Westminster Confession, Chapter 25
Of the Church
The catholic or universal Church, which is invisible, consists of the whole number of the elect, that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one, under Christ the head thereof; and is the spouse, the body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
Scripture references for paragraph 1
Berean Standard Bible. Public domain text and source credits.
Ephesians 1:1010as a plan for the fullness of time, to bring all things in heaven and on earth together in Christ.
Ephesians 1:22-2322And God put everything under His feet and made Him head over everything for the church,
23which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Ephesians 5:2323For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, His body, of which He is the Savior.
Ephesians 5:2727and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless.
Ephesians 5:3232This mystery is profound, but I am speaking about Christ and the church.
Colossians 1:1818And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things He may have preeminence.
The visible Church, which is also catholic or universal under the gospel (not confined to one nation as before under the law) consists of all those, throughout the world, that profess the true religion, and of their children; and is the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, the house and family of God, out of which there is no ordinary possibility of salvation.
Scripture references for paragraph 2
Berean Standard Bible. Public domain text and source credits.
Psalms 2:88Ask Me, and I will make the nations Your inheritance, the ends of the earth Your possession.
Romans 15:9-129so that the Gentiles may glorify God for His mercy. As it is written: “Therefore I will praise You among the Gentiles; I will sing hymns to Your name.”
10Again, it says: “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people.”
11And again: “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and extol Him, all you peoples.”
12And once more, Isaiah says: “The Root of Jesse will appear, One who will arise to rule over the Gentiles; in Him the Gentiles will put their hope.”
1 Corinthians 1:22To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:
1 Corinthians 12:12-1312The body is a unit, though it is composed of many parts. And although its parts are many, they all form one body. So it is with Christ.
13For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and we were all given one Spirit to drink.
Revelation 7:99After this I looked and saw a multitude too large to count, from every nation and tribe and people and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.
Isaiah 9:77Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from that time and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.
Matthew 13:4747Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea and caught all kinds of fish.
Genesis 3:1515And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Genesis 17:77I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
Ezekiel 16:20-2120You even took the sons and daughters you bore to Me and sacrificed them as food to idols. Was your prostitution not enough?
21You slaughtered My children and delivered them up through the fire to idols.
Acts 2:3939This promise belongs to you and your children and to all who are far off—to all whom the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
Romans 11:1616If the first part of the dough is holy, so is the whole batch; if the root is holy, so are the branches.
1 Corinthians 7:1414For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his believing wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.
Acts 2:4747praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Ephesians 2:1919Therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household,
Ephesians 3:1515from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.
Unto this catholic visible Church Christ hath given the ministry, oracles, and ordinances of God, for the gathering and perfecting of the saints, in this life, to the end of the world: and doth by his own presence and Spirit, according to his promise, make them effectual thereunto.
Scripture references for paragraph 3
Berean Standard Bible. Public domain text and source credits.
Isaiah 59:2121“As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the LORD. “My Spirit will not depart from you, and My words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth or from the mouths of your children and grandchildren, from now on and forevermore,” says the LORD.
Matthew 28:19-2019Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
20and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
1 Corinthians 12:2828And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, and those with gifts of healing, helping, administration, and various tongues.
Ephesians 4:11-1311And it was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,
12to equip the saints for works of ministry and to build up the body of Christ,
13until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, as we mature to the full measure of the stature of Christ.
This catholic Church hath been sometimes more, sometimes less visible. And particular churches, which are members thereof, are more or less pure, according as the doctrine of the gospel is taught and embraced, ordinances administered, and public worship performed more or less purely in them.
Scripture references for paragraph 4
Berean Standard Bible. Public domain text and source credits.
Romans 11:3-43“Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars. I am the only one left, and they are seeking my life as well”?
4And what was the divine reply to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”
Revelation 12:66And the woman fled into the wilderness, where God had prepared a place for her to be nourished for 1,260 days.
Revelation 12:1414But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle to fly from the presence of the serpent to her place in the wilderness, where she was nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.
1 Corinthians 5:6-76Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven works through the whole batch of dough?
7Get rid of the old leaven, that you may be a new unleavened batch, as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
Revelation 2:1 to 3:221“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of Him who holds the seven stars in His right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands.
2I know your deeds, your labor, and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate those who are evil, and you have tested and exposed as liars those who falsely claim to be apostles.
3Without growing weary, you have persevered and endured many things for the sake of My name.
4But I have this against you: You have abandoned your first love.
5Therefore, keep in mind how far you have fallen. Repent and perform the deeds you did at first. But if you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
6But you have this to your credit: You hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to eat from the tree of life in the Paradise of God.
8To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of the First and the Last, who died and returned to life.
9I know your affliction and your poverty—though you are rich! And I am aware of the slander of those who falsely claim to be Jews, but are in fact a synagogue of Satan.
10Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Look, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will suffer tribulation for ten days. Be faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
11He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who overcomes will not be harmed by the second death.
12To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of the One who holds the sharp, double-edged sword.
13I know where you live, where the throne of Satan sits. Yet you have held fast to My name and have not denied your faith in Me, even in the day when My faithful witness Antipas was killed among you, where Satan dwells.
14But I have a few things against you, because some of you hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block before the Israelites so they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality.
15In the same way, some of you also hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
16Therefore repent! Otherwise I will come to you shortly and wage war against them with the sword of My mouth.
17He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will give the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone inscribed with a new name, known only to the one who receives it.
18To the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like a blazing fire and whose feet are like polished bronze.
19I know your deeds—your love, your faith, your service, your perseverance—and your latter deeds are greater than your first.
20But I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads My servants to be sexually immoral and to eat food sacrificed to idols.
21Even though I have given her time to repent of her immorality, she is unwilling.
22Behold, I will cast her onto a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her will suffer great tribulation unless they repent of her deeds.
23Then I will strike her children dead, and all the churches will know that I am the One who searches minds and hearts, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.
24But I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned the so-called deep things of Satan: I will place no further burden upon you.
25Nevertheless, hold fast to what you have until I come.
26And to the one who overcomes and continues in My work until the end, I will give authority over the nations.
27He will rule them with an iron scepter and shatter them like pottery —just as I have received authority from My Father.
28And I will give him the morning star.
29He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
1“To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of the One who holds the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation for being alive, yet you are dead.
2Wake up and strengthen what remains, which was about to die; for I have found your deeds incomplete in the sight of My God.
3Remember, then, what you have received and heard. Keep it and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know the hour when I will come upon you.
4But you do have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments, and because they are worthy, they will walk with Me in white.
5Like them, he who overcomes will be dressed in white. And I will never blot out his name from the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and His angels.
6He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
7To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the One who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open.
8I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door, which no one can shut. For you have only a little strength, yet you have kept My word and have not denied My name.
9Look at those who belong to the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews but are liars instead. I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I love you.
10Because you have kept My command to persevere, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
11I am coming soon. Hold fast to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.
12The one who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will never again leave it. Upon him I will write the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God (the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from My God), and My new name.
13He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
14To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Originator of God’s creation.
15I know your deeds; you are neither cold nor hot. How I wish you were one or the other!
16So because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to vomit you out of My mouth!
17You say, ‘I am rich; I have grown wealthy and need nothing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.
18I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, white garments so that you may be clothed and your shameful nakedness not exposed, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.
19Those I love, I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent.
20Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me.
21To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
22He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
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.
Scripture references for paragraph 5
Berean Standard Bible. Public domain text and source credits.
Matthew 13:24-3024Jesus put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.
25But while everyone was asleep, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and slipped away.
26When the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the weeds also appeared.
27The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
28‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. So the servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
29‘No,’ he said, ‘if you pull the weeds now, you might uproot the wheat with them.
30Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat into my barn.’”
Matthew 13:4747Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea and caught all kinds of fish.
1 Corinthians 13:1212Now we see but a dim reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
Revelation 2:1 to 3:221“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of Him who holds the seven stars in His right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands.
2I know your deeds, your labor, and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate those who are evil, and you have tested and exposed as liars those who falsely claim to be apostles.
3Without growing weary, you have persevered and endured many things for the sake of My name.
4But I have this against you: You have abandoned your first love.
5Therefore, keep in mind how far you have fallen. Repent and perform the deeds you did at first. But if you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
6But you have this to your credit: You hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to eat from the tree of life in the Paradise of God.
8To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of the First and the Last, who died and returned to life.
9I know your affliction and your poverty—though you are rich! And I am aware of the slander of those who falsely claim to be Jews, but are in fact a synagogue of Satan.
10Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Look, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will suffer tribulation for ten days. Be faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
11He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who overcomes will not be harmed by the second death.
12To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of the One who holds the sharp, double-edged sword.
13I know where you live, where the throne of Satan sits. Yet you have held fast to My name and have not denied your faith in Me, even in the day when My faithful witness Antipas was killed among you, where Satan dwells.
14But I have a few things against you, because some of you hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block before the Israelites so they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality.
15In the same way, some of you also hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
16Therefore repent! Otherwise I will come to you shortly and wage war against them with the sword of My mouth.
17He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will give the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone inscribed with a new name, known only to the one who receives it.
18To the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like a blazing fire and whose feet are like polished bronze.
19I know your deeds—your love, your faith, your service, your perseverance—and your latter deeds are greater than your first.
20But I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads My servants to be sexually immoral and to eat food sacrificed to idols.
21Even though I have given her time to repent of her immorality, she is unwilling.
22Behold, I will cast her onto a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her will suffer great tribulation unless they repent of her deeds.
23Then I will strike her children dead, and all the churches will know that I am the One who searches minds and hearts, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.
24But I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned the so-called deep things of Satan: I will place no further burden upon you.
25Nevertheless, hold fast to what you have until I come.
26And to the one who overcomes and continues in My work until the end, I will give authority over the nations.
27He will rule them with an iron scepter and shatter them like pottery —just as I have received authority from My Father.
28And I will give him the morning star.
29He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
1“To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of the One who holds the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation for being alive, yet you are dead.
2Wake up and strengthen what remains, which was about to die; for I have found your deeds incomplete in the sight of My God.
3Remember, then, what you have received and heard. Keep it and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know the hour when I will come upon you.
4But you do have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments, and because they are worthy, they will walk with Me in white.
5Like them, he who overcomes will be dressed in white. And I will never blot out his name from the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and His angels.
6He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
7To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the One who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open.
8I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door, which no one can shut. For you have only a little strength, yet you have kept My word and have not denied My name.
9Look at those who belong to the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews but are liars instead. I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I love you.
10Because you have kept My command to persevere, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
11I am coming soon. Hold fast to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.
12The one who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will never again leave it. Upon him I will write the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God (the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from My God), and My new name.
13He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
14To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Originator of God’s creation.
15I know your deeds; you are neither cold nor hot. How I wish you were one or the other!
16So because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to vomit you out of My mouth!
17You say, ‘I am rich; I have grown wealthy and need nothing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.
18I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, white garments so that you may be clothed and your shameful nakedness not exposed, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.
19Those I love, I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent.
20Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me.
21To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
22He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
Psalms 72:1717May his name endure forever; may his name continue as long as the sun shines. In him may all nations be blessed; may they call him blessed.
Psalms 102:2828The children of Your servants will dwell securely, and their descendants will be established before You.”
Matthew 16:1818And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.
Matthew 28:19-2019Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
20and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Romans 11:18-2218do not boast over those branches. If you do, remember this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.
19You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.”
20That is correct: They were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid.
21For if God did not spare the natural branches, He will certainly not spare you either.
22Take notice, therefore, of the kindness and severity of God: severity to those who fell, but kindness to you, if you continue in His kindness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.
Revelation 18:22And he cried out in a mighty voice: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a lair for demons and a haunt for every unclean spirit, every unclean bird, and every detestable beast.
There is no other Head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ: nor can the Pope of Rome, in any sense be head thereof; but is that Antichrist, that man of sin and son of perdition, that exalteth himself in the Church against Christ, and all that is called God.
Scripture references for paragraph 6
Berean Standard Bible. Public domain text and source credits.
Ephesians 1:2222And God put everything under His feet and made Him head over everything for the church,
Colossians 1:1818And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things He may have preeminence.
Matthew 23:8-108But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers.
9And do not call anyone on earth your father, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.
10Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Christ.
2 Thessalonians 2:3-43Let no one deceive you in any way, for it will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness—the son of destruction—is revealed.
4He will oppose and exalt himself above every so-called god or object of worship. So he will seat himself in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
2 Thessalonians 2:8-98And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of His mouth and annihilate by the majesty of His arrival.
9The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the working of Satan, with every kind of power, sign, and false wonder,
Revelation 13:66And the beast opened its mouth to speak blasphemies against God and to slander His name and His tabernacle—those who dwell in heaven.
Source and edition
Westminster Confession. NonlinearFruit/Creeds.json, Unlicense. Creeds.json, English transcription
Unlicense. Source transcription.
Berean Blue opens December 1, 2026 for Bible reading, study, and research. View this work in the app preview.