The Communion of Saints (2): Practicing It

This article on "The Communion of Saints" is part 2 of 2. Read part 1 here.

Communion of Saints

So far we have spoken only of communion with Christ, but communion with Christ is shared with other saints: it is not “the communion of one saint with Christ,” but the “communion of saints” (plural). Thus the Catechism says, “All and everyone who believes” and speaks of being “in common partakers of Christ and all his riches.”

Quite simply, you are not the only saint. The communion of saints includes many others apart from you. It includes the congregation where you are a member. It includes members of other denominations of churches. It includes members of your household: your spouse, your parents, your children, your older and younger siblings. It includes the teachers, staff members, and students in the Christian school. And it includes Christians outside of our circles, not only Christians in our sister churches abroad; it includes Christians in other Christian denominations; it includes Christians in other Christian schools. We may not say, “Only Christians like me have communion with Christ” or “I have fellowship or communion only with Christians in my denomination.” 

Of course, I have to make a qualification or a clarification. Not every member of the congregation or denomination is necessarily a saint. There are hypocrites in every denomination, including ours; there are hypocrites in the Christian schools; there are those who walk in sin and who refuse to repent; these are not part of the communion of the saints. The Catechism speaks of “All and everyone who believes.” Not “All and everyone who pretends to believe,” or “All and everyone who puts on an empty show of piety,” but “All and everyone who believes.” 

The practical point is this: If you are a believer (and you are) and if you are a saint (and you are) you have something precious in common with other saints. 

Perhaps in many ways you are very different from the other saints. Perhaps you have different hobbies: you like sports; she likes to read. Perhaps you have a different skin color or ethnicity; perhaps you have different backgrounds and cultures; perhaps you speak different languages. Perhaps you are young and they are old; or they are young and you are old.  Perhaps you are on opposite sports teams in a Christian school tournament; perhaps you disagree politically or even on some points of doctrine. But something unites you so that you enjoy the communion of saints.

You have Christ in common; never say, “That Baptist on the opposing basketball team does not have Christ; I can have no fellowship with him.” You have faith in common; never say, “That member of the URC or OPC has some doctrinal differences; he does not have Christ; I can have no fellowship with him.” Baptists and members of the URC and OPC have Christ. You have the riches and gifts of Christ in common; never say, “That student in the Christian school has no friends; I can have no fellowship with her.” You and she have the same Father, the same Savior, the same Lord, the same salvation, the same Holy Spirit, you bear the same fruit of the Spirit—she perhaps more than you do. 

While it is true that there are differences between denominations so that there cannot be official ecclesiastical fellowship, that does not rule out communion of saints. There is—and there must be—communion of saints between “all and everyone who believes.”

“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” (Eph. 4:4-6). 

Practicing It

Since we believe the communion of the saints, we should practice it. Communion of saints does not occur in isolation. It is actually absurd to sit at home, never to come to public worship, never to attend Bible studies, never to spend time with other Christians, and even to avoid other Christians, and then to say, “I believe the communion of saints.” Just as “I believe one holy catholic church” means “And I am, and ever shall remain, a living member thereof”; and “I believe the forgiveness of sins” means “I believe that my sins are forgiven”; and “I believe the resurrection of the body” means “I believe that my body shall be raised from the dead on the last day,” so “I believe the communion of saints” means “I believe that I have communion with other saints and I practice that communion.”

Therefore, if we truly believe the communion of saints, we come together: we come together often; we come together willingly; we come together gladly not merely to play together, or to eat together, but to have fellowship together, to share what we have in common, to speak about our common faith, to encourage one another in the Christian life. Do these words characterize your interactions?

That communion occurs in the home, in a believing, covenant home. That communion occurs in the Christian school, which is the extension of the believing, covenant home. That communion occurs especially in the church: in the public worship services, in conversations before and after the worship services; in the Bible studies; in catechism classes. We must make every effort to participate in those things because they give us opportunities to express communion.  

We should make Psalm 16:2-3 our confession:

“O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord; my goodness extendeth not to thee, but to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent in whom is all my delight.”

About our fellow believers in our own congregation, or elsewhere in the denomination, or in other denominations, or in other lands, we should say,

“They are the excellent in the earth in whom is all my delight.”

Is that how you view them—all of them? We should make Psalm 119:63 our confession: “I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts.” Not merely “I like them,” but “I am a companion of them; I share my life and its experiences with them.” 

Serving the Salvation of Other Members

More than that, the Catechism defines our calling,

“Everyone must know it to be his duty, readily and cheerfully to employ his gifts for the advantage and salvation of other members” (A 55).

We have gifts by virtue of being Christians; in one sense, we all share together the same Christ by faith and we all share in the same riches and gifts. But in another sense, we have different gifts which the Lord has been pleased to give to us. Recall Ephesians 4:7: “But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the grace of Christ.” And our calling is to recognize that everything we have (time, talents, resources) is a gift and to use those gifts for the advantage and salvation of others: our spouse, our parents, our children, our siblings, our fellow church members, our fellow students at the Christian school, the teachers and the staff members at the Christian school, and Christians in other denominations and in other lands; we use our gifts for them.

Fundamentally, we must always remember this: because of our common faith in Jesus Christ worked in our hearts by the Spirit, we are brothers and sisters; we are not enemies, we are not rivals, we are not competitors; we are brothers and sisters. And therefore, we know it to be our duty, readily and cheerfully, to employ our gifts for the advantage and salvation of other members. 

__________

Martyn McGeown is a pastor in the Protestant Reformed Churches. He is also the editor of the RFPA blog and the author of multiple RFPA publications. Read more of his work by clicking this link or the image below.