted to individuals, then not just anyone can administer the sacraments. The church must ordain persons to be the administrator of the sacraments. For this reason, the Catholic Church sees ordination itself as a sacrament where the grace of God is imparted upon a man, making him a priest of God. This creates a bifurcation of believers between the clergy and the laity. b. Hierarchical GovernmentAs a result of the sacrament of ordination, the Roman Catholic Church is governed through a hierarchical structure of priests, bishops, archbishops, and ultimately the pope. The local parish has very little authority over its own matters, and property is owned by and the diocese maintains all authority. Recently, the hierarchical nature of the Roman church, and specifically the authority of the local congregation has been in flux. Due to recent lawsuits against the church relating to the sexual abuse scandals, the archdiocese of Portland declared bankruptcy. As a result, local parishes are seeing their local church buildings at risk of foreclosure as the bankruptcy court looks at the liquidation of diocese assets. The church, therefore, argued in bankruptcy court that indeed local congregations own their own church property, not the diocese. In addition, the Roman church has struggled to recruit new priests. This priest shortage has required a pragmatic approach to granting the laity the ability to administer some of the rites of the church. c. Congregational GovernmentIf we believe in the priesthood of all believers, then there is not difference between clergy and laity, and each member of the church should have equal say in the governance of the church. As a result, some Protestants, such as Congregationalists and Baptists hold to congregational rule. In this model, majority rules. The congregation elects its pastoral leadership, sets the church budget, and determines the color to paint the women's bathroom. Biblically, the bible does affirm the priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2:9), and the local church does retain authority (Matthew 18:15-17). d. Elder RuleHowever, the bible also indicates that not all people are called on or imparted with the gift of leadership. Ephesians 4:11-12 indicates that God has gifted some as apostles, prophets, pastors and teachers who are called to lead the church by equipping the body for acts of service. Likewise, wherever the apostle Paul established a church, he appointed elders and leaders to oversee that church (Acts 14:23). Furthermore, the elders carry authority over the church and are to be obeyed (Hebrews 13:17). Three different terms are used in the New Testament to refer to the same church leaders:
From the perspective of scripture, there is no distinction between pastors, elders, and overseers. In fact these terms seem to refer to the same people. Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversigh t not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; (1 Peter 5:1-2) The concern regarding church leadership in the New Testament is not organization, duties, or job descriptions. Rather the New Testament goes into great detail regarding the character required of the church leader (1 Timothy 3, Titus 1). In addition, the church is not seen as an organization, but a family (Ephesians 2:19). As a result, the church should not operate so much on formal rules and dictates, but on the basis of relationships. Paul tells the young pastor Timothy that he should not sharply rebuke his congregation, but instead treat older men like fathers, older women like mothers, and the younger as brothers and sisters (1 Timothy 5:1-2). Furthermore, Paul tells Timothy that the ability to manage a household uniquely qualifies a man to be an elder (1 Timothy 3:2). Peter specifically warns church leaders not lord their authority over the church, but to shepherd the flock and to lead by example. Footnotes
[Next: IV. The Practice of the Church]
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