Salvation Through The Church?

            I was reading the article the other day about something the new pope had said.  In a statement, Pope Francis made the point that atheists are capable of doing something good.  Later, he had to qualify his statement by adding that he believes that atheists will still go to Hell with no chance of Heaven.  And, as I was reading this article, I came across this statement: “A Vatican spokesman stresses that the Church believes all salvation “comes from Christ, the Head, through the Church which is his body,” meaning those who refuse to enter or remain in the church "cannot be saved”” (emphasis added). 

            I don’t have a huge problem with a lot of this statement.  Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church (Ephesians 1:22-23).  The Body of Christ is His Church (Colossians 1:18).  And, those who refuse the Lord will not be saved in the Day of Wrath (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10).  The problem that I have with this statement is with the idea that “all salvation comes... through the Church.”  This statement shows a great misunderstanding about salvation and His Church.  Let me briefly explain why.

            Salvation does belong the Lord (Psalm 3:8; Revelation 7:10; 19:1) and in Him alone is salvation (Psalm 62:7; 68:20).  And, while we won’t go into our need for salvation (Romans 3:23; Isaiah 59:2; Romans 6:23; Matthew 25:41), I will make the point that man cannot save himself; salvation is solely an operation of God (Ephesians 2:8-9).  When God saw our sad state (i.e., dead in our sins, Ephesians 2:1-3), He had compassion on us, He loved us, and He had mercy on us (Ephesians 2:4; Psalm 85:7).  So, He extended His grace toward us through the Son of His love, Jesus the Christ (Titus 2:11; John 3:16; Romans 3:24-26) so that we all might be saved from His righteous wrath in the Day of Judgment (1 Timothy 2:4).  Again, this operation is something only “of God” and not “of man.”  This means that only God through Jesus saves; this means that His Church cannot save.

            With that said, we must understand that every individual has their own personal responsibility to “work out [their] own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12).  Just as sure as God has given us the free gift of salvation (Romans 5), it is our responsibility to receive it according to His word (Psalm 119:41).  We must first come to know the God of our salvation through His word and have faith in everything that He is (Romans 1:16-17; 10:17).  Then, we must humble ourselves before the Lord and reverently approach Him (Psalm 149:4; 85:9), calling on His name (Romans 10:13; Acts 2:21).  This means confessing your faith with your mouth before mankind (Romans 10:9-10; Matthew 10:32).  Also, this means being transformed by the renewing of your mind, being converted to think and live like Christ (Romans 12:1-2; Acts 3:19; Galatians 2:20), repenting with godly sorrow (2 Corinthians 7:10), leaving the old life of sin behind for “salvation is far from the wicked” (Psalm 119:155).  And, this means we must be baptized His way (i.e., full-body immersion, submergence, and emergence into-then-from water, Acts 8:35-39) for the forgiveness/removal of our sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 1 Peter 3:21).

            Let us understand one last thing: it is only when a person obeys the Gospel from the heart (Romans 6:17) that God adds someone to Christ’s Church (Acts 2:40-47).  You see, the Church is not the means or the vehicle of salvation, but the body of The Saved.  And, it is the Church’s responsibility to praise the Lord for His salvation (Psalm 118:21; 70:4) and to proclaim the glorious message of “salvation free for all” (Psalm 96:2; Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16).

            There is so much misunderstanding regarding the salvation of the Lord and of His Church.  Let it be that we grow in our understanding of these things and that we fervently and lovingly preach the truth about these things to the whole world until He returns (2 Timothy 4:2; Ephesians 4:15).  Let this be out prayer.  Let this be our life.  And, may the Lord bless us even more abundantly in this endeavor.

~Curtis Carwile

Trust and Glorify the God of Peace

            In Matthew 8:23-27, we read this: “Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.  And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep.  Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”  But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.  So the men marveled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?””

            Earlier this week, one of the worst storms in history tore through Oklahoma.  The National Weather Service called it one of the worst they had ever seen (that should tell us just how bad it was).  The insurances claims alone will easily top $1 billion mark.  And, at the time of this writing, at least 24 have been confirmed dead, including nine children.  People’s lives will never be the same again.

            With situations like this, it is difficult to know what to think.  Obviously, the loss of life, especially that of those nine children, is terrible.  But, after that, it’s challenging to know what else to think or even where to begin.  Considering this, please allow me to focus our minds on three relevant and rather important thoughts.

            Firstly, I believe it is important for us to understand that God is not a god of chaos.  When Elijah was in the cave and the whirlwind and earthquake and fire all shook the mountain, where was the Lord?  He was in the still small voice amidst the chaos (1 Kings 19:11-13).  In Matthew 8, He wasn’t in the tempest, He was in the boat and His calm voice quieted the whole storm.  God is a God of peace (1 Corinthians 14:33; Philippians 4:9).  And, amidst all of the calamity in this life, God can bring peace in even the worst storms (2 Thessalonians 3:16; Psalm 29:11).  So, come to know Him better as the God of Peace.

            Secondly, in times of calamity, trust in the LORD with all of your heart (Proverbs 3:5).  Have a real faith in His power to deliver even the sinner’s soul from Hell and have faith in His willingness to do so (John 3:16).  And, in those times of trouble, don’t cry out to the Lord as those on the boat did.  Rather, let His surpassing peace rule in your heart (Philippians 4:6; Colossians 3:15), come to Him in faith (James 1:6) knowing that everything will work out for the best (Romans 8:28).  I will admit, it takes a strong faith do this, but that is the kind of faith we’re called to obtain (Psalm 27:1).  This is something which requires some growing into; so, let us strive to grow into this kind of faith.

            Finally, let us understand that tempestuous times are opportunities.  Those inside the tempest have an opportunity to glorify God by their trusting faith (1 Corinthians 10:31).  Those outside of a particular storm have the opportunity to glorify God in doing good to all (Galatians 6:10).  We may not always see every trial like this, but this is what they are.  May we be good stewards of these blessings (1 Corinthians 4:2).

            May we all come to a better understanding of the Lord and develop a stronger faith which produces a peace in us and glory to God!

~Curtis Carwile

Calling Light "Darkness" and Darkness "Light"

            I was on the internet on Monday and two headlines came up on my feed.  The first story was about Tim Tebow.  Even if you don’t know anything about sports, you might have heard about him because of his religious beliefs.  He is fiercely “spiritual” and overtly “Christian.”  He has been a bit of an enigma because of his openness about his Christianity.  And, his scripture-quoting has become a bit of a joke in the media (e.g., before his first NFL game, he tweeted “yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death...”).  Because of being so openly “Christian,” he has been the source of constant ridicule and told by those in the media and even on his team to “tone down the Jesus-thing” and even to “sit down and be quiet.”  On Monday, after just one season with The New York Jets, he was released to free agency.  His response has been described as “totally Tebow.”  He tweeted from Proverbs 3:5-6 which says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  Acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will direct your paths.”  The second story was about Jason Collins.  Even if you do know anything about sports, you might not have known who he was before Monday.  He plays for the Boston Celtics and, on this past Monday, he became the first openly homosexual professional athlete in the United States.  Since then, he has received thousands of text messages and tweets from people like former President Bill Clinton, Ellen DeGeneres, and Kobe Bryant, all of whom have offered their support to Collins, congratulating him on doing “such a brave thing.” 

            When I read both of those articles, several Bible passages came to my mind.  The first passage which came to my mind was Isaiah 5:20 which says: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil; who put darkness for light and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!”  This is, of course, what is going on in the world more and more with every passing day.  People are ridiculing those who proclaim Jesus and righteousness, telling them to “put a cork in it.”  All the while, they are praising those who blaspheme the name of God and walk in unrighteousness. 

            While this is becoming the norm, we shouldn’t be surprised by it because it happened in Jesus’ day.  In John 8:12, Jesus says that He is the light of the world.  Earlier, in John 1:5, we read that “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”  And, later on in John (3:19), Jesus said this: “This is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”  And, the long and the short of it is this: people hate righteousness (and those who promote it) because they love their sin.  And, because they love their sin, they have chosen to waste eternity in outer darkness in Hell (Matthew 25:30, 41, 46).

            So, what can we do about this?  Well, believe in Jesus (John 12:46) and all that entails: “cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light” (Romans 13:12).  “Walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8).  “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them” (Ephesians 5:11).  Be a “guide to the blind and a light to those who are in darkness” (Romans 2:19).  And, even in “the valley of the shadow of death,” “trust in the Lord with all your heart... and He will direct your path” to Him in Heaven when this existence is over.  This is what we can do.  So, let us never grow weary in doing it (Galatians 6:9), but let us encourage each other all the more as we see the Day of Judgment approaching (Hebrews 10:24).

~Curtis Carwile