I just came across this great quote from Wolfhart Pannenberg’s Systematic Theology, 2:462-3.
The fellowship of the church that the gospel establishes is thus a sign and a provisional form of the humanity that is reconciled in the kingdom of God – the humanity that is the goal of the event of reconciliation in the expiatory death of Jesus Christ. The gospel thus takes precedence over the church. Over against the church, it represents the authority of Jesus Christ, the church’s Lord and Head. Though the gospel is proclaimed in the church and by is office bearers, it is...