Dancer’s Notes and Quotes

Therefore, discipline is like a bridle to tame and restrain those who rage against the doctrine of Christ; or like a spur to arouse those of little inclination; and also sometimes like a father’s rod to chastise mildly and with the gentleness of Christ’s Spirit those who have more seriously lapsed.

Calvin, Institutes, 4.7.2

“From this we may gather that a man’s nature, so to speak, is a perpetual factory of idols.”
Vol 1, p. 108.

Only God knows who are his (2 Tim 2:19). But he accommodates himself to our capacities. So he substituted a certain charitable judgment by which we recognise those who profess faith, live exemplary lives, take the sacraments.

The Bible speaks of the church in two ways. First there are the elect from the beginning of time, children by adoption, members of Christ by sanctification. Then there is the the church of those who profess faith, are baptised, take the Lord’s supper. This church is contains hypocrites. These remain because of lack of discipline.

The invisible church is visible to God. The visible church we are to keep communion with. This “is called the ‘church’ with respect to men.”

Paul says that Christ will fill all things. The route to that is through the appointment of pastors and teachers to build up the body. This is the source of spiritual food to the Body.

In the OT the place of meeting God was the temple. But the means was through the teaching of the priest. Thereby God made us aware of the treasure in earthen vessels.

The Lord has always provided prophets (Dt. 18:15). This human means proves our obedience as we receive the teaching as from God, and allows for our human weakness.

There are those who would rather look to private means:

Many are led either by pride, dislike, or rivalry to the conviction that they can profit enough from private reading and meditation; hence they despise public assemblies and deem preaching superfluous. But, since they do their utmost to sever or break the sacred bond of unity, no one escapes the just penalty of this unholy separation without bewitching himself with pestilent errors and foulest delusions.

All believers were commanded to assemble. Barring from the assembly was seen as a great cruelty (Ps. 84:2,3).

Of course God did not literall dwell in the temple (Acts 7:48), but by his word.

The visible church is our mother. It is the place of conception, birth, nourishment and salvation. Outside of the church there is no hope of forgiveness or salvation.

This expresses the unity of the church and the need to share with one another all the benefits that Christ has given.

We believe the church (the invisible church) because we are convinced we are members of it. The church rests on sure supports:

1. God’s election.
2. It has been joined to the steadfastness of Christ who will not allow believers to be estranged.
3. We feel that the promises apply to us.

We see this church through the eyes of faith.

The creed is commonly held to say “believe in the church”. Calvin sees no warrant for this since our belief is in God. Rather it ought to be “believe the church”. It should be understood to mean that the church will stand because of God’s election. This church us united in Christ. The church is catholic because Christ cannot be partitioned.

God has provided us with aids to help us because of our corruption. Preaching and the appointment of pastors and teachers. The sacraments. The church is provided to be our mother as God is our Father.