02.06. The Catholicity Of Confession
THE CATHOLICITY OF THE CONFESSION Therefore let no man glory in men, For all things are yours;
Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s. 1 Corinthians 3:21-22.
The diversity of the confession does not violate its catholicity. There are many Churches, and all of us Christians, confess one holy, catholic Church, which becomes revealed in the many Churches of Christianity, be it in a very imperfect way. The Christian confession is Universal and Catholic, in the sense, that it is spread out over all the earth, includes all believers, is for all men, and has significance for the whole world. Christianity is the religion of the world, for all peoples and ages, destined and suited for every place and time. And most universal is that Church, which has expressed most purely in its confession this international and cosmopolitan character of the Christian religion. The universality of the Christian religion is a direct reflection of the unity of God, which is taught therein. God is one, and therefore His words and works can never be in conflict, the one with the other. All things have their connection, their system in His Being, His will and counsel. They exist together in the Son, Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creatures, through Whom and to Whom they were created. This Son is also the Christ; the way, the truth and the life, without Whom no one can come to the Father; the only name, given under heaven, whereby man must be saved; the Head of the congregation, in Whom dwells all the fullness of the Father, that He through Him, having made peace through the blood of the cross, should reconcile all things to Himself, be it things on earth or things in heaven.
Christianity is therefore an absolute religion, the only true religion. It will have no other religions of more or less the same value beside itself. By nature it is intolerant, like truth must at all times be intolerant of the lie. It is not even satisfied with being the first of all religions. It claims to be the real, full religion, which absorbs and fulfills all that is good in other religions. For Christ is not a man beside others, but the Son of men, Who by His resurrection declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. He received from the Father a name above every name, and for that name every knee must bow and all tongues confess that He is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. In this unity we find the catholicity of the Christian religion implied. While there is but one God, He is the Creator of all things. Because there is but one Mediator of God and man, He is the Saviour of the whole world. And because there is but one Spirit, proceeding from the Father and the Son, He guides in all truth, is the only Teacher in the Church, the all sufficient Comforter of all believers.
Holy Scripture preaches this universality of Christianity in a clear and fair manner. The Father loved the world and therefore sent His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. In the Son God reconciled the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. Christ Himself came to earth, not to condemn the world, but to save it. He is the light, the life, the Saviour of the world, reconciling not only our sins, but the sins of the whole world. In Him, all things in heaven and on earth are reconciled with God, and are gathered into one. The world that was made by the Son, is also destined for the Son as its heir. At one time all kingdoms shall be of our God and His Christ. This great, glorious truth has many a time been denied and misjudged. There have been throughout the ages many Christians, we still have them with us, who see the significance of the gospel for the religious moral life, but restrict its influence for the natural life, and see no use for it in the family, for society and state, for science and art. Yes, many were of the opinion, that creation was an enemy of re-creation, that grace set nature aside, and therefore the best Christian was the man of world-flight, who confined himself to loneliness.
Exponents of unbelief made use of this and said that Christianity is an enemy of culture, and therefore not fitting for this day and age. It may have been of great use at one time, and at the present time it may be of use for depressed spirits; but for humanity in general, Christianity is outdated and vanishing. Civilization, science, the arts, trade, industry - they are the gods, which go before us and deliver us from bondage. But the gospel of Christ is finished; His kingdom is not of this world and has no message for today. Religion may be of some use for the inner room; in everyday life there is not any longer a place for it. Religion and politics do not mix. In the schools of science, the temples of art, in the counselling chambers of the nation the Almighty is not needed. Liberating the world from religion and divine things will be continued until the end.
There is a truth in this way of reasoning, that we may not deny. Jesus came indeed to earth, and assumed our natural life, but He took it upon Himself to deny it again on the cross. He was not married, exercised no trade in society and held no office in the state government. He was no man of science and no artist. All of His life was a sacrifice, which was completed when He gave Himself up to death. He came to die. Death was the purpose of His life. He Himself witnessed of this, when He said, he did not come to be served, but to serve and give his life a ransom for many.
He did not just do that for Himself, He required from His disciples to follow Him and walk in His steps. We must take up our cross, if not, we cannot be His disciples. He who will keep his life, shall lose it, but whosoever shall lose it for Christ’s sake, will find it. If we love father and mother more than Christ, we are not worthy of Him, but he who leaves everything for His name’s sake, shall receive a hundred fold, and inherit life eternal. In order to enter into the kingdom of heaven, the offending eye must be plucked out and the offending hand and foot cut off, for it is better to enter heaven without hands and feet, than to be cast into hell fire.
We may take nothing from this grave demand of the gospel of the cross. The gospel may be for man, it is in no respect to man’s liking. To make it palatable for the spirit of the age, the ideas of the day, is robbing it of its power, and will be a disappointment, when we think this to be the way to make it accessible. For Christ was in no way a political leader, nor a reformer of society. His gospel is not suited to serve a social program; Scripture is no law book nor a manual for art or science; the proclamation of the Word is no preaching of human wisdom; the government of the Church is no display of power; the diaconate is no institution to solve the problem of poverty. Christ did not come, nor was His Word given for any of this. Christ is Saviour, that is His name and His work, nothing more, nothing less. His sacrifice is an atonement for sin. His gospel a glad message for salvation. His Church is a communion of saints. Christianity is religion, no philosophy. But then, that is indeed what it is, fully and completely, the true, real, full religion. Restoration of the right relationship with God, and therefore to all creatures. Christ is Saviour, nothing else; but He is that so perfectly, that His gospel is the power of God unto salvation, for all who believe.
Therefore He rejects no one. The rich he sends away empty, but the poor He fills with goods. He speaks out a threefold ’Woe" over the Pharisees who think that their own righteousness is sufficient. But when on earth He invites publicans and sinners to come to Him, He heals the sick, He makes the lame to walk, He cleanses lepers, He opens the eyes of the blind, He raises the dead, He blesses little children, He proclaims the gospel of God’s kingdom to the poor, and doing good and spreading blessing He traveled through the country side. In all this He is human with humanity. Not like John the Baptist, who came eating and drinking, and was called a glutton and a winebibber. Jesus was at Cana’s wedding, took invitations to eat and drink with people, forbade His disciples to fast, portrayed the coming of future salvation like a celebration, and promised His disciples the last night of his life on earth, that He would no more drink with them of the fruit of the vine until He would drink it with them in the kingdom of His Father.
He acknowledged and reverenced the ordinances of natural life in all areas, for He did not come to destroy the works of the Father, but those of the devil. He paid taxes, refused to arbitrate between two brothers who quarrelled about an inheritance, commanded that Caesar should receive that which is his, told the people to be subject to those who sit in Moses’ seat, and forbade His disciples to make use of the sword even under most trying circumstances. He never encouraged to resist, words of love always came from His tips. Love your enemies; bless those that curse you; do well to those who hate you; and pray for those that persecute you.
Nature He loves with childlike joy. He enjoys its beauty and is refreshed when He sees its beauty. He has an open eye for the grass that grows out of the earth and the lilies of the field, for the birds of heaven and the fishes in the sea. Vine and figtree, mustard seed and the grain of wheat, grape and thorn, fig and thistle, field and flock, catching fish and business acumen served Him for examples and parables, when He taught about heavenly things. All of nature speaks Him of the Father which is in heaven and Who lets His sun rise over the good and the evil, and rains on the just and the unjust. And so little does He disparages all luxury, that when Mary anoints Him with precious ointment, He does not complain about any waste to His disciples, but accepts the costly token of honor with gratitude. And last but not least - Jesus did indeed laid down natural life, for our sakes, but He took it again and rose from the dead. When in His flesh He bore our sins on the cross, and thus freed natural life from its guilt and curse, He made it again His possession, but now reborn, spiritualized, sanctified. Christ’s bodily resurrection from the dead is sufficient evidence, that Christianity is no enemy of humanity or the natural, but it will only redeem it of all that is sinful and sanctify creation unto God. That is the way Jesus’ disciples have to go. if we would follow Jesus, we must leave everything, but we receive all of it back again, thirty, sixty and a hundred fold. "For if we have been planted in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection" (Romans 6:5). If we suffer with Him, we will also be glorified with Him, not first in heaven, but already here on earth. For the believer has eternal life and is renewed from day to day. From the cross to the crown, through death to life - that is the way, for both Jesus and His disciples. That is why through death, everything returns to them in the resurrection. Being dead and raised with Christ, from now on they live the time of the flesh by faith in the Son of God, Who loved them and gave Himself for them. Although crucified to the world, they remain in the world, but are kept by the Father from the evil one. They remain in the calling wherewith they are called. The Jew who is converted to the Lord, has no need to put on the foreskin, while the Greek who comes to faith, does not have to be circumcised. The servant remains a servant, even though he is the lord’s freeman. He who was free remains free, although he is Christ’s servant. The unbelieving man is sanctified by the believing wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband.
All natural ordinances remain; they are not cast down but recreated by the Spirit. For the kingdom of heaven is not food and drink, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. "For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving. For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer" (1 Timothy 4:4). Believers have only to think of, ’Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report" (Php 4:8). It remains that everything is theirs, for they are Christ’s and Christ is God’s. That is why godliness is profitable for all things, not only for the life to come, but also for the present life. When we look for the kingdom of God and its righteousness, all the other things are given us. The best Christian is the best citizen. With his confession he is not outside or above natural life. He takes his confession with him into the world, and everywhere he plants the banner of the cross. The gospel of Christ is a joyous message for all creatures, for mind and heart, for body and soul, for family and society, for science and the arts. For it delivers from guilt and redeems from death. It is a power of God unto salvation, for everyone who believes.