Unity and Holliness of Christians and the Protestant Church

Tweet

The Unity of the Church, according to the Protestant faith, is a unity which has its roots in the oneness in Christ. It is founded upon the common Lord of the CHristians, not their Organization. To assure the oneness of the Church, the Protestant Faith relies on the one Lord. Where this Christ is Lord, there the Church is One and United. Protestants should therefore generally be suspicious of those who insist that organizational unity is the condition for the oneness of the church. The Church is one because Christ is One. To make the oneness depend upon the consent of ecclesiastical dignitaries and the efficiency of ecclesiastical machinery would contradict the Protestant assertation that man is justified by Grace. For this reason all movements toward organizational unity are for Protestants to be justified on pragmatic grounds. Eph4:5 One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, One God and Father of us all who is above all and through all and in all. The Church is Holy because it shares in the Holiness of Christ, its head. This does not mean for the Protestants that the members or leaders of the Church automatically possess a special holiness which excempt them from common duties and obligations which are the responsiblities of other citezens. The Protestant Faith asserts that the Holiness of the Church is not dependant upon the holiness of the members-though this is very desireable-but rather on the holiness of the Christ who is the head of the Church.