THE CHURCH AS A CREATION OF THE GOSPEL

There have been many discussions about the nature of the church—what makes a church a church. Drawing from Reformational insights, this article engages with this question from a soteriological perspective. The Reformed soteriological story begins with creation. Creation was, however, disturbed by the fall. God offers the story of redemption for the whole creation. Finally, God’s work of redemption culminates in the beatific vision of his glory, which can already be beheld and tasted here and now. I will follow this framework (creation, fall, redemption, glorification) to present a proposal for a Reformed ecclesiology developed from Reformed soteriology. Though written from an Indonesian perspective, this article tries to bring together voices from both global hemispheres in an irenic dialogue.