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27 The Holy Catholic Church 28 The Obligations of Church Members 29 The Marks of the True Church 30 The Government of the Church 31 The Officers of the Church 32 The Order and Discipline of the Church 33 The Sacraments 34 The Sacrament of Baptism 35 The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper 36 The Civil Government

Belgic Confession of Faith · Article 29

The Marks of the True Church

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Türkçe

Bugün dünyadaki tüm tarikatlar kendilerini “kilise” olarak adlandırdığından, Tanrı’nın Sözü’nü kullanarak gerçek kilisenin hangisi olduğunu özenle ve çok dikkatli bir şekilde ayırt etmemiz gerektiğine inanırız. Burada Kilise’nin içinde bulunan, iyilerle birlikte karışmış olan fakat yine de Kilise’nin gerçek bir parçası olmayan ikiyüzlüler topluluğundan söz etmiyoruz; her ne kadar dıştan orada bulunsalar da gerçekte ona ait değildirler. Biz, gerçek Kilise’nin bedeninin ve paydaşlığının, kendilerine “kilise” adını veren bütün tarikatlardan ayırt edilmesinden söz ediyoruz. Gerçek Kilise şu işaretlerle tanınır: Müjde’yi saf biçimde vaaz eder; Mesih’in kurduğu şekilde saf bir şekilde sakramentleri uygular; hataları düzeltmek için kilise disiplinini uygular. Kısacası: Kilise kendisini Tanrı’nın saf Kelâmı’na göre yönetir; Kelâm’a aykırı olan her şeyi reddeder; ve İsa Mesih’i tek Baş olarak tutar. Bu işaretlerle gerçek Kilise güvenle tanınabilir ve hiç kimse ondan ayrılmamalıdır. Kilise’ye ait olanlar ise Hristiyanların ayırt edici işaretleriyle tanınırlar: İmanla; biricik Kurtarıcı İsa Mesih’i kabul ettikten sonra günahtan kaçmaları ve doğruluğu izlemeleriyle; gerçek Tanrı’yı ve komşularını sevmeleriyle; sağa ya da sola sapmadan yaşamalarıyla; benliği ve onun işlerini çarmıha germeleriyle. Onlarda büyük zayıflıklar kalmış olsa da, yaşamları boyunca Ruh’un gücüyle bunlara karşı savaşırlar; ve sürekli Rab İsa’nın kanına, acılarına, ölümüne ve itaatine başvurarak, O’na iman aracılığıyla günahlarının bağışlanmasına sahip olduklarını bilirler. Sahte kilise ise kendisine ve kendi düzenlemelerine Tanrı’nın Kelâmı’ndan daha fazla yetki verir; Mesih’in boyunduruğu altına girmek istemez; sakramentleri Mesih’in Kelâmı’nda buyurduğu gibi uygulamaz; onlara dilediği gibi ekler ya da onlardan çıkarır; temelini Mesih’ten çok insanlara dayandırır; ve Tanrı’nın Kelâmı’na göre kutsal yaşayanları ve onu kusurları, açgözlülüğü ve putperestliği için azarlayanları zulmeder. Bu iki kilise kolaylıkla tanınır ve birbirinden ayırt edilir.

English

We believe that we ought to discern diligently and very carefully, by the Word of God, what is the true church- for all sects in the world today claim for themselves the name of "the church." We are not speaking here of the company of hypocrites who are mixed among the good in the church and who nonetheless are not part of it, even though they are physically there. But we are speaking of distinguishing the body and fellowship of the true church from all sects that call themselves "the church." The true church can be recognized if it has the following marks: The church engages in the pure preaching of the gospel; it makes use of the pure administration of the sacraments as Christ instituted them; it practices church discipline for correcting faults. In short, it governs itself according to the pure Word of God, rejecting all things contrary to it and holding Jesus Christ as the only Head. By these marks one can be assured of recognizing the true church- and no one ought to be separated from it. As for those who can belong to the church, we can recognize them by the distinguishing marks of Christians: namely by faith, and by their fleeing from sin and pursuing righteousness, once they have received the one and only Savior, Jesus Christ. They love the true God and their neighbors, without turning to the right or left, and they crucify the flesh and its works. Though great weakness remains in them, they fight against it by the Spirit all the days of their lives, appealing constantly to the blood, suffering, death, and obedience of the Lord Jesus, in whom they have forgiveness of their sins, through faith in him. As for the false church, it assigns more authority to itself and its ordinances than to the Word of God; it does not want to subject itself to the yoke of Christ; it does not administer the sacraments as Christ commanded in his Word; it rather adds to them or subtracts from them as it pleases; it bases itself on humans, more than on Jesus Christ; it persecutes those who live holy lives according to the Word of God and who rebuke it for its faults, greed, and idolatry. These two churches are easy to recognize and thus to distinguish from each other.

We believe that we ought to discern diligently and very carefully, by the Word of God, what is the true church- for all sects in the world today claim for themselves the name of "the church." We are not speaking here of the company of hypocrites who are mixed among the good in the church and who nonetheless are not part of it, even though they are physically there. But we are speaking of distinguishing the body and fellowship of the true church from all sects that call themselves "the church." The true church can be recognized if it has the following marks: The church engages in the pure preaching of the gospel; it makes use of the pure administration of the sacraments as Christ instituted them; it practices church discipline for correcting faults. In short, it governs itself according to the pure Word of God, rejecting all things contrary to it and holding Jesus Christ as the only Head. By these marks one can be assured of recognizing the true church- and no one ought to be separated from it. As for those who can belong to the church, we can recognize them by the distinguishing marks of Christians: namely by faith, and by their fleeing from sin and pursuing righteousness, once they have received the one and only Savior, Jesus Christ. They love the true God and their neighbors, without turning to the right or left, and they crucify the flesh and its works. Though great weakness remains in them, they fight against it by the Spirit all the days of their lives, appealing constantly to the blood, suffering, death, and obedience of the Lord Jesus, in whom they have forgiveness of their sins, through faith in him. As for the false church, it assigns more authority to itself and its ordinances than to the Word of God; it does not want to subject itself to the yoke of Christ; it does not administer the sacraments as Christ commanded in his Word; it rather adds to them or subtracts from them as it pleases; it bases itself on humans, more than on Jesus Christ; it persecutes those who live holy lives according to the Word of God and who rebuke it for its faults, greed, and idolatry. These two churches are easy to recognize and thus to distinguish from each other.

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