To God Be The Glory In The Church Pt. 2
In the second installment of the blog series 'To God Be Glory In The Church' our brother Michael Leach lays out the attributes of the church of God.
The Church Is One. Unum.
There are many local churches but yet there is one church. There is a plurality of local churches but these are simply many reflections of the one church. Its unity is already realized, Eph 4:1-6, cf. Jn 17:20-23;
1 Cor 12:4-26; etc., though not yet fully. Its unity is already created by the Person and work of Jesus Christ and is therefore to be enjoyed, reflected and safeguarded to the glory of God. Its scriptural representation abounds in a manifold and dynamic richness of imagery: many sheep yet one flock; many branches yet one vine; many members yet one body; many stones yet one temple; many members in the family yet one household; Jews and Gentiles yet one ethnicity- Christian. This intriguing and vital interplay of plurality and unity reflects the very being of God Who is one in essence but many (three) in person.  The extended passage, Eph 4:4-16, reminds us that this unity depends on our fourfold experience of the Lord Jesus Christ: a unity of doctrine; a unity of worship; a unity of fellowship; and a unity of growth through the word of God
Its unity is also derived from its Head, Jesus Christ and from His redemptive and restorative work of bringing together all things under His Headship, to reverse the cosmic disunity and disintegration introduced by the Fall of Adam. This process will attain its consummation when He comes the second time to usher in the new heaven and the new earth.
The Church Is Holy. Sanctum.
The church is holy because it belongs to God Who has separated it from the sinful, depraved world unto Himself for His Own pleasure and purposes, 1 Pe 1:16; Eph 2:21; cf. Jn 17:17. It is already holy and perfect yet it is full of spots and blemishes. It is already holy because upon it the fullness of the new age has already come, yet, it still longs for its existential perfection. It is really holy yet there is a certain anticipatory dimension to its holiness – though free from sin’s dominion, it is not yet free from its presence. The church is holy because the Old Testament epithet that was applied to the nation of Israel in the Exodus event and in Israel’s desert wanderings, is now applied to her, cf. Ex 19:5-6 with 1 Pe 2:5-7. The church is holy also because it is the assembly, the congregation of the holy Triune God. The church is holy because its members are sealed with the indwelling Holy Spirit Who also binds them in an eternal union with Christ, into whose image they are being conformed more and more.
The Church Is Catholic. Catholicum.
Usually translated “universal,� the attribute of catholicity was used by the Church Fathers to distance the church from the isolationist opinions and heretical doctrines of the teachers.
Chronologically. The church continues and exists in every age. Its existence is not defined by or affected by time. It comprises: the saints who have gone on ahead into heaven and whose souls are now being made perfect; the current members of God’s covenant community; and those who are yet to come. See Heb 12:22-24. This three-dimensional perspective of a past, present and future membership corresponds to the three tenses of our redemption and affirms the steadfast continuity of the church as God’s Own people whom He assembles coram Deo to worship Him for Whom He is and for His monergistic, gracious work in the redemption of His elect.
Geographically. This dimension is revealed in such passages that describe the Great Commission, for example, Mt 28:18-20; Mk 16:15. Here the call to go and make disciples in the power and Presence of Christ, as Dr. Sinclair Ferguson teaches, “is the constitutive element in the gathering of the church.� The church cannot be restricted by any geographic boundaries. Its universal presence fulfills the messianic promise, “Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession,� Ps 2:8, and it attains its consummate expression in the eschaton as witnessed by the heavenly worship of God’s people who are drawn from “.. every tribe and language and people and nation,� Rev 5:9 and from “..every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages,..� 7:9.
The Church Is Apostolic. Apostolicum.
By this we mean that the church stands in direct continuity with the apostolic teaching and lifestyle, Acts 2:42-47; etc.  When we confess that the church is apostolic, we confess that it was founded upon the gospel that Jesus gave to His apostles. Jesus founded His church upon the preaching of the gospel, the message that Paul will later define as the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ according to the Scriptures, 1 Cor 15:1-8. Indeed, Paul speaks of the church as being "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." Eph 2:20-22.
We reject the notion that the church lies in a traceable unbroken line of episcopal succession starting with Peter and continuing to the present day. We also reject the teaching that the church rests in an unbroken structural unity with the past. When we confess that the church is apostolic, we are declaring that it stands in direct continuity with the church we see in the book of Acts and in the book of Genesis. When we say the Apostles’ or the Nicene Creed, we affirm that we are standing on the foundation of and with the fidelity of the apostles who extended the very teaching of Jesus which was nascent in the Old Testament. It is this teaching that exercises authority over the true church of Christ.