A.There are many people who claim to have Christ as Lord and Savior without being a part of His church.
1.Many believe they are saved because they believe in Christ even though they do not believe in His church.In their minds, Christ and His church can be separated, and a relationship with Christ does not require a relationship with His church.
2.Many believe that Jesus is divine and yet consider that His church is a creation of man.Some of them are so confounded by the many manmade religions and their own bad experiences in denominations that they have determined that all churches are the products of men.
B.Yet a study of the book of Ephesians reveals that Christ and His church are united and inseparable.
1.The figures and comparisons used in Ephesians show that one cannot truly accept Christ without also accepting His church, for they are united by the design of God.
2.Let us now consider the unity of Christ with His church by studying these comparisons.
II.THE HEAD IS UNITED WITH THE BODY
A.Christ and His church are compared to the head and the body.
1.Notice Ephesians 1:22-23 – “And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”See also Ephesians 4:11-16.
2.By this figure, we understand the integral relationship of Christ and His church.
B.Christ is one head with one body, and the two are to function together in unity.
1.Jesus is the only head of the church.No man, pope, convention, synod, or council has authority over His body.
2.Jesus has only one body, and that is His church, which is made up of individual Christians and not denominations (Eph. 4:4-6; 1Cor. 12:27).
3.The relationship of Christ and the church is similar to that of the head and the body.
a.The head directs the body, and the body follows the head.The church should respond to the direction of Christ as the body responds to the direction of its head.
b.The church should reveal the will of Christ in what it does just as the actions of the body reveal the thoughts of its head (John 13:35; 17:21).
c.Christ is affected by His church in the same way that the head is affected by the body.He shares the body’s joy, pleasure, pain, and suffering (Acts 9:4-5; Eph. 5:28-29).
C.Therefore, the church can no more be separated from Christ than a body can be separated from its head and still live.Members of the body can live only as long as they are part of the body and connected to the head.
III.THE FOUNDATION IS UNITED WITH THE BUILDING
A.Christ and His church are also compared to a foundation and a building.
1.This figure is given in Ephesians 2:19-22 and also 1Corinthians 3:9-17 and 1Peter 2:4-8.
2.Specifically, Christ is compared to the cornerstone of a structure.
a.The cornerstone is the most important part of the foundation and the building.
b.It is the beginning point for the structure, and everything within the structure is measured and aligned from the cornerstone.
B.Just as a building and its foundation are designed to stand together in unity, so also Christ’s church is designed to stand with Christ.
1.The foundation of a building supports the entire structure, and Christ is the support of His church.They are one structure, and they stand and function together.
2.Everything within the church is built upon Christ and His authority, for He is the cornerstone.
a.There is no other foundation, and therefore there is no other authority in the church.Everything the church does must be founded on Christ’s will.See 1Corinthians 3:11.
b.Any church built on a foundation other than Christ and His word is not the church of Christ.
C.Therefore, no one can be built on Christ unless he is a member of the Lord’s church, for His church is the only structure built on Him.
IV.THE HUSBAND IS UNITED WITH THE WIFE
A.In another comparison, Christ is described as the husband and the church as His wife.
1.This comparison is given in Ephesians 5:25-33 as well as in 2Corinthians 11:2.
2.God’s plan for marriage from the beginning has been for one man and one woman to be joined together for the duration of their lives (Gen. 2:24; Matt. 19:1-9; Rom. 7:1-3).
B.Just as a husband and a wife are joined together by God, so also is Christ and His church united by God’s design.
1.Those who attempt to separate Christ from His church are attempting to separate Him from His bride.Yet the Lord said, “What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate” (Matt. 19:6).
2.Those who consider the church to be unnecessary in their relationship with Christ are suggesting that Christ’s bride is not important to Him.Yet the Scripture says that Christ gave Himself up for His church (Eph. 5:25).
3.Those who teach that there are many churches that are equally pleasing to Christ are suggesting that Christ has many wives.Yet the Scriptures teach that Christ loves one bride (Eph. 5:25).
C.Therefore, the church should not be separated from Christ anymore than a wife should be separated from her husband.They are joined together by God to be one entity.
V.THE SAVIOR IS UNITED WITH THE SAVED
A.Christ is the Savior of the church, which is the body of people saved by Christ.
1.This description of Christ is found in Ephesians 5:23, which says, “He Himself being the Savior of the body.”
2.The church is the called-out body of saved people, which has been purchased or redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ for His own possession (Acts 20:28).
B.Christ unites everyone whom He saves with Himself in His church, and apart from His church no one is saved.
1.When the gospel was first preached on the Day of Pentecost following Christ’s ascension, those who believed and obeyed were added by Christ to His church (Acts 2:41, 47).Thus, the same Lord who saves souls also simultaneously adds those souls to His church.
2.By definition, one who is saved by Christ is a part of Christ’s saved body, which is His church.One cannot be saved without being a member of the congregation of the saved.
C.Therefore, salvation is found only in Christ our Savior, and He adds all of His saved ones to His church.No one will be saved without the Savior, and everyone who is saved is a part of His church.
VI.CONCLUSION
A.By studying Ephesians and other similar passages of Scripture, we must see that Christ is united with His church, and the two are inseparable.Christ without the church would be:
1.A head without a body.
2.A foundation without a building.
3.A husband without a wife.
4.A Savior without any saved people.
B.Therefore, we must understand that seeking Christ without His church is an empty pursuit, for where Christ is, there also will be His church, and where His church is found, there also will Christ be found.Notice Ephesians 3:20-21:
“Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever.Amen.”
