The

Church

The Gospel Made Visible

Mark Dever

Nashville, Tennessee

The Church, Digital Edition, v.1

Based on Print Edition

The Church: The Gospel Made Visible

Copyright © 2012 by Mark Dever

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-4336-7776-2

Published by B&H Publishing Group

Nashville, Tennessee

Dewey Decimal Classification: 262.7

Subject Heading: CHURCH GOVERNMENT AND POLITY \ CHURCH \ CHURCH MEMBERSHIP

Scripture citations marked NIV are from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION(R). Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All Rights Reserved.

Dedication

To Mike McKinley,

Greg Gilbert,

Michael Lawrence,

Aaron Menikoff,

Andy Davis,

David Platt,

Matt Chandler,

J. D. Greear,

and the rising generation of pastors called to shepherd “the flock of God” (1 Pet 5:2).

Contents

Preface: The Need for Studying the Doctrine of the Church

An Informal Introduction: The Sufficiency of the Bible for the Local Church

Part 1

What Does the Bible Say?

1. The Nature of the Church

2. The Attributes of the Church: One, Holy, Universal, Apostolic

3. The Marks of the Church

4. The Membership of the Church

5. The Polity of the Church

6. The Discipline of the Church

7. The Purpose of the Church

8. The Hope of the Church

Part 2

What Has the Church Believed?

9. The History of the Idea of the Church

10. The History of the Ordinances of the Church

11. The History of the Organization of the Church

Part 3

How Does It All Fit Together?

12. A Protestant Church: Putting Together the Marks of the Church

13. A Gathered Church: Putting Together the Membership of the Church

14. A Congregational Church: Putting Together the Structure of the Church

15. A Baptist Church: Should We Have Baptist Churches Today?

Conclusion: Why Does This Matter?

Name Index

Subject Index

Scripture Index

Preface: The Need for Studying the Doctrine of the Church

For too many Christians today, the doctrine of the church is like a decoration on the front of a building. Maybe it’s pretty, maybe it’s not, but finally it’s unimportant because it bears no weight.

Yet nothing could be further from the truth. The doctrine of the church is of the utmost importance. It is the most visible part of Christian theology, and it is vitally connected with every other part.1 “Christ’s work is the church’s foundation.… Christ’s work continues in the church; the fullness of the mystery of God in redemption is disclosed among his people.”2

The church arises only from the gospel. And a distorted church usually coincides with a distorted gospel. Whether it leads to such distortions or results from them, serious departures from the Bible’s teaching about the church normally signify other, more central misunderstandings about the Christian faith.3

This is not to say that all differences in ecclesiology are tantamount to differences over the gospel itself. Honest Christians have long differed over a number of important issues in the church. But just because a matter is ...