Midterm

Question 1

“And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

Answer 1

Matthew 16

Question 2

”Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them inthe name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”

Answer 2

Matthew‬ ‭28‬

Question 3

”’Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.’”

Answer 3

Luke‬ ‭22‬

Question 4

“‘I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.’”

Answer 4

John‬ ‭17‬

Question 5

”In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”“

Answer 5

Acts‬ ‭1‬

Question 6

”Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.“

Answer 6

Acts 6

Question 7

”So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.“

Answer 7

Acts 9

Question 8

”Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.“

Answer 8

Acts 20

Question 9

”He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.“

Answer 9

Romans 4

Question 10

”Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.“

Answer 10

Romans 8

Question 11

”To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:“

Answer 11

1 Corinthians 1

Question 12

”What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.”

Answer 12

1 Corinthians 3

Question 13

”When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. ‘Purge the evil person from among you.’”

Answer 13

1 Corinthians 5

Question 14

”For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.“

Answer 14

1 Corinthians 12

Question 15

”Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him.“

Answer 15

2 Corinthians 2

Question 16

”Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.“

Answer 16

Galatians 3

Question 17

”Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load. Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.“

Answer 17

Galatians 6

Question 18

”Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.“

Answer 18

Ephesians 2

Question 19

”I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.“

Answer 19

Ephesians 4

Question 20

”Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.“

Answer 20

Ephesians 5

Question 21

”I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.“

Answer 21

1 Timothy 3

Question 22

”But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.“

Answer 22

1 Peter 2

Question 23

”Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

Answer 23

Hebrews 10

Question 24

What is the Church?

Answer 24

The Church is the people of God through Jesus Christ. That is not to say that people in the OT were not a part of the Church, however it was under a different administration in the covenant of grace. Jesus owns the Church, Jesus also builds his Church, and thirdly Jesus defends the Church from all its enemies. In short, the Church is the possession of Jesus.

Question 25

What is meant by Ecclesiology as Applied Christology?

Answer 25

Ecclesiology as Applied Christology is the idea that Christ is working through the Church today. This is captured in the phrase, “If you want to see what Jesus is doing today, look at the local church.” Christ is not up in heaven separated from his people, he is presently praying for his people, ordaining ministers, and growing his people throughout the world. He does all of this through the power of the Holy Spirit. To study Ecclesiology is to study what the risen Lord Jesus is doing in the present through the lives of his people by the power of his Spirit, unto the glory of the Father.

Question 26

What are some biblical metaphors used for the Church?

Answer 26

There are a plethora of metaphors Scripture uses to help us get a better understanding of the relationship between Christ and his Church. Even the word we translate as Church, is an excellent metaphor, namely ecclesia. This Greek word means literally the called-out ones. The people of God are called out from the world, both spiritually and literally. Spiritually being saved and justified and also literally because the people of God meet together, are baptized, and also receive the Lord’s Supper. The Church is also described as the bride of Christ, showing the intimacy of the relation believers have with Jesus. We are the bride of Christ, for whom he came from heaven and died to save her.

Question 27

How would you articulate the oneness of the Church, particularly with its Invisible and Visible aspects?

Answer 27

The Church since its inception has always been one unit. Explicitly with Abraham, it was him and his household as well. However, as the NT explains, faith justifies a person, not necessarily being a covenant member. It also appears again with Israel as a nation. They all had the law, and were one people. Although only those who possessed faith were in a salvific relation to God. This carries also into the NT, where the principle of invisible and visible church is maintained. Also, all the saints under the OT who were before Jesus’s day were nevertheless united to him by faith, demonstrated in Romans 4.

Question 28

What would be the Biblical case for Church Membership?

Answer 28

The Biblical case for membership is that we are not called in and unto ourselves. We are saved into a people. When the apostles address the Church, they do so not in terms of individuals, but always in a corporate setting. They talk about disciplining the sin of the members not in a vacuum, but addressed to a people who were together. Also, they command believers to love one another, and do good to one another. Also, Christ has given the visible church the oracles of God, the preaching of the Word, and the administration of the sacraments. No Christian in and of themselves has the ability to do these for themselves, and therefore need the church.

Question 29

What is the Creedal and Confessional development of the Doctrine of the Church?

Answer 29

In the earliest Creed, the church is briefly mentioned as the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church and the Communion of Saints. This theme is pretty much consistent until the Reformation, which sought to correct the many errors of Rome. When finally getting to Westminster, you have a distillation not only of the doctrine of Scripture, but also the consensus of the Reformed faith until that point in time. Westminster takes the best of British confessions and also the Continental confessions and consolidates them. Westminster builds on the ideas set out in the Apostles Creed, namely the H.C.A Church and the Communion of Saints.

Question 30

Section 1: The catholic or universal Church, which is invisible, consists of the whole number of the elect, that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one, under Christ the Head thereof; and is the spouse, the body, the fullness of Him that fills all in all.

Answer 30

1. Westminster here is affirming the doctrine of the invisible church, stating that only believers make up the invisible church.
2. Westminster also affirms the universality of the church: that God’s invisible body is not limited to place, time, nationality, or ethnicity.

Question 31

Section 2: The visible Church, which is also catholic or universal under the Gospel (not confined to one nation, as before under the law), 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 salvation.

Answer 31

1. Westminster here affirms the doctrine of the visible church. It states that the visible church is made up of all who profess faith in Jesus Christ.
2. Westminster also affirms that children are a part of the visible church.

Question 32

Section 3: Unto this catholic visible Church Christ has given the ministry, oracles, and ordinances of God, for the gathering and perfecting of the saints, in this life, to the end of the world: and does, by His own presence and Spirit, according to His promise, make them effectual thereunto.

Answer 32

1. Here Westminster affirms that Christ has given the visible church the oracles of God for the perfecting of the saints, and their building up and spiritual nurturing until Christ returns again.
2. It also affirms that it is not the means in and of themselves, but the Spirit working through them, “through his promise, to make them effectual…”

Question 33

Section 4: This catholic Church has been sometimes more, sometimes less visible. And particular Churches, which are members thereof, are more or less pure, according as the doctrine of the Gospel is taught and embraced, ordinances administered, and public worship performed more or less purely in them.

Answer 33

1. Westminster here affirms that the catholic church can be subject to error.
2. Westminster here affirms that the visible church is more or less pure, meaning that it is more or less in conformity to the Word of God and where the gospel is embraced.

Question 34

Section 5: The purest Churches under heaven are subject both to mixture and error; and some have so degenerated, as to become no Churches of Christ, but synagogues of Satan. Nevertheless, there shall be always a Church on earth to worship God according to His will.

Answer 34

1. Westminster here affirms, likely with Rome in mind, that the visible church can devolve into such rebellion to the gospel and Christ that it could be rightly called a synagogue of Satan, where they fight against the very Lord they profess.
2. But in light of that, Westminster also affirms that Christ will always keep a people for himself to worship him, even if they do not completely conform to his Word.

Question 35

Section 6: There is no other head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ. Nor can the Pope of Rome, in any sense, be head thereof. but is that Antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that exalts himself, in the Church, against Christ and all that is called God.

Answer 35

1. Westminster here affirms very clearly that Christ alone is the head of the Church. This edition of Westminster which I found online keeps the phrase about the Pope being the antichrist, so I guess that is interesting.
2. Christ is the only head, meaning that also that a government official is not the head of the Church.

Question 36

Section 1: All saints, that are united to Jesus Christ their Head, by His Spirit, and by faith, have fellowship with Him in His grace, sufferings, death, resurrection, and glory: and, being united to one another in love, they have communion in each other’s gifts and graces, and are obliged to the performance of such duties, public and private, as do conduce to their mutual good, both in the inward and outward man.

Answer 36

1. Westminster here affirms the doctrine of Unity with Christ. He shares in all of his sufferings, graces, and everything that he achieved.
2. We are also united one with another, which would follow since all believers are united to the same Savior, and therefore bound in duty and love to serve one another with our gifts that Christ has given us.

Question 37

Section 2: Saints by profession are bound to maintain an holy fellowship and communion in the worship of God, and in performing such other spiritual services as tend to their mutual edification; as also in relieving each other in outward things, according to their several abilities and necessities. Which communion, as God offers opportunity, is to be extended unto all those who, in every place, call upon the name of the Lord Jesus.

Answer 37

1. Westminster here doubles down on what it had concluded the last section with. Believers are united and therefore ought to serve one another with love and for the purpose of their mutual edification.
2. This is not to be refused to any believer, since Christ does not refuse any believer.

Question 38

Section 3: This communion which the saints have with Christ, does not make them in any wise partakers of the substance of His Godhead; or to be equal with Christ in any respect: either of which to affirm is impious and blasphemous. Nor does their communion one with another, as saints, take away, or infringe the title or propriety which each man has in his goods and possessions.

Answer 38

1. Here Westminster denies some of the Eastern Orthodox teachings that affirm that we partake in the divine nature in a nirvana like state.
2. Westminster also denies that our unity with one another does not destroy personal property of each individual believer.