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The Church In God's Plan For Salvation
John R. Gentry
Over the course of the last year we have examined and explored what the Bible says concerning God’s plan for our salvation. Before ending this series of articles it is important that we also discuss the church.
The Church and Salvation
What does the church have to do with God’s plan for our salvation? In Ephesians 5.23-26 Paul says that “Christ is...the savior of the church,” “he gave himself [in death on the cross] for the church,” and that “he sanctified the church, having cleansed the church by the washing of water with the word.” Paul told the elders of the church in Ephesus that Jesus “purchased [or obtained] the church with his own blood.” If Jesus is the savior of the church, then the church has everything to do with our salvation. For we cannot be saved if we are not a member of the church. If one claims to be saved and is not a member of the Lord’s church, then they are saved without a Savior!
Origin of the Church
The church has been a part of God’s plan for our salvation since the beginning (cf. Eph. 3.10-11). It was not an afterthought or a plan B when, because of his death on the cross, Christ failed to establish his kingdom while here on the earth, as some claim. The church is his kingdom (Matt. 16.18-19).
As a part of God’s plan for our salvation from the beginning, we find several prophecies in the Old Testament concerning the church. In Psalm 2.6-7 we learn a king would be set in Zion. In Daniel 2.44 we learn an everlasting kingdom would be established. In Isaiah 2.2-3 we learn the law of this kingdom would sound forth from Jerusalem. And in Joel 2.28-32 we learn that when and after this kingdom was established every person who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. We find the fulfillment of every one of these prophecies in Acts 2.
The church established in Acts 2 is the Lord’s church. If someone is a member of a church established in some other city than Jerusalem and at some other time than the day of Pentecost, we know he is not a member of the Lord’s church, the church of the New Testament.
Membership of the Church
God adds people to, or makes them members of, the Lord’s church (Acts 2.47, 41) who have obeyed the gospel through hearing the gospel (Mark 16.15; Rom. 10.17), believing in it (John 8.24; Mark 16.16), repenting of their sins (Acts 2.38; Luke 13.3, 5), confessing their faith in Jesus (Rom. 10.9-10; Acts 8.37; Matt. 10.32), and being immersed into Jesus (Mark 16.16; Rom. 6.3-4; Gal. 3.26-27). If someone becomes a member of a church in any other way, then God has not added them to the Lord’s church and they are, therefore, still in their sins.
Organization of the Church
With the elaborate makeup of some of the religious organizations today, some would find it refreshing to know that the Lord’s plan and pattern for the organization of his church is a simple one.
Christ is the head of his church, in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28.18; Eph. 1.22-23). When he said “all” authority in heaven and on earth is his, that leaves no authority for anyone else, including the pope. The Lord’s church has no earthly headquarters as some churches do. Headquarters are located where the head is and, seeing that Christ is in heaven at the right hand of God, the headquarters of the Lord’s church is in heaven (1 Pet. 3.22).
In the pattern given in the New Testament (Heb. 8.5) for the organization of the Lord’s church, some may be surprised to discover that there is no large-scale organization. Rather, each local congregation is autonomous or independent and self-governing. The Lord’s pattern consists of elders “in every church” “in every city” (Acts 14.23; Ti. 1.5). The elders, or overseers, are given the responsibility of shepherding the local congregation of which they are members (Acts 20.28; 1 Pet. 5.2). They have no responsibilities over other churches. Every church should also be organized with servants (deacons), teachers, saints, and evangelists (Php. 1.1; Eph. 4.11-12). Any church that has any other type of organization is not organized according to the pattern of the New Testament and is, therefore, not the Lord’s church.
Worship of the Church
When the church of Christ was established in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2, we read of their worship under the direction of the apostles (Acts 2.42). The pattern for corporate worship as given by the apostles includes prayer (Acts 2.42; 12.5), giving (1 Cor. 16.1-2), preaching (Acts 2.42; 11.26; 20.7), singing (Eph. 5.19; Col. 3.16), and communion every Lord’s Day (1Co. 11.23f; Acts 20.7). Churches involved in dramatic productions, worship with instruments, Saturday communion, or any other practice that does not fall within the pattern of worship given by the Lord’s apostles are not offering acceptable worship before God. In the words of Jesus and Isaiah, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Matt. 15.8-9, ESV).
Work of the Church
The work of the church is described and defined in the New Testament as preaching the Gospel (1 Thess. 1.8; Acts 11.22), edifying members (Eph. 4.11-16; 1 Thess. 5.11; 1 Pet. 2.2; Acts 20.32), and aiding needy saints (Acts 6.1-6; 11.27-30; Rom. 15.25-27; 1 Tim. 5.16). This work is funded by the weekly collection of money from members (1 Cor. 16.1-2). Any other work funded in any other way is unscriptural and falls in the category of lawlessness (Matt. 7.21-23).
Conclusion
Jesus is the Savior of one church (Eph. 4.4; 1.22-23). It is critical and crucial, then, that we are a part of this one church! If you are a part of a church that is different in name, origin, membership, organization, worship, and/or work than the church you read about in the New Testament, you are not in the church of which Jesus is the Savior and are, therefore, not saved. Using the identifying marks given in the New Testament, find the Lord’s church today, before it is eternally too late!
Galena Guardian
Vol. IX, No. 11, November 2007