How to Tell a True Church From a False One

Impure Is Not the Same as False

Every church on earth has sin and error in it. The Confession says plainly that churches are more or less pure, and that the purest churches under heaven are subject both to mixture and error (WCF 25.4-5). So the question is not whether a church is perfect. It is whether it is a church of Christ at all, and how faithful it is.

The purest churches under heaven are subject both to mixture and error; and some have so degenerated, as to become no churches of Christ, but synagogues of Satan. Nevertheless, there shall be always a church on earth, to worship God according to his will.

Westminster Confession of Faith 25.5

The Marks of a True Church

The Reformed churches have named three marks. The Belgic Confession sets them out (Article 29), and the Westminster Standards teach the same things.

1. The pure preaching of the gospel. The Word of God is preached as the final authority, and Christ is held out as the only Savior of sinners by grace alone, through faith alone.
2. The right use of the sacraments. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are given as Christ gave them, no more and no fewer, as signs and seals of his promises and not as acts that save by their own power.
3. Church discipline. The elders watch over the members, teach, warn, and correct, and when needed bar the unrepentant from the Lord’s Table, in order to bring them back (Matthew 18:15-17).

What Makes a Church False

A church becomes false when it gives up one of those marks at its root, not when it falls short in practice. These are the things that do it, and why.

1. It denies the gospel. If it teaches that sinners are saved by their works, their rituals, or the church itself, it has another gospel, and Paul says such a gospel is no gospel at all (Galatians 1:6-9).
2. It denies the God of the gospel. If it denies the Trinity, the deity of Christ, or his bodily resurrection, it is not worshiping the God of Scripture. See How to Spot Real Heresy.
3. It puts itself above Scripture. If its tradition, its leader, or its new prophecies bind the conscience where Scripture does not, it has taken Christ’s place as head of the church (WCF 20.2, 25.6).
4. It corrupts the sacraments. If it adds sacraments, teaches that the bread and wine become Christ’s body and blood, or offers the Supper as a sacrifice for sins, it has turned a sign of Christ’s finished work into a work of its own (WCF 27.4, 29.2, 29.6).
5. It has abandoned discipline entirely. If it blesses open, unrepentant sin and calls it good, it no longer guards the Table or the flock.

Warning Signs in a Church

These do not make a church false by themselves. They are reasons to look closer and to talk with the elders.

1. The sermons rarely open a passage of Scripture and explain it.
2. Sin, judgment, and repentance are seldom or never mentioned.
3. The church will not say plainly what it believes, or has no confession of faith.
4. Worship is built around entertainment rather than what God has commanded (WCF 21.1). See How God Is to Be Worshiped.
5. There are no elders, or the elders do not know or shepherd the members.
6. The pastor answers to no one.
7. The church ordains women as pastors or ruling elders, which Scripture does not permit (1 Timothy 2:12, 3:2), or approves what Scripture calls sin.

What to Do

1. If your church is impure but true, the ordinary course is to stay and serve, pray for it, and raise your concerns with the elders in the proper way. Do not leave over preferences or small things. No congregation on earth is without mixture and error (WCF 25.5).
2. Serious corruption can be a reason to leave even a church that keeps the marks. False teaching the elders will not correct, open sin the session will not discipline over a long time, abuse that is covered up, or a real threat to your safety or your children’s are such reasons. If you are in danger, get safe first, and read If You Are Not Safe.
3. Use the church’s own courts before you go, where you safely can. Speak to the elders, and if they will not hear, a Presbyterian church gives you the right to bring the matter to the presbytery (Matthew 18:15-17, WCF 31.3). Ask faithful elders elsewhere for counsel. Where abuse or danger is involved, you do not have to wait on that process to protect yourself or others. Abuse and other crimes belong with the police, and harm to a child must be reported to them or to child protective services. Church discipline is never a substitute for civil justice (Romans 13:4).
4. If it has departed from the gospel, you must leave. Do it openly and kindly, telling the elders why.
5. Leaving a congregation is not leaving the church. Christ’s visible church is larger than one congregation, and out of it there is no ordinary possibility of salvation (WCF 25.2). Do not stay home. Find a faithful church and join it. See How to Find a Faithful Church.