The Peace, Purity, Unity, and Edification of the Church

When I was ordained as a ruling elder in the OPC I took the following vow “Do you promise to seek the purity, the peace, and the unity of the church?” (OPC BCO XXV 6.b.(4)) This phrasing has always stuck with me, because they are three things essential for the health of the church, but they are things often in tension with one another. If we fight tooth and nail for biblical purity at the expense of the peace and unity of the church, what good have we done? What if we cover up festering sores of moral depravity and theological error in order to pursue peace at all costs? What if we join hands in Christian fellowship with men and churches that deny the fundamentals of the faith? To keep this vow, an elder must not only love the peace, purity, and unity of the church as separate things, but also love them together. It requires a constant, humble reliance upon the Lord in prayer to be a faithful churchman in the nitty gritty of church life while also balancing all three principles. It seemed, and still seems to me like a really good quick shorthand for the wisdom and heart required to be an elder in Christ’s church.

When I re-joined the PCA and was licensed in Hills and Plains, I took a slightly expanded vow, “Do you promise to strive for the purity, peace, unity and edification of the Church?” (PCA BCO 19-3.3). As best as I can tell the original language goes back to 1789 in the United States and the adding of edification was done in the old southern PCUS in 1867. Obviously, the edification of the church has always been an essential part of being either a ruling elder or a licentiate. Indeed, one of the best ways to strive for the peace, purity, and unity of the church is to strive for her edification. A congregation that has been well fed on the whole counsel of God is well equipped to love one another, to recognize and refute error, and to see their place in the larger picture of the one body of Christ.

Christ loves His church more than any elder ever could. He purchased her purity with His blood, secured her peace by His cross, and unites her in Himself by His Spirit. But you wouldn’t know that unless someone taught you. So Christ has equipped His church with officers to edify and steward His people under Him. He has given His church everything she needs for her health because He wants to see her healthy, strong, and faithful. As Paul puts it in 1 Timothy 3:14-15 “I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.”

So the question remains: how does an elder or a licentiate fulfill this vow? In humble reliance on Christ, with diligent preparation and earnest prayer, keeping the ordinary means of grace central in the life of the church. This tends toward the good of the church, and it keeps the man who made the vow centered and well fed, so that he can bless others from the overflow of what God has given him. That is what this vow is getting at: Christ builds and guards his church through the ordinary, steady work of edifying her in the truth. Or in the words of the preface to our BCO “It belongs to His Majesty from His throne of glory to rule and teach the Church through His Word and Spirit by the ministry of men...” If Christ is ruling and teaching through us, His servants, then these vows are a reminder to seek what He seeks for His church: purity, peace, unity, and her steady edification in the truth. For the glory of His Name.