One, Holy, Catholic & Apostolic: The 4 Marks Explained

As it relates to the church, is precedes does.

We are very familiar with what the church does. It gathers regularly for worship, which includes singing songs and voicing prayers of praise and thanksgiving to God, reading and preaching Scripture, giving financially, serving others, and celebrating baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The church also engages in evangelism, fellowships in community, studies the Bible together, disciples its members, and multiplies through church planting and sending out missionaries.

This is what the church does.

But before we carry out this list of church activities and ministries, we must consider something more foundational.

What the church is.

This consideration focuses on the essence of the church—its identity markers. Consider how the New Testament itself rehearses the nature of the church before it instructs the church about its responsibilities. For example, Peter presents the church as “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession” (1 Pet 2:9). Following these identity markers, Peter details the activities of the church: it is to “proclaim the praises” of God (v. 9), “abstain from sinful desires” (v. 11), “conduct [itself] honorably” among non-believers (v. 12), and more.

This is the Bible’s pattern for presenting the church: Before we give our attention to what the church does, we must grasp what the church is. Understanding the nature of the church enables us to join a church, plant a church, revitalize a church, and/or pray for a church in sync with what Scripture directs a church to be.¹

The early church followed this pattern in its creeds by self-identifying with four attributes:

• The Apostles’ Creed: “I believe in the holy catholic church”
• The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed: “We believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church”

But what does it mean for the church to describe itself as possessing oneness, holiness, catholicity, and apostolicity?²

1. One
2. Holy
3. Catholic
4. Apostolic
Conclusion

1. One

The church’s oneness refers to its unity, which was on the heart of Jesus and held high value for Paul. In his high priestly prayer, Jesus asked the Father (John 17:11, 21–23),

Holy Father, protect them [Jesus’s disciples] by your name that you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one. … May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us, so that the world may believe you sent me. I have given them the glory you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me, so that they may be made completely one, that the world may know you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me.

Mysteriously and graciously, as the Father and the Son are united by mutually indwelling one another, in a similar way Jesus’s followers are united together by their union with Christ and his prayer, that they may become completely one.³

Paul appeals to the Holy Spirit as the one who endows the church with unity, urging it to maintain “the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” Such divinely provided unity is aided by seven commonalities: one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all (Eph 4:3–6). The church is a united community.

The early church especially emphasized that this oneness concerned its shared doctrine. One of its leaders, Irenaeus of Lyons, affirmed,

The church, though dispersed throughout the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples this faith . . . [and] as if occupying one house, carefully preserves it. It also believes these points [of doctrine] just as if it had only one soul, and one and the same heart. It proclaims them, teaches them, and hands them down, with perfect harmony, as if it possessed only one mouth.⁴

No wonder, then, that Scripture warns against disunity. Paul’s list of the fifteen “works of the flesh [sinful nature]” includes eight sins that destroy the oneness of the church (Gal 5:19–21). And Paul directs the church to avoid, even reject, members who create division (Rom 16:17–18; Titus 3:10–11).

Oneness is a biblically grounded identity marker to be cherished, manifested, and fostered by the church. This unity has particular importance for its sound doctrine.

2. Holy

Continuing with Peter’s description (above) of the church as “a holy nation … called out of darkness into [God’s] marvelous light” (1 Pet 2:9), a second identity marker of the church is its holiness or purity.

Similar affirmations appear in Paul’s greeting to “the church of God at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called as saints” (1 Cor 1:2). The italicized words derive from the Greek ἁγίος. That is, the church is made up of those who are holy.

Logos’s Bible Word Study on the Greek word ἁγίος, often translated as holy or holy person (i.e., saint).

From what we know of the Corinthian Church, such purity is, in this case, positional: The holiness of the church refers to it being set apart, consecrated to God and his purposes. Such holiness was anything but actual in the lives of some members: Their church was plagued by divisions, sexual immorality, legal embroilments, idolatry, abuse of the Lord’s Supper, and false belief about the resurrection—an astounding lack of progressive holiness.

Little surprise, then, that Scripture contains many exhortations to church members to live truly as they essentially are: holy people.

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance. But as the one who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct; for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy. (1 Pet 1:14–16)

As the early church leader Justin Martyr explained, “Let it be understood that those who are not found living as Christ taught are not Christians, even though they profess with the lips the teachings of Christ.”⁵

The great hope for the church, which now suffers from failures in purity, is its future perfect holiness: One day Christ will “present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless” (Eph 5:27).⁶

In the meantime, the church has a remedy when its members abandon holiness and fall into persistent sin. Jesus provided an escalating, four-step process of church discipline to rectify such sin-entrenched situations and restore members to holiness (Matt 18:15–20). And Paul explained the purpose for unrepentant members being removed from the church and handed over to Satan: that their sinful nature may be rendered powerless so that they may be saved (1 Cor 5:5).⁷

Holiness is a biblically grounded identity marker to be cherished, manifested, and fostered by the church. This purity has particular reference to concrete holiness of conduct, speech, and attitudes.

3. Catholic

When this third identity marker is mentioned, many people think immediately of the Roman Catholic Church. But the early church’s description of itself as catholic was grounded in the general idea of the Greek καθολικός (katholikos): the church is universal.

It is so, first, because God the Father exalted God the Son “at his right hand in the heavens … and appointed him as head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way” (Eph 1:20–23). As the cosmic head over everything everywhere, Christ is the sovereign head of the church, such that, in the words of Ignatius, “Where there is Christ Jesus, there is the Catholic Church.”⁸

The church is universal, second, because Christ commissioned his disciples not with a parochial task but with a universal mandate: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matt 28:19). As Cyril of Jerusalem explained, the church is catholic for five reasons:

• It extends over all the world.
• It teaches universally and completely one and all the doctrines which ought to come to men’s knowledge.
• It brings into subjection to godliness the whole race of mankind.
• It universally treats and heals the whole class of sins.
• It possesses in itself every form of virtue which is named, both in deeds and words, and in every kind of spiritual gift.⁹

Because of the church’s universality, it is always dangerous to ignore or separate oneself from the church, as John Calvin underscored:

The Lord esteems the communion of his church so highly that he counts as a traitor and apostate from Christianity anyone who arrogantly leaves any Christian society, provided it cherishes the true ministry of Word and sacraments.¹⁰

Catholicity is a biblically grounded identity marker to be cherished, manifested, and fostered by the church. This universality particularly attaches to the whole world-encompassing presence of Christ and his universal commission.

4. Apostolic

Transparently, this fourth identity marker of the church has something to do with the apostles.

For the Roman Catholic Church, this characteristic has to do with apostolic succession, that is, the Church’s Magisterium, or teaching office, consisting of the pope and the bishops in communion with him. These leaders are, by Christ’s appointment of them, the successors of the apostles. As such, they exercise authoritative duties—determining the canon of Scripture, the truths of Tradition, and the official interpretation of both Scripture and Tradition—because “the apostles left bishops as their successors” and “gave them ‘their own position of teaching authority.’”¹¹ But such an understanding is incorrect, for two reasons.

The first reason is that, while Scripture affirms the foundational roles of the apostles (Eph 2:20; Rev 21:14), it attributes their ongoing authoritative influence to their apostolic writings. For example, the Apostle Paul chastised the Corinthian Church, “If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, he should recognize that what I write to you is the Lord’s command” (1 Cor 14:37). Furthermore, he urged the Thessalonians, “So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold to the traditions you were taught, whether by what we said or what we wrote” (2 Thess 2:15).¹² Disobedience to such directives calls forth an apostolic warning: “If anyone does not obeyour instruction in this letter, take note of that person; don’t associate with him, so that he may be ashamed” (2 Thess 3:14).

The second reason is a historical one, from the early church leader Tertullian. As he articulated his rule of faith for the early church, he presented the grounds for it: The apostles, as sent by Christ to establish churches, “declared the gospel … directly themselves, both viva voce [by live voice] … and subsequently by their writings.”¹³ As oral proclamation gave way to written teachings (our New Testament), these written Scripture became the church’s focus. Accordingly, apostolicity underscores that “all Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim 3:16–17).

Apostolicity is a biblically grounded identity marker to be cherished, manifested, and fostered by the church. It directs the church to find authoritative divine instruction in the written Word of God, Scripture.

Conclusion

In summary, the early church’s creedal confession that the church is characterized by oneness, holiness, catholicity, and apostolicity highlights what the church is before what the church does. With these identity markers in mind, we may join churches, plant churches, revitalize churches, and pray for churches in concert with what Scripture directs churches to be.

Gregg R. Allison’s recommended resources for further study:

• D. Philips, Richard, Phillip G. Ryken, and Mark E. Dever. The Church: One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. P&R Publishing, 2004.

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