CHURCH-APOSTOLIC
When we confess that the
church is apostolic, we are confessing that the churches to which we belong
today stand in direct continuity to the church we see in the book of Acts. It is not the formal structure of the church
that endures, nor do we need to trace an unbroken line of popes from Peter down
to the present day. Bit it does mean
that the Gospel Jesus gave to His apostles is the same Gospel we preach today.
Tabletalk, p. 18, June 2004, Ligonier Ministries, Used by
Permission.
How is the church built upon
the apostles and prophets? It was built
initially through their preaching (Acts 2:42; 5:42) and then historically
through their inspired writings. Through
the Gospel, they testified to Jesus Christ – His person and work – as the
ultimate foundation of the church (1 Cor. 3:11).
William Webster
Tabletalk, p. 12, June 2004, Ligonier Ministries, Used by
Permission.
The only (true) church…is
truly apostolic. It is built on the
foundation laid by the Apostles, and holds the doctrines which they
preached. The two grand objects at
which its members aim are apostolic faith and apostolic practice; and they
consider the man who talks of following the Apostles without possessing these
two things to be no better than sounding brass and tinkling cymbal/
J.C. Ryle