This dissertation presupposes that a lack of clarity within Reformed ecclesiology about the visible holiness of the church leaves us vulnerable to an unintended and contradictory sacralization of the clerical office. I seek to respond to this problem through the creation of a responsible Reformed position on the visible holiness of the church. I am engaging resources treasured by Reformed Christians, both to gain greater insight into the problem I have identified and to draw forth resources to address it. Out of this engagement, I will forward an argument that the mutual practice of forgiveness among Christians is the means by which sanctification unfolds and the church becomes visibly holy in the world— this is a non-clerically centered understanding of ecclesial holiness intended to help to address ecclesiological confusion that contributes to persistent divisive debates within communions such as the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.)