The Highway Forums General Discussion Open Forum Three marks of a true church

If you were to list the three most important marks of a true church, what would they be? I will withhold my original list until others comment.
The reason I ask this question is that after many years in SBC churches my wife and I became members of a Reformed Baptist church this year. No matter how long one has been a Christian, one must complete a New Members Class before becoming a part of this particular fellowship. During a certain assigned reading portion of this class I came across this bit of information that goes back to one of the confessions and for one of the items it was an eye-opener for me.
Make your list without doing research, please.

I'm satisfied with the "Three Marks of the true Church" as set forth in the Belgic Confession.

The Belgic Confession of Faith, Article XXIX
The Marks of the True Church, and Wherein it Differs from the False Church

We believe that we ought diligently and circumspectly to discern from the Word of God which is the true Church, since all sects which are in the world assume to themselves the name of the Church. But we speak not here of hypocrites, who are mixed in the Church with the good, yet are not of the Church, though externally in it; but we say that the body and communion of the true Church must be distinguished from all sects that call themselves the Church.

The marks by which the true Church is known are these: If the pure doctrine of the gospel is preached therein; if it maintains the pure administration of the sacraments as instituted by Christ; if church discipline is exercised in chastening of sin; in short, if all things are managed according to the pure Word of God, all things contrary thereto rejected, and Jesus Christ acknowledged as the only Head of the Church. Hereby the true Church may certainly be known, from which no man has a right to separate himself.

With respect to those who are members of the Church, they may be known by the marks of Christians; namely, by faith, and when, having received Jesus Christ the only Savior, they avoid sin, follow after righteousness, love the true God and their neighbor, neither turn aside to the right or left, and crucify the flesh with the works thereof. But this is not to be understood as if there did not remain in them great infirmities; but they fight against them through the Spirit all the days of their life, continually taking their refuge in the blood, death, passion, and obedience of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom they have remission of sins, through faith in Him.

As for the false Church, it ascribes more power and authority to itself and its ordinances than to the Word of God, and will not submit itself to the yoke of Christ. Neither does it administer the sacraments as appointed by Christ in His Word, but adds to and takes from them, as it thinks proper; it relies more upon men than upon Christ; and persecutes those who live holily according to the Word of God and rebuke it for its errors, covetousness, and idolatry.

These two Churches are easily known and distinguished from each other.

The Belgic Confession can be found in the Creeds and Confessions section of the forum and this particular point can be found here which includes Scripture proof texts.

And, I agree with what Pilgrim said.

You got it, The Belgic Confession, and of course the one I left off my original list was #3, church discipline. How many churches today place a high priority on the discipline of it's members? I think it safe to say, not many.
From the mid 1700's to the mid 1800's Baptist churches across America excluded between 1 and 2 percent of their membership every year. In addition, between 3 and 4 percent of their members were disciplined each year but were returned to the church fellowship after repentance was witnessed.
What has happened to church purity over the years? Church historian Greg Wills has said, " No theologians argued that discipline was unsound in principle or practice...It simply faded away, as if we grew weary of holding one another accountable."
The amazing thing about the time frame mentioned above is that while churches actively practiced discipline their membership grew at twice the population rate.

Could it be that holiness is no longer being preached or required? Far too many churches have cast off the moral law of God, or departed from the biblical and confessional teaching on sanctification, or ______________ (insert reason here). This is NOT restricted to fundamentalist churches but it is sadly true in many "Reformed" churches with this "New Calvinism" making significant inroads. Too many are involved in "Churchianity" and don't have a clue what it means to be a follower of Christ. One of the major results of all this is seen, of course, in how a person/church worships God. Biblical worship; spirit and truth, is a rare thing to be found in our day.

Worship is definitely one of the major factors.I just finished a wonderful little book(30 pages) on that subject.Looking For God In All The Wrong Places, is the title. The author is Robert G. Spinney. He deals with worship faults , primarily the type of music played in churches, and calls for a return to Word-Based Corporate Worship.

Methinks that the corruption of godly worship where one of the fundamental elements is "word based" is the result vs. the cause of the lack of holy living among many churches/individuals. How one worships God is the expression of one's doctrine of God. In short, the modern church has, in essense, fallen into idolatry and what we are seeing is the result of that idolatry. They are 'worshipping' a god of their own liking. Thus, the prophets' words are all too applicable to us today:

It is sad to say that in my community there is only one church (Reformed Baptist, 1689 London Baptist Confession) with these marks. There is a plethora of SBC, Methodist, Free Will, Pentacostal, Charismatic, Episcopal, RC, etc. There is one Presbyterian church, which sadly is PCUSA. Driving to another community an hour away (one way) and in another state is not an option for me so I am thankful that the Reformed Baptist church is there.