by H. Leo Boles (1874-1946)
No one should be interested in any church except the one that is revealed in the New
Testament. Everyone should be interested in the church that Christ built. Jesus said, “Upon this
rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Mat. 16:18—
ASV). Jesus’ church is the greatest institution in the world, and membership is the greatest
privilege accorded to man.
What is the Church?
We must let the New Testament answer this question. Man can define human institutions, but
only God, through the Holy Spirit, can tell us what this divine institution is. Since Christ built this
church and purchased it with His blood (Acts 20:28), He can, through the Holy Spirit, define His
church. The New Testament declares that the church is the body of Christ. “And hath put all things
under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the
fulness of him that filleth all in all,” (Eph. 1:22-23). Here, we have the Holy Spirit speaking
through Paul, stating that the church is His body. Again, the Holy Spirit calls the church the body
of Christ: “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking
of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church,” (Col. 1:24—ASV).
Hence, the church is the body of Christ, and the body of Christ is the church. Moreover, the church
is the kingdom of God. Jesus said: “Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and
whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on
earth shall be loosed in heaven,” (Mat. 16:18-19). Here—in one sentence—Jesus calls this
institution “my church,” and in the following sentence, He calls the same institution “the kingdom
of heaven.” Again, the Holy Spirit said, “who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and
translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love,” (Col. 1:13—ASV). These same Colossians,
who had been translated into the kingdom, also constituted the church at Colossae (1:2). The
church is also said to be the house of God. “These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto
thee shortly: But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the
house of God, which is the church of the living God,” (1Tim. 3:14-15).The family of God
constitutes the house of God. “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father, from whom every
family in heaven and on earth is named” (Eph. 3:14-15—ASV). Further, it is called the church of
God. The church is called “the church of God” eight times in the New Testament (1Cor. 1:2; 10:32;
11:22; 15:9; 2Cor. 1:1; Gal. 1:13; 1 Tim. 3:5, 15). The plural is used three times as churches of
God (1Cor. 11:16; 1The. 2:14; 2 The. 1:4). One time, we have the expression, churches of Christ
(Rom. 16:16). Here, churches is used in the local or congregational sense as the churches of Christ
in various locations. Again, the church is called a spiritual house: “Ye also, as lively stones, are
built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood,” (1Pet. 2:5). These and other Scriptures teach us
what the church is. No institution but the church of our Lord answers these statements of the Holy
Spirit…
Can One Be Saved Out of the Church?
The question is not, “Can one be saved out of a denomination?” but “Can one be saved out
of the church of the Lord?” Many attempt to evade a direct answer to this question by saying, “The
church does not save one.” Indeed, the church does not save one, but God, through Christ, saves.
But where does God save one? Does He save in the church or outside the church? God is in Christ
reconciling the world unto Himself (2 Cor. 5:19). God saves people in Christ—that is, He saves
people in the church. If people can be saved out of the church, then they can be saved out of Christ,
out of the kingdom of God, out of the house of God, out of the family of God, out of the body of
Christ, out of the building of God, and without becoming living stones in the spiritual house of
God. The New Testament declares the church to be all these things, and if one can be saved out of
the church, he can be saved out of that which the church is.
Again, if one can be saved out of the church, he can be saved without being redeemed (Eph.
1:3, 7). Redemption and forgiveness of sin are in Christ (1:6-7). Therefore, if one can be saved
outside the church, then one can be saved without redemption and forgiveness. Moreover, the
blood of Christ is in the church, which is His body (1:22-23). If people can be saved out of the
church, then they can be saved without coming into contact with the blood of Christ. If salvation
is outside the church, there would be no need for Christ to establish His church, and He paid too
much for it when He purchased it with His blood (Acts 20:28). –Beacon, 8/25/25
