Gayle Oler
The church of Christ is the family of God (1 Tim. 3:14-15). A person cannot be saved outside of God’s family. Therefore, since the church of Christ is the family of God, one cannot be saved without being in the church of Christ. The church of Christ is the body of Christ. “And gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body” (Eph. 1:22-23). Because the church is the body of Christ, and Christ saves only the church (Eph. 5:23), one cannot be saved outside the body (church) of Christ.
Moreover, when one forsakes the church, he forsakes Christ because Christ and the church are inseparable, as the body and the head are inseparable. Without the church, one cannot have the merits of Christ’s blood because He purchased the church with His blood (Acts 20:28). When one is separated from the church, he is separated from that for which Christ gave His blood. Only in the church can God be worshipped acceptably. “Unto him be glory in the church… (Eph. 3:20-21). This is the divine requirement. Not in the church building, but in the church— the family of Christ—God expects man to worship Him. At the bar of judgment, a person can have no more comforting thought than that he was a faithful member of Christ’s church.
