The Ninth Article of the Apostles' Creed includes both the "Holy Catholic Church" and "the communion of saints." The obvious question is: "Why is there a statement about the communion of saints?" And the immediate answer is that the early Church felt that additional information about the Church was necessary. That is the reason "the communion of saints" was added to the Apostles' Creed. The Church is not only "a chosen communion," but a communion that ministers to herself. When God blessed Abraham, He also made him a blessing to others (Genesis 12:2). Likewise, God summons His saints to be saintly toward all saints.
Church history tells us that the first indication of this article came at about the end of the fourth century in Serbia; from there it spread to Gaul and was finally included in the baptismal creed in Rome. But from earliest times the practice of the communion of the saints was one of the premiere activities of the Church. For example, the Romans complained that Christians were into incest because of their late evening meetings and that they practiced cannibalism because of their frequent coming together to partake of the Lord's Supper. Some of the older commentators restricted the Communion of Saints to those in heaven, but later on this article of faith was applied to all the saints.
In Reformed churches the phrase "the communion of saints" unpacks the meaning of "the holy Catholic Church." Let us underscore the emphasis on holiness: the Church is both wholly catholic and holy catholic. This means that the premiere trait of the Church is holiness, without which no man (or visible church!) shall see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14). The Church is a sacrosanct institution by virtue of the Holy Spirit's presence. We should think of the Church as a temple that must not be profaned or prostituted (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:15, 19). So, it is saints as saints (holy ones) who commune.
We Fellowship As Saints
We know from the previous article about the "Holy, Catholic Church" that the Church is an ecclesia of "called out" persons. God calls out of the whole race a people for Himself (1 Peter 2:9). And when God calls us out, He calls us to be holy (2 Thessalonians 1:9; 2:13). If the great Scottish Reformer John Knox was right that the Greek word for Church means the predestinated ones, then we must also emphasize that the Church was elected to holiness, not in holiness or because of holiness (Ephesians 1:4). We were not holy originally. At birth we were "vipers in diapers," our natures were serpentine because we were conceived and born in sin (Psalm 51:5). But when God chose us in eternity, He chose us to be holy. And when we are chosen to be holy, we become a community of saints.
In the Roman Catholic Church, sainthood is an elitist idea. Only some qualify. By this standard, the Apostle Paul would not qualify, since he spoke of himself as lesser than the least of the saints (Ephesians 3:8). One criteria for sainthood is that it must be shown that the candidate performed a miracle in his or her life. Accordingly, if Mother Theresa is ever enshrined as a saint, it will have to be proved that she performed at least one miracle. But Scripture teaches that every Christian is a saint (1 Corinthians 1:2). Some Roman Catholics speak of "saints without the St" to distinguish them from those who have been officially canonized. But if we want to use the standard of miracle as our criteria, we can argue that one reason why every Christian is a saint is because every Christian has experienced "a miracle," that is, the miracle of the new birth. By definition, a saint doesn't do miracles; a saint is a miracle.
An Important Question Is Answered
A keen question about "the communion of the saints" is whether this article describes our communion with God or our communion with one-another. The answer, of course, is that it describes both (John 15:2, 5; Ephesians 1:4, 6-7, 10-11, 13, etc). If we have "union and communion" with Christ, then the corollary is that we have union and communion with one another. Our communion with one another in Christ's Church does not dissolve our personalities and differences, but rather manifests itself in this very body. For example, every Christian is graced with specific gifts that must be cheerfully used in the body of Christ. These different gifts are blessings that distinguish us. This means that every Christian has communion "in each other's gifts and graces; and are obliged to the performance of such duties, public and private, as do conduce to their mutual good, both in the inward and outward man" (Westminster Confession of Faith, Article 26:1). This teaching is very striking in our own Heidelberg Catechism, in question and answer 55: "What do you understand by the "communion of saints?" To which the answer is: "First, that believers one and all, as members of the Lord Jesus Christ, are partakers with Him in all His treasures and gifts, secondly, that each one must feel himself bound to use his gifts readily and cheerfully for the advantage and welfare of other members." In short, there is no communion of saints unless there is communion with Christ.
Yet, this heavy emphasis upon congregational communion must not be interpreted too rigidly. While it is true that there are two theaters of communion, it is also true that Christ communes with us through the saints, too. For example, what is preaching but Christ drawing close to us through the preached word (Romans 10:8)?! This mediate communion occurs because we are members of one another in the body of Christ, with Christ as the Head of the body. Since both the hand and the feet and the eyes are all attached to one another in the body (the Head of the body being Christ Himself), our communing with one another is really communing with Christ since the Head communicates through the members. One of the errors of monastics and hermits is that they attempt to live holy lives apart from the communion of saints. Indeed, even in the Christian ministry a pastor can sequester himself with his books in his prayer closet, and begin to die spiritually. He may ask himself why, when he seems to be doing everything right? The answer is that he (like all God's people) needs the communion of saints.
There Is No Place For Rugged Individualism
The teaching of "communion of saints" also dashes rugged individualism. No Christian has the right to baptize the philosophy of "dog eat dog, every man for himself." No Christian should be an island-in-and-of- himself! The Heidelberg speaks about "believers one and all" which is to affirm "all for one and one for all." Rugged individualism has many faces and each face is a blight and practical denial of the communion of saints. For example, I once had a Church member who would drive to San Francisco each Sunday morning to watch the San Francisco 49er football team. When I accosted him about forsaking God's people on the Lord's Day, he explained: "When I drive to San Francisco I always turn on the radio and listen to a sermon. This is how I get a good feed on Sunday morning." I thought to myself: "This is one of the most selfish things I've ever heard! He thinks only about himself when he drives to the Church of the National Football League!" The problem here is that he was thinking only of what he could get out of it. He did not see his participation in the life of the Church as a ministry to other Christians. He should have thought about what he could have given the Church and of the potential loss to the Church by his absence! Not only is the Church weakened by the non-participation of some of her members, but to be absent from the Church also dampens the spirit de corps of the whole congregation.
"One-Anothering" Is Synonymous For The Communion Of Saints
The Bible emphasizes "the communion of saints" to such an extreme, that no less than 56 times in the New Testament do we find the words "one another." For example, we are "members of one another," we are to "love one another," show hospitality to one another," pray and confess our sins to one-another (1 Corinthians 12:12, 27; John 13:34-35; 1 Peter 4:9; James 5:16). I like to tell God's people in Sacramento, "If you ever leave here to search for another church, make sure it is a ‘one anothering' church." This is highlighted by Christ's command in John 13 where no less than three times He commands us to "love one another." A minister friend of mine even calls our one anothering (especially when there is fellowship into the wee hours!) "Christian nightclubbing."
A sample of the many one anothering passages in the New Testament that could be emphasized are as follows:
1. Forbearing one another (Ephesians 4:2)
2. Showing kindness to one another (Ephesians 4:32)
3. Submitting to one another (Ephesians 5:21)
4. Forgiving one another (Colossians 3:13)
5. Admonishing one another (Colossians 3:15; Romans 15:14)
6. Edifying one another (Ephesians 5:11)
7. Exhorting one another (Hebrews 3:13)
9. Provoking one another to good works (Hebrews 10:24)
10. Fellowshipping with one another (1 John 1:7)
11. Loving one another (1 John 4:7)
12. Comforting one another (1 Thessalonians 4:18)
13. Speaking truth to one another (Ephesians 4:25)
Communing Through The Use Of God's Gifts
We also need to think of the communion of saints as the communion of the gifts of the saints. In 1 Peter 4:10, Peter speaks about each Christian as a steward of the "manifold grace of God," that is, we have gifts that Christ expects us to give. But concerning these gifts, there is a great deal of misunderstanding today. For example, there are those who believe that God is still giving his Church gifts of revelations and miracles, extending into the Twenty-first Century of Church history. So, we need to ask: What does the Bible teach about this? The New Testament distinguishes between the ordinary gifts of the Spirit and the extraordinary gifts. Perhaps a better way to phrase it is that there are foundational gifts of the Spirit and super-structural gifts of the Holy Spirit. We can catch the distinction when we think of it in terms of a foundation of a building. For example, Paul teaches in Ephesians 2:20 that the Church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone. Notice: he uses the word foundation. And this foundation consists of the ministries of the apostles and prophets. If I may be permitted to milk the term foundation: it is common knowledge that a foundation is a once laid entity. After the foundation is completed, there arises the super structure (Ephesians 2:21). Jesus' very death on the cross is even called a once-laid foundation in 1 Corinthians 3:11. The great point of the analogy is that there are foundational gifts and super structural gifts. The foundational gifts of the Spirit were once laid. This means that prophecy, apostleship, speaking in tongues (speaking in tongues was a mode of prophecy-Acts 2:22), are over. They are completed because they were never intended to be a part of the super structure of the Church. The foundational workers with their special gifts completed their work over 2000 years ago.
What remains for us today are the super structural or ordinary gifts of the Spirit. Some of those gifts are stated in Romans 12:6ff: Ministry, Teaching, Exhorting, Giving, Ruling, and Mercy. And to these gifts we add: Music, making money (the Parable of the Talents), hospitality, wisdom, prayer, bringing good cheer, bringing comfort, etc. And in addition to these gifts we must not neglect the fruit of the Holy Spirit Who gives such gifts as love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, self-control, and meekness (Galatians 5:22-23) Obviously, if God gives His Church these gifts, then these gifts must not be hidden in a safety deposit box or buried in the ground. The gifts, one and all, are for the edification of the body of Christ (1 Peter 4:10).
The plague that works against "the communion of saints" are the sins that hinder us from ministering to one another. When we become bitter, envious, selfish, and proud, the communion of the saints is disrupted. For example, Peter writes that we are to practice hospitality "without grudging" (1 Peter 4:10). Paul says that when we give, we are not to do so grudgingly, but with cheerfulness (2 Corinthians 9:7). The Greek word here for cheerful is the root of our English word hilarious. Yes, we are to give to the kingdom of God hilariously. The communion of saints touches both the inward man and the outward. When we give to others, we are also communing with the saints.
The Church is a "chosen communion" and a communing communion. God has not called us to be hermits or monastics. We do not worship God in isolation. When we go up to the house of God, we hear communing saints exhort us, "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord" (Psalm 122:1).
We greatly prize the doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints. We know that the saints persevere because God perseveres in us. But let us not short-change the communion of saints either. The Perseverance of the Saints takes place when God's Holy Spirit works through a saintly and communing Church.
