We are constrained to roll off the odium attached to a claim of infallibility; and show the reader to whom this fearful error belongs, praying that he who originated it, may be brought to renounce the error and repent of former rashness.
We should reflect that a real disciple may, for a time, resist the truth - fundamental truth in the plan of redemption, while his heart is biased by a clouded intellect, Matt.
16:21-23.
Such reflection would contribute to the right direction of our charity.
But to our present purpose - 1.
Distinguish between the ground of saving faith and terms of communion in the visible church.
These are not identical.
Rome's error results from confounding these.
Her reasoning (if it may be called reasoning) is this: The Church receives none to communion but believers: - all beyond her pale are unbelievers - heretics: - there is no salvation but in her communion; therefore, saving faith, or the grounds of saving faith, should alone constitute the bond of fellowship in the church.
In the time of the First Reformation, both in Europe and England, enthusiasts would receive none but "true believers.
" Luther himself was troubled - perplexed for about three years in dealing with this question, after he had obtained clear views of the grounds of saving faith! The "Covenanter" is entangled in the same difficulty.
2.
Distinguish between the visible Church and the Church invisible.
Saving faith, or the ground of saving faith, is the bond of communion in the invisible church; not so in the visible church, otherwise hypocrites could not be there.
The doctrines, arguments and history of the visible church are all her own deductions from Scripture.
None of these has the attribute of infallibility, because the church is not infallible.
An effect cannot be greater than its cause - the stream rise higher than its source.