The Church is the Primary Work of the Holy Trinity
The Church and the Trinity
Before creation, the Father chose a people in Christ to be holy and blameless before Him (Eph. 1:4–6). This election is an election of individuals in particular, chosen for the purpose of creating a corporate people; a body formed in Christ (Eph. 1:22–23; Rom. 8:29–30). The Church is not a mere byproduct of redemption but is its goal. In other words, the Church was always in God’s mind. It is not a reaction to sin, but is the bride intentionally prepared for His Son.
Christ explcitly came to redeem a people for Himself (Tit. 2:14). The language of bride, body, flock, and temple permeates the New Testament because Christ’s work is inherently ecclesial. He dies for His Church (Eph. 5:25-27); He gathers the children of God (John 11:52); He builds His Church (Matt. 16:18); He gives her gifts (Eph. 4:11-16). The incarnation, cross, and resurrection all have a telos in the formation of a new humanity — His Church (Eph. 2:14-22).
The Spirit’s work is not to scatter individuals into private spiritual journeys, but to gather and indwell the Church (1 Cor. 3:16–17; Eph. 2:22). Pentecost, the birth of the NT Church, is the covenantal outpouring promised in Joel and fulfilled in Acts which creates a Spirit-filled community (Acts 2:42–47). We see that in 1 Cor. 12:13 the Spirit baptizes believers into one body; builds up the Church (1Cor. 3:16-17; Eph. 2:22); and unites believers in love and truth (Eph. 4:3-6).
The Bible doesn’t end with scattered saints but with a bride adorned for her husband (Rev. 21:2). The New Jerusalem is a people, not just a place. God’s dwelling is with His people, and they will be His people forever (Rev. 21:3). All of redemptive history, from Abraham’s seed to the heavenly city, is about God forming a covenant people for His glory.
The Church is not plan B, its not a crutch for the weak, not a man-made institution, but is the very mission and masterpiece of God.
Private Spirituality is a Myth
To deny the necessity of the Church is not just an error in practice but potentially a doctrinal deviation of the first order. It subverts the economic outworking of the Trinity’s ontological purpose, which is to form a people for God’s own possession (1 Pet. 2:9-10). Turretin and others such as Calvin, Bucer, and later Bavinck clearly understood the Church as God’s masterpiece, not man’s afterthought.
The idea that one can be “spiritual” without the Church betrays the heart of the Christian religion. You’ve heard or possibly even said, “It’s about relationship, not religion.” But this mantra portrays a fundamental misunderstanding of how God mediates grace and gathers His people. The Reformed tradition holds that the Church is not incidental to salvation but instrumental. It is the ordinary means by which the Sprit works faith (Rom. 10:14-17; Eph. 4:11-16).
“Since there is no salvation outside of the church (no more than out of the ark; nor does anyone have God as Father in heaven whose church is not mother on earth), nothing ought to be dearer to our hearts than this mother may be known (in whose bosom God has willed us to be educated and to be nourished).” – On the Necessity of the Doctrine of the Church, Francis Turretin
The Church is the Household of God
If the church is seen as primarily a human invention, then it becomes subject to all the same critiques and relativisms as any other institution. But if she is the body of Christ, the temple of the Spirit, and the beloved of the Father, then to regard her lightly is not merely irreverent, it borders on blasphemous. What I want to point out is that “spiritual individualism” is not a benign modern trend, but is a doctrinal assault on the Trinity’s redemptive purpose.
God the Father chose a people in Christ before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4–6). This choosing is not just of individuals but of a people, the Church (cf. 1 Pet. 2:9–10). And so to reject the Church, then, is to despise what the Father purposed and planned in His eternal counsel. An assault on the Church is an assault on the decree of election, and therefore on the eternal wisdom of the Father.
“The Church is the daughter of the eternal will of the Father.” —Turretin, Institutes 18.1.2
Christ died for the Church (Eph. 5:25), purchased her with His blood (Acts 20:28), and is sanctifying her as His bride (Eph. 5:26–27). The Church is not peripheral to the cross, but is the very object of Christ’s redeeming love. To disdain the Church is to spurn the blood of Christ and the Bride of Christ. It is to insult His atoning work and reject His kingship.
“No man can have God as Father who does not have the Church as mother.” — Calvin, Inst. 4.1.1
The Holy Spirit creates, gathers, indwells, and gifts the Church. At Pentecost, He did not create isolated spiritualities, but He formed a covenant community. The Church is the temple of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 2:21–22). To undermine the Church is to grieve the Spirit (Eph. 4:30), who dwells in her and binds her together in truth and love.
To assault or neglect the Church is to blaspheme the Father’s eternal will, the Son’s redemptive love, and the Spirit’s indwelling presence. This is not a small error. It is a rejection of the triune God’s saving purpose, and thus, if maintained knowingly and willfully, borders on heresy.
“The visible Church… is the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, the house and family of God, out of which there is no ordinary possibility of salvation.”— WCF 25.2
Reform, Not Rejection
Many have genuinely been wounded by leaders, congregations, or entire traditions. I get it. I have had such experiences. However, this is not a reason to reject the Church, but is a reason to seek a purer one. Classic Reformed categories are helpful for us here: True vs. false church (Belgic Confession, Art. 29), More or less pure churches (WCF 25.4).
The visible Church is not infallible; she is still militant, and not yet triumphant. Her purity is mixed, but her identity is clear. God calls wounded sheep not to abandon the fold, but to seek faithful shepherds who will bind them up.
The Church’s calling to holiness is not man-made legalism but the outworking of divine election. So to call the Church to purity is to call her to live out her identity as God’s chosen people (1 Pet. 2:9). Those who truly understand her origin in the Father’s gracious decree will not reject her, but plead with her to walk worthy of her calling (Eph. 4:1).
The Church is Christ’s beloved bride, whom He is washing with the Word. When we seek her purity we join Christ in His sanctifying work. If we are in opposition to her, we are out of union with Him. Faithful friends of the Bridegroom, long for her to be ready for His return (Rev. 19:7–8).
The Spirit gives gifts for building up, not tearing down (1 Cor. 14:12). Grieving over impurity and pursuing reform is to be led by the Spirit who convicts, renews, and empowers the Church for faithful witness. I am not referring to a destructive criticism or total abandonment, but to spiritual maturation (Eph. 4:13–16).
The cry for a purer Church is the legacy of the prophets (Isa. 1:16–17), of Jesus Himself (Matt. 23), of the apostles (1 Cor. 5–6; Rev. 2–3), and of the Reformers, who did not seek to destroy the Church but to reform her according to the Word of God.
Ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda secundum verbum Dei – “The Church reformed, always being reformed according to the Word of God.”
The Church must be loved not despite her imperfections, but with a love strong enough to call her to greater holiness, truth, and beauty. Those who rightly reject corruption, abuse, or worldliness in the Church must do so not by abandoning her, but by calling her to the grace-filled and Spirit-empowered purity for which she was created and redeemed.
