Salvation and The Church

It was God’s plan to provide a means of redemption
for man’s soul. He gave His only begotten Son that
mankind through that Son, might be saved. The shedding
of Christ’s blood on the cross makes that possible.
On the day of Pentecost when the pouring out of
the Holy Spirit was given to the Apostles in Jerusalem
and the first gospel sermon was preached by Peter, the
church was established when those who were pricked
in their hearts were baptized for the remission of their
sins and were added to the church. (Acts 2:38,47,
KJV). We read in Ephesians 5:23, that Christ is the
Head of the church and He is the Saviour of the body,
and Colossians 1:18 says “Christ is the head of the
body, the church.” If we are part of the body, then we
must be part of the church. Ephesians 1:22-23 says,
“He is the head over all things to the church which is
His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all.”
We are the church which Christ purchased with His
own blood (Acts 20:28). If we are that body and that
body is the church and Christ is the Head, we must
conclude that we cannot be saved without being in the
body which is the Church.

Our brothers and sisters in Christ are very essential to
the maintaining of our faithfulness. We are to exhort
one another, to build one another up in the most holy
faith. We are to bear one another’s burdens, weep,
mourn, rejoice with one another. The letters to the
churches are filled with exhortations to love one another,
and be united in the Lord. We cannot afford to
diminish the importance of our church families. It is
true that we must all work out our own salvation, but
God saw the need of Christian fellowship that would
be had through the church. The example of the early
church meeting daily and having all things in common
should remind us of the necessity of being with those
of like faith as often as possible. The pattern for the
church and its’ mission are recorded in the New Testament
throughout the epistles. We see in Romans 12:4-
5, and also in I Corinthians 12:12-14, that the body is
made up of many members and that each member is
essential to the proper functioning of the body. When
one member of that body suffers, or is not functioning
properly, the whole body suffers as a result. As each
organ or member of the physical body should be taken
care of and kept healthy, so should the body of Christ
(the church). We as members of the church must do
all we can to keep ourselves spiritually healthy and
in doing so the church (body) will grow in strength
as well as in number. We must hunger and thirst for
the Word of God, thereby, growing in the grace and in
the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ
and be ready and willing to share that knowledge with
those who are unlearned.

Thanks be to God that He has given us the church
which is Christ’s body. In Hebrews 10:25, we are
warned of the dangers of forsaking the assembling
of the church and that, by doing so, we are wilfully
sinning. Our Heavenly Father knows how important
the church is to our salvation and commands us to be
faithful to it, for it is our brothers and sisters in Christ
who pick us up when we fall, encourage us when we
are weak, and love our souls even when we’re not
loveable! It is the church with whom we assemble to
worship Almighty God, in singing, praying, giving,
partaking in communion and in studying His Word.

Not only are the “saved” in the nody, but they are
also given the name of the Head of that nody. Acts
4:12 says, “Neither is there salvation in any other
name; for there is none other name under heaven
given among men, whereby we must be saved.” According
to New Testament scripture, salvation and the
Church are synonymous.

By Alice A. Simmons

Originally published in the Fall 2011 Issue N4V4