The Church is Made Up of True Believers

The church which Jesus promises to build upon a rock is the blessed company of all believing people. It is not the visible church of any one nation, or country, or place. It is the whole body of believers of every age, and tongue, and people. It is a church composed of all who are washed in Christ’s blood, clothed in Christ’s righteousness, renewed by Christ’s Spirit, joined to Christ by faith, and are epistles of Christ in life. It is a church of which every member is baptized with the Holy Spirit and is really and truly holy. It is a church which is one body. All who belong to it are of one heart and one mind, hold the same truths, and believe the same doctrines as necessary to salvation. It is a church which has only one Head. That Head is Jesus Christ Himself. He is also head of the body (Colossians 1:18).

Let us beware of mistakes on this subject. Few words are so misunderstood as the word church. Few mistakes have so much injured the cause of pure religion. Ignorance on this point has been a fertile source of bigotry, sectarianism, and persecution. Men have wrangled and contended about Episcopal, Presbyterian, and Independent churches as if it were needful to salvation to belong to some particular party, and as if, belonging to that party, we must of course belong to Christ. And all this time they have lost sight of the one true church, outside of which there is no salvation at all. It will matter nothing at the last day where we have worshiped, if we are not found as members of the true church of God’s elect. 

Adapted from Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of Matthew by J.C. Ryle