In the religious world, there are those who believe a person can be saved while not being in the church. If you were to ask me if this is true, I would reply, “Not unless one can be saved when he should not be,” for all who should be saved were added to the church. Luke said, “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.”(Acts 2:41 ) This scripture teaches that those who received the word and were baptized were added to the church. It should be evident even to the most casual reader that God adds only those who are saved. But he adds only those who are baptized, therefore only those who are baptized are saved.

Friends, do not blame me for this fact. I did not write the second chapter of Acts; the Holy Spirit had that done through the apostles of Christ. Permit me to be blunt; no one can be in Christ and out of the church at the same time, for they are one. Notice what Paul says in writing to the church at Ephesus, “For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”(Eph. 5:30-32 )

This scripture should be sufficient for anyone if they believe the Bible. When one is obedient in baptism, they are added to the church which is Christ’s body. No one can be saved out of Christ. Peter said in Acts 4:12 , “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” And for this reason, no one can be saved out of the church, for the church and the body are the same. Paul says in Eph. 5:23 , “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.” If Christ is the savior of the body, then he is the savior of the church.

Preachers should not advertise how little they think of his body the church by the manner in which they ignore it. How can one be saved in Christ if they are not in his body? You cannot have one without the other. Jesus said, “Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matt.16:18) The church is not a denomination; denominations are human organizations unknown in the New Testament. Jesus said they are “plants which the heavenly father hath not planted,” and they shall be “rooted up.”(Matt.15:13)

The church is a divine organization founded by Jesus Christ himself and purchased by his blood. (Acts 20:28 ) Christ purchased the church out of sin. It, therefore, belongs to Christ and is called the “Church of Christ” or the “Church of God”. Of course, the church is co-extensive in having the same boundaries in name, practice, and doctrine. Without his body, there is no such thing as fellowship with God and Christ or with the blood of Christ. John said, “…if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”(1 John 1:7 ) The apostle Paul has informed us that there is no salvation out of the church. If Christ is the head and the savior of the church, how can one be saved out of it? The church is the family feature of God. In 1 Timothy 3:15 , Paul said, “…that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God.”

There are four things we need to clarify in order to show that one can not be saved out of the church. (1.) All Christians are the Children of God and in his family the church. (2.) No one can be saved without being a child of God, or a Christian. (3.) Nether can one be a Christian or a child of God out of his family. (4.) Therefore, one cannot be saved out of the church. The process of being saved is the process of entering the church. Peter told the Jews on the Day of Pentecost how they could enter the church when they asked what shall we do. Peter said, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.” (Acts 2:38 )