Daily Baptist Encyclopedia Church, A True Gospel.—The fabric in which the worship of God is celebrated is not a church; the clergy are not the church.

Jim Curran Baptist Church History

Daily Baptist Encyclopedia Church, A True Gospel.—The fabric in which the worship of God is celebrated is not a church; the clergy are not the church. The Baptist Confession of 1611, in Articles X. and XIIL., says,— “The church of Christ is a company of faithful people, separated from the world by the word and Spirit of God, being knit unto the Lord, and one to another by baptism, upon their own confession of the faith and sins.” ‘“ Every church is to receive in all their members by baptism, upon the confession of their faith and sins, wrought by the preaching of the gospel, according to the primitive institution and practice.’ The Confession of 1646 says, ‘‘ The church is a company of visible saints, called and separated from the world by the word and Spirit of God to the visible profession of the faith of the gospel, being baptized into that faith and joined to the Lord, and each to other by mutual agreement in the practical enjoyment of the ordinances commanded by Christ, their head and king.’’—Article XX XIII. The Philadelphia Confession of Faith says, ‘‘The members of these churches are saints by calling, visibly manifesting and evidencing, in and by their profession and walking, their obedience unto that call of Christ, and do willingly consent to walk together according to the appointment of Christ, giving up themselves to the Lord and one to another, by the will of God, in professed subjection to the ordinances of the gospel.’’—Article XX VII. From the Baptist Encyclopedia by William Cathcart