Articles
The Church is the Assembly of the Saved, Not the Administrator of Salvation
The Church is the Assembly of the Saved,
Not the Administrator of Salvation
By Paul R. Blake
John Newton, the author of the hymn “Amazing Grace,” wrote: “My memory is almost gone, but I remember one thing: that I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior.” In one sentence, he summarized God’s scheme of redemption. Man is lost due to his own sin and alone is helpless to do anything about that condition. God took the initiative in man’s salvation and sent Jesus Christ as an offering for sin. Man responds to God’s plan with obedient faith and is saved. He then becomes part of the body of the saved, the church. The church completes God’s scheme by communicating the message of salvation to other lost persons who in turn can respond to the Divine initiative.
Occasionally persons, saved or lost, lose sight of the fact that the church only teaches of salvation, and instead they develop the mistaken idea that the church saves. It must be understood that the church is the body of obedient believers who received salvation; the church is not an institution that dispenses salvation to the lost.
Several denominational influences have contributed to this misguided reasoning. The first is the tendency to institutionalize individual effort and accomplishment. The work of teaching the lost is completed one person at a time; sinners are saved individually, not collectively. The second is the prideful inclination to elevate the role of helper to that of administrator. The church only carries the message of salvation; the Lord does the saving. The third factor leading to this mistaken tenet is based upon an over-emphasis on the autonomy of local churches. In an effort to maintain control over membership and doctrine in local churches, some men press autonomy to the point that they lose focus on the centralized control and oversight of the church by Jesus Christ in heaven. His Divine role as administrator of salvation is de-emphasized in an effort to press Christians into an un-natural, unscriptural level of dependency on the leaders of a local congregation. What does the New Testament teach?
The Church is the Assembly of the Saved
The church is the body of believers and followers of Jesus Christ, saved from their sins by the grace of God, by the blood of Christ, and by obedience to the gospel. The church is the assembly of the beneficiaries of the blessings of the Lord. All members of the church are former sinners who received salvation from the Lord when they heard the word of God that informed them that they were lost and in need of the cleansing power of the blood of Christ (Rom. 3:23-25, 5:8-9). This word generated faith within them, and this faith moved them to repent of their sins and choose righteousness (Rom. 10:17; Acts 3:19). They declared their faith by confessing Jesus Christ as the Son of God in the presence of others (Rom. 10:9-10). They completed the scripturally defined human response to the grace of God by being immersed in water for the remission of sins (Acts 22:16; 1Peter 3:21). When they rose from baptism, they were saved from their sins and the Lord added them to His church, the assembly of the saved (Acts 2:47). By this Divinely ordained plan, they became the recipients of salvation.
While it is true that sinners are saved on an individual basis, it is also true that the New Testament speaks of Jesus Christ as the Savior of the church. He is the only authorized dispenser or administrator of salvation. The apostle Paul wrote: “And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby” (Eph. 2:16). Christ did the work of uniting all obedient believers into one body by his death on the cross. He is “the savior of the body” (Eph. 5:23), and “he gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word” (5:25-26). Jesus is the agency by which the church receives salvation; however, some incorrectly assume that this implies that he saves the church collectively. It must be understood that his salvific work is universal to every member of the body individually. Salvation is never en masse, nor will the church be judged collectively. Sinners are saved one by one, and members of the church will be judged based on their own works alone. Paul clarified this for the Corinthians: “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit” (1Cor. 12:13). Every member of the church is saved by the Lord and is saved the same way--the Lord’s way.
The Church is the Communicator of the Gospel
It is clear that man is saved by the grace of God (Eph. 2:8), but God does not personally communicate this to him. Also, the blood of Christ cleanses one from sin (Rom. 5:9), but Jesus does not speak to each lost soul of his need to contact the blood. Without doubt the gospel is the Divine announcement of salvation (1Cor. 15:1-2), but it cannot save until the lost hear it (Rom. 10:13-15). Enter the role of the church in salvation. The assembly of the saved has been charged with the duty of carrying the message of reconciliation to sinners. Preaching the gospel is the means the Lord chose to save the lost. Paul wrote: “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God… For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe” (1Cor. 1:18, 21). The church is limited to this role in the matter of salvation; it does not save, nor can it influence the Lord in determining who is to be saved. The church’s role is restricted to preaching salvation.
In addition, the church is scripturally limited in what it can do in the work of spreading the gospel. The church is only authorized to function on a local basis to generate conditions that will facilitate the preaching of the gospel. Furthermore, the authorized activities of the church in evangelism are executed by individual members who have been equipped by Jesus Christ for this work. “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:11-12). Each member of a local congregation has some part for which he is responsible in the church’s work of teaching the lost. The elders oversee the local congregation, encouraging the members to be busy with their part in the work of salvation, and motivating preachers and teachers to seek out and enlighten the lost (1Peter 5:2). The preachers and teachers publicly teach the unsaved in assemblies for worship and in Bible studies (1Tim. 4:16). The members invite the lost to hear the word proclaimed, and engage family members, friends, co-workers, and classmates in Bible studies for the purpose of converting them to the Lord (John 1:40-42). All members of local churches give of their means to support the preaching of the word. The elders distribute those funds to evangelists who devote their lives to proclaiming the gospel (Phil. 4:14-19). Local churches do not save the lost, but rather the members of autonomous congregations work together to teach the lost how to be saved.
Moreover, in their role as communicators of the gospel, local churches have the responsibility to maintain the purity of doctrine. Elders must be sound in the faith, and must rebuke those who are not (Titus 1:9). Preachers and teachers must preach the same thing in every church (1Cor. 4:17, 7:17). Members must be united around the same doctrine (1Cor. 1:10). Since the church is merely the communicator of salvation and not the author, it does not have the prerogative to make alterations to the message, not even on a local basis.
The Church is Not the Administrator of Salvation
Local churches cannot assume the power of the Lord in saving the lost, just as the church universal cannot function as a unit in the role of communicating the gospel to the lost. The religiously illegitimate denominations of men have attempted to usurp the authority of God in salvation with creedal membership schemes. However, congregations of saints must never view their work as that of regulating entrance into the kingdom of God. Consider, if the church has the power to dispense salvation, it also has the power to revoke it. This reasoning further suggests that if local churches have the power to save or condemn, then they also have the power to influence outcomes on Judgment Day. Christians and sinners who have this perception must be taught otherwise.
It is possible for a local congregation to mistakenly receive one into fellowship who has not truly obeyed the gospel or who is unfaithful or erring. Just because the local church extends fellowship to him, does not mean that the Lord enrolls him in the book of life. In addition, it is possible for a local congregation to unjustly withdraw fellowship from a member. Simply because they refuse fellowship with him does not mean the Lord has cast him out of the kingdom.
The church is not the well-spring of Divine grace; it did not shed its blood for salvation; and, it did not develop the gospel. The church communicates the Divine initiative in the salvation of man and teaches men to obey the mandated response. The church is the fellowship and assembly of the saved who are given the task of telling sinners what they must do to be saved. By working together harmoniously with one another within local churches, the saved communicate the good news of God’s grace, Christ’s cleansing blood, and salvation by the Gospel.
Upcoming Sermons
6/16/24 AM - “I Want the Truth!”; PM - Apostle Paul’s Third Journey for Christ
6/23/24 AM - “He Prepared His Ways Before the Lord”; PM - “Who Knows… the Spirit of the Animal?”
6/30/24 AM - Goliath of Gath: How to Beat a Bully; PM - Doug Sanders: The Roman Empire
7/7/24 AM - Grandpap’s Bible; PM - Singing Service: Congregational Choice of Songs
7/14/24 AM - Confession is Good for the Soul; PM - Ism’s That Ain’t So
7/21/24 - “Are Ya Listenin’ to Me?”; PM - America’s Top Ten Most Disliked Doctrines
7/28/24 AM - Holy Hatred; PM - Demas: From Success to Failure
