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
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