Module No.

6
Ecclesiology: The Doctrine of the Church
Course The Church Course Code: Theo 3
Title:
Instructors: Salvador N. Castillo Term & AY: 1st Sem, AY 2020 -
09364403631 2021
Fr. Leif Mark U. Butacan
09067709179
Joseph Timoteo S. Asuncion
09653323503

I. Overview
This is the sole Church of Christ, which in the Creed we profess to be one, holy,
catholic and apostolic. These four characteristics, inseparably linked with each
other, indicate essential features of the Church and her mission. The Church does not
possess them of herself; it is Christ who, through the Holy Spirit, makes his Church one,
holy, catholic, and apostolic, and it is he who calls her to realize each of these qualities.
Only faith can recognize that the Church possesses these properties from her divine
source. But their historical manifestations are signs that also speak clearly to human
reason. As the First Vatican Council noted, the "Church herself, with her marvelous
propagation, eminent holiness, and inexhaustible fruitfulness in everything good, her
catholic unity and invincible stability, is a great and perpetual motive of credibility and an
irrefutable witness of her divine mission."

II. INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES (ILOs)

Upon completion of this module, the students should be able to:
A. comprehend and understand the Nature of the Church
B. distinguish and categorize the characteristics of the Church and reflect on it.
C. identify and realized that the attributes of the Church is a part of our mission.

III. Learning Resources and References

CPCP/ECCCE. Catechism of the Catholic Church. Metro Manila: Word and Life Publication,
1994.
Banayat, Samuel. Sacred Scripture, Philippine Bible Society, 1996.
Erickson, Millard J. Christian Theology. 2nd edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House,
1998.

IV. Lecture Content / Summary of Lesson

The Nature of the Church (What the church is)

a. Words and images for the church

b. Characteristics of the church
c. Marks of the church

i. Background
1. During the Reformation a number of Christian groups arose (in addition to
the Roman Catholic Church) calling themselves a church.
2. Specifically, the Roman Catholic Church said there could be no church
where the ______ did not preside as head.
3. In contrast, the Reformers said that the church was a ___________ of saints
(i.e., true
believers) assembled together.
4. But where were these true churches to be found? What marks them as a
true church?
5. The Reformers saw in Scripture three marks that identified a true church:
preaching of the gospel, proper administration of the ordinances as instituted
by Christ, and exercising church discipline.

ii. Preaching of the gospel

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 1. 1 Tim 3:14-15; 4:13: I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to
you before long; but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how
one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of
the living God, the pillar and support of the truth. . . . Until I come, give
attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching.
2. Col 1:28: We proclaim Him, [Jesus] admonishing every man and teaching
every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in
Christ.
3. Acts 5:42: And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they
kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.

iii. Proper administration of the ordinances1 (baptism and the Lord’s

Supper) instituted by Christ.
1. Baptism: Matt 28:18-20: And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying,
“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and
make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I
commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
2. Lord’s Supper: 1 Cor 11:23: For I received from the Lord that which I also
delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed
took bread.
3. Historically, by “proper administration of the ordinances” this meant
several things in distinction from the Roman Catholic Church:
a. Two ordinances instead of _______ (Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist,
Penance, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, Matrimony).
b. Ordinances have no intrinsic _______ instead of ex opera operato
(“by the working work”).
c. Ordinances are not necessary for regeneration 2 instead of baptismal
regeneration.

iv. Exercise of church discipline

1. Matt 18:15-18: [Jesus speaking] “If your brother sins, go and show him his
fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does
not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF
TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. If he refuses to
listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the
church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I say to you,
whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever
you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”
2. Titus 3:10 (NIV): Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a
second time. After that, have nothing to do with them.

v. Summary “In summary, [a church is a true church if] it governs itself according
to the pure Word of God, . . .”3

d. Attributes of the church: “one, holy, catholic, apostolic” (Niceno

Constantinopolitan Creed)
i. One church (Unity)4
1. The church is one.
a. Eph 4:4-6: There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were
called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

1
More on the ordinances will be covered in a subsequent systematic theology lesson.
2
2 For more on regeneration, see: Dan Burrus, “Systematic Theology, Lesson 25: Soteriology, Part 3,” lecture
available at gracelakeville.org. 3 More on church discipline will
3
The Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 29.
4
For more on church unity, as seen in the modern day ecumenical movement, see: Dan Burrus, “Church History,
Lesson 13: The Modern Church, Part 3,” lecture available at gracelakeville.org
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 b. John 10:16: I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must
bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one
flock with one shepherd.
2. The church should call to oneness.
a. John 17:20-23: “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those
also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one;
even 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 sent Me. The glory which
You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as
We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in
unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them,
even as You have loved Me.”5
b. Eph 4:3: being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond
of peace.
c. 1 Cor 1:10: Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among
you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same
judgment.
3. The nature of unity
a. Unity is not only one. Many members, one body (1 Corinthians 12).
b. Unity is not achieved “through theological vagueness, theological
minimalism, or a lack of doctrinal conviction” 6 (1 Cor 1:10-13).
c. Unity is not anti-denominationalism. 7

ii. Holy church (Holiness)

1. The church is holy.
a. 1 Cor 1:1-2: Paul, called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of
God, and Sosthenes our brother, To the church of God which is at
Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by
calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, their Lord and ours.8
b. 1 Cor 3:16-17: Do you not know that you are a temple of God and
that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of
God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is
what you are.
2. The church should pursue holiness.
a. Eph 4:24: and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has
been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
b. 1 Pet 1:15-16: but like the Holy One who called you, be holy
yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “YOU SHALL
BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”
3. Implications of holiness
a. Because churches are already holy and not yet holy, there are more
pure or less pure churches (i.e., a spectrum of purity).
b. Mark Dever has proposed nine marks of a healthy (i.e., pure)
church.9
i. Expository preaching
ii. Biblical theology
iii. Gospel
5
For more on unity from John 17:20-23, see: Jeff Rich, “That They May All Be One,” two sermons available at the
GCBC sermonaudio.com webpage.
6
Christopher Morgan, “Toward a Theology of the Unity of the Church,” in Why We Belong: Evangelical Unity and
Denominational Diversity, ed. Anthony L. Chute, Christopher W. Morgan, and Robert A. Peterson (Wheaton, IL: Crossway,
2013), 31.
7
For more on denominationalism from a historical perspective, see: Dan Burrus, “Church History, Lesson 10: The
Reformation Church, Part 3,” lecture available at gracelakeville.org
8
For more on the different types of sanctification, see: Dan Burrus, “Systematic Theology, Lesson 28: Soteriology,
Part 6,” lecture available at gracelakeville.org.
9
Mark Dever, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2000, 2004, 2013). Note: these “nine
marks” of a healthy church are not to be confused with the “three marks” of a true church.
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 iv. A biblical understanding of conversion
v. A biblical understanding of evangelism
vi. A biblical understanding of church membership
vii. Biblical church discipline
viii. A concern for discipleship and growth
ix. Biblical church leadership

iii. Catholic church (Universal)10

1. Catholic comes from the Latin catholicam meaning “universal.” Thus, the
word “catholic” in the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed is not referring to the
Roman Catholic Church but to the universal church. 11
2. Church is universal in three ways:
a. Geographical
i. Acts 1:8: “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has
come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in
Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the
remotest part of the earth.”
ii. Rom 10:18: But I say, surely they have never heard, have
they? Indeed they have; “THEIR VOICE HAS GONE OUT INTO ALL
THE EARTH, AND THEIR WORDS TO THE ENDS OF THE WORLD.”
b. Sociological
i. Gal 3:28: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave
nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all
one in Christ Jesus.
ii. Rev 5:9: And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You
to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and
purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and
tongue and people and nation.”
c. Socio-economic
i. Gal 3:28: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave
nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all
one in Christ Jesus.
ii. Col 3:11: a renewal in which there is no distinction between
Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian,
Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.
3. GCBC Statement of Faith (“The Church” paragraph 3): We teach that the
church is thus a unique organism designed by Christ, made up of all born
again believers in this present age. .

iv. Apostolic church (Apostolicity)

1. Apostolicity does not mean tracing church leaders all the way back to
Peter. Rather, the church is apostolic in the sense that the church is built on
the teaching of the apostles contained in the Bible.
2. Acts 2:42: They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’
teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
3. Eph 2:20: having been built on the foundation of the apostles and
prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone.

v. Summary “The church is already one, but it must become more visibly one . . .
in faith and practice. The church is already holy in its source and foundation, but it
must strive to produce fruits of holiness in its sojourn in the world. The church is
already catholic, but it must seek a fuller measure of catholicity by assimilating the
valid protests against church abuse . . . into its own life. The church is already

10
For more information on the universality of the church from a historical perspective, see: Dan Burrus, “Church
History, Lesson 3: The Ancient Church, Part 2,” lecture available at gracelakeville.org.
11
The Roman Catholic Church, as we know it today, did not exist when the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed was
accepted in 381 A.D. For more on the Roman Catholic Church from a historical perspective, see: Dan Burrus, “Church
History, Lesson 10: The Reformation Church, Part 3,” lecture available at gracelakeville.org.
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 apostolic but it must become more consciously apostolic by allowing the gospel to
reform and sometimes even overturn its time-honored rites and interpretations.” 12

V. Learning Activities: Summative Evaluation (10%)

Fill in the table: Using the SEE, JUDGE, ACT mode.

SEE (what are the

JUDGE (how do you ACT (what are the
Attributes of the possible
see it as a possible actions you
Church issues/problems of
problem?) must do? ”mission”)
the Church?)

1.

2.

3.

4.

VI. Supplemental content

VII. Assessment
Reflect on the following: Summative Evaluation (10%) (In not less than 50 words.)
1. There could be no church until the death of Christ. Acts 20:28: “Be on guard for
yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to
shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”
2. there could be no church until the resurrection and ascension of Christ. In order for
Christ to be “head over all things to the church” (Eph 1:22-23), Christ had to be
resurrected and ascended.
3. Gal 3:28: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is
neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
4. [a church is a true church if] it governs itself according to the pure Word of God,

VIII. Assignment
Have an advance reading about BEC “Basic Ecclesial Community.”

12
Donald Bloesch, The Church (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2002), 103; cited in Mark Dever, The Church: The Gospel
Made Visible (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2012), 19-20.
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