In any body of Christians (of any size), there will be a “mixture” of those who are regenerated, and those who are not. The problem is, it is not always that easy to discern between the two. The good news is, God has not called us to know this.

“Corpus per mixtum,” is Latin, and it means, “mixed body.” The term was popularized by the great Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (354-430 AD). In this paper, I will be largely depending on two amazing geniuses: the aforementioned Augustine and Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758 AD). The point of my abbreviated thesis is this: the visible church, i.e. that body of those baptized in the Trinitarian formula in credally-faithful Christian communions, constitute all kinds of people–from a “spiritual” point of view. I do wish to make this one preliminary comment, however, and it is this: in fact, ultimately (and most-importantly) there are only two categories of persons in the visible church, (or in the world, for that matter); and they are: the regenerate in Christ, and all the rest (who are all not regenerate).

Both Augustine and Edwards lived in and ministered in an age different from ours in a significant way–and that is, that most people who lived among those two eminent gospel ministers of the church were expected to be Christians, and to be joined to a visible expression of the body of Christ. (Obviously, this is not the case today–at least in the western world.) Because of this, in times past people were “Christians” for all kinds of less-than-stellar reasons. This could include social pressure, business success, and familial convenience. It is to our advantage that much of this is not the situation anymore…

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