SALVATION HAS A LOCATION
By Nana Yaw Aidoo
In relation to sin, salvation is a deliverance from
the guilt of sin (2 Pet.1:9) or freedom from sin (John 8:32-36). Many in the
religious world seek it and the proliferation of churches in the world is
proof. Unfortunately, many are searching for salvation in the wrong places.
Some seek it in things like anointing oil and rubber bands. Some seek it from their preachers and "pastors". Others go to the
extent of purchasing “indulgences” in order to be freed from sin. The bible
however tells us that salvation has a location. In his second letter to
Timothy, Paul wrote, “…that they also may obtain the salvation which is in
Christ Jesus with eternal glory” (2 Tim.2:10). Paul plainly stated that salvation
is located “in Christ Jesus”. Is it then not the case that except a man finds
himself located in Christ Jesus, he has no chance of being saved?
With this
being the case, must a man not ask the question, “what must I do in order to be
located in Christ so as to receive salvation from my sins?”. Thankfully, the
bible tells us what to do in order to be in Christ. Paul once again wrote, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For
as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal.3:26 -27). We
see then that it’s at the point of baptism that one enters "into" Christ. Therefore,
the one who hears the gospel (Mark 16:15), must believe it (Heb.11:6), must repent of all his
sins (Luke 13:3), must confess Christ as the only begotten Son of God (Matt.10:32;
Act.8:37) and must be baptized unto the remission of sins (Mark 16:16). It’s after
obedience (Heb.5:9) to this plan that one enters into Christ in order to obtain salvation
from sins.
Friends, I want you to notice that the same thing
that puts us into Christ (Gal.3:27), is the same thing that puts us into the
body (1 Cor.12:13), which is the church (Col.1:18). Also, notice that just as
we are told that salvation is in Christ, we are also told that the saved are put
into or added to the church (Act.2:47). Paul wrote, “…God has set the members,
each one of them, in the body just as He pleased” (1 Cor.12:18). Thus we see
that God is putting the saved into the church. Friends, I submit to you that
being "in Christ" is being "in the church" and there’s only one (Eph.4:4). It’s the
church which Christ called “My church” (Matt.16:18). Whose church? Christ’s
church and so “the church of Christ”.
Some might ask, “are not all the different churches,
also churches of Christ?”. Friends, if all the denominations are also “churches
of Christ” and there are Christians in all of them, then with all these
contradictory teachings and practices, we’ve got to admit that Christianity is
nothing but a ball of confusion. When the seed of the kingdom was sown in the 1st
century (Luke 8:11), it brought forth nothing but Christians only (Act.11:26). It didn’t
bring forth Methodists, Catholics, Baptists, Presbyterians, Pentecostals, Adventists
etc. If these people are Christians, then why do they wear names that glorify
men rather than the only name that saves (Act.4:12; Eph.3:14-15) and why are names of these sort conspicuously absent from inspired writ?
Also, notice that in
Ephesians 4:4-7, we have the “seven ones” and over there, we are told there’s only
“one body/church”. False teachers contend that the “one body” is made up of
individual churches but the bible says it’s made up of individual members (1
Co.12:14-27). When Paul began the “seven ones”, he began with “one body/church” and
ended with “one God”. Legion is he who teaches that the “one God” means one God
but the “one body/church” doesn’t mean one church. Christ has only one church,
the church of Christ (Act.20:28; Rom.16:16) and He has promised to save only it (Eph.5:23).
If you’re
reading this, I urge you to obey the gospel by believing in God and in Christ
(John 14:1) and in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ (1 Cor.15:1-3), repenting of all your sins (Luke 13:3), confessing Christ as the Son
of God before men (Matt.10:32) and upon that confession, allowing yourself to be baptized unto
the remission of sins, so you become saved from your sins and be added to the
church of Christ (Act.2:38, 47).
God bless us all in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
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