You probably know people who break Commandments, use foul language, steal from their workplaces, read illicit material, believe in abortion, and still call themselves Christians. But they are not members of the Christianity as comprised of those who have repented of their sins and truly believe in Christ as their Savior and Lord. They are members of what is called "Christendom". Don’t get "Christendom" and "Christianity" mixed up. Many members of Christendom have lived lives that were totally unworthy of the name Christian. I found most of the following in the book "What if Jesus Had Never Been Born" by James Kennedy Ph.D.
There is a church visible (Christendom) and there is a church invisible (true Christianity). The church building in which we worship is a part of the visible Church of Christ. Its membership consists of all who have made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ. However, the Bible points out that the visible church is not the real Church of Christ. The real Church of Christ is invisible, and it consists of all who truly belong to God as His elect- all those who will ever be regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Judas Iscariot was a member of the visible Church of Christ, but not the invisible.
Jesus told a parable that helps us to see the mix of believer and nonbeliever together that we find in the visible church. He said: The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him. "Sir, did you not sow good wheat in your field? how then does it have tares?" He said to them "An enemy has done this." The servants said to him, "Do you want us then to go and gather them up?" But he said, "No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn."... He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the Kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age (Matthew 13:24-30, 37-39)
Although this parable applies to the state of the world in general, it could also easily apply to the state of the Church. We have seen its fulfillment throughout Church history. The devil has been able to infiltrate the Church. Thus, as Jesus forewarned, the Church contains believers and nonbelievers alike.
During the Middle Ages, everyone in Europe, except the Jews who had been scattered from their homeland, and the Moslems who had invaded parts of Spain, were a part of Christendom. But it certainly would be incorrect to say that they were Christian by virtue of being a part of Christendom. Only those who have come to put their faith in Christ alone for their salvation and who trust in His atoning death are saved.
Individuals need to put their faith in Jesus. When whole territories became "Christian," there were countless people who didn't know the Lord, and whose behavior was immoral, who suddenly became "Christians." The Roman Emperor Theodosius (A.D. 378-398) made the empire officially Christian and thus many nonbelievers became "Christians" overnight. Clovis (d. 511). who was the first king to organize the Franks into what is today’s France, reportedly converted to Christianity. Clovis ordered his soldiers to march into the rivers for wholesale baptism. Those were grave mistakes. Christianity doesn’t work that way. Individuals need to individually repent of their sins and trust in Him for salvation. Mass baptisms, like those of Clovis's soldiers, only admit unsaved people into the visible Church. In short, Christianity degenerated for many centuries (all over Europe) into Christendom. And Christendom does indeed have much from which to repent.
So if you are one of those in Christendom, but not a true Christian, then its time to turn your life over to Christ, and get into the inner circle.
By George Konig
April 4, 2004
www.georgekonig.org
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