Christ and the Church

W. Carl Ketcherside

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     We doubt that any serious thinker will challenge the observation that error is tolerated and needed reforms postponed because of fear. To question a traditional mode of thought or procedure jeopardizes the future of one who exhibits sufficient courage to do so and few indeed are willing to brook the scorn or withstand the opposition incurred by criticism of that which has come to be accepted as truth. In full awareness of this state of affairs we very humbly submit that we feel our brethren are generally incorrect in their evaluation of the church the ekklesia of God. It might not be of sufficient concern to merit this article were it not for the fact that the misconception causes men to trust in the wrong source for salvation and actually may substitute worship of the creation for that of the Creator.

     Any hesitancy about expressing our position in this article is caused by apprehension that we may appear to be speaking derogatorily of the church. This is not our intention and such an application of our words would be a decided injustice. We have the greatest respect and deepest reverence for the church of God, but it is not our Savior, nor is it upon an equality with Him. To place the church in its proper perspective is not to reflect against it at all. That the church consists of those who are saved we do not doubt but that the saving power is invested in it we seriously question. It is possible to so emphasize the church that men will idolize it rather than glorifying God. The tendency to do this is seen upon every hand.

     The shepherd is greater than the flock. That is why it was a remarkable thing for the Shepherd to give his life for his sheep. No one regards the sacrifice of sheep for the sustaining of the life of the shepherd as an extraordinary thing. It has been going on for centuries and dates back at least to the time when Noah left the ark and God made a covenant with him. Now the church is simply the flock of God composed of those who acknowledge Jesus as being "the Shepherd and Bishop of their souls." We are but "the sheep of his pasture."

     It is also axiomatic that the creator is superior to the created, and the church is a creation, not a creator. Of Jesus it is affirmed, "He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent" (Col. 1:18). It is a fact that this passage is seldom quoted for the purpose for which it was written as expressed in the last clause. It is fitted into sermon outlines on the identity of the church, but the apostle referred to the subservience of the church under the headship of Jesus as an argument for his universal prerogatives.

     Even more pointed is the example of the church as a building or house. To the congregation at Corinth Paul wrote, "We are fellow workmen of God; you are God's field, God's building" (1 Cor. 3:9). Peter wrote, "Like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house" (1 Peter 2: 5). But it is distinctly said, "The builder of a house has more honor than the house" (Heb. 3:3). The context goes on to say, "But Christ was faithful over God's house as a son. And we are his house..." (verse 6). When we honor the church to the same degree, or on the same plane, as we do Jesus, we are in error.

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     Although it may sound like treason, we unhesitatingly say that we are not saved by the church, or even through the church as an instrument. The church is not a Savior but requires one. "Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior" (Eph. 5:23). Since there is only one Lord there is only one church. There never was but one, there can never be but one. There is only one church on earth now and it is composed of all the called out ones. Every person in the world who has heard the call and responded to it has been constituted a living stone in God's house. No man has power to attach another as a member of the body, no man has power to detach another from the body. "But as it is, God arranged the organs in the body, each one of them, as he chose...Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it" (1 Cor. 12:18, 27).

     Our modern stress upon the church is often the result of a competitive denominationalism. We proclaim "the church" and not the Lord. Our energies and efforts are directed toward aligning men with a specific viewpoint or opinion relative to this doctrine or that. We see announcement of such topics as "To Which Church Should One Belong?" which implies there is more than one and that man has a choice. The fruit of our vying and contention is everywhere seen but no place more clearly than on farflung mission fields where simple pagans who were united under heathendom are divided against their fellows under "Christianity."

     In the midst of our modern Babel there are few voices now lifted up to declare that "the Church of Christ on earth is essentially, intentionally and constitutionally one" as was announced by Thomas Campbell in 1809. Incidentally, when Mr. Campbell issued this statement he was a Presbyterian. He continued a Calvinist until death, a matter which occasioned considerable friendly argument between himself and his son Alexander. This concept has been lost and the various parties and factions have obscured the vision since we have glorified them as "churches" as if God could have more than one group of "the called out" or as if one man on a creedal basis could call others out.

     Our task is to preach Christ and him crucified. The nature of sin has not changed and the remedy for it has not altered. We need not be concerned about getting men into "the Lord's church" for this is the Lord's work and it should be marvelous in our eyes. Nor need we be worried that any person who is brought to Christ will be added to any other church. There is no other church!

     While we are facing up to this issue we feel impelled to face up to another. In doing this we offer our reasoning based upon our knowledge of God's word and the nature of God as revealed in that word. Since these things are our own deductions we are not inclined to be either dogmatic or argumentative about them. Those who disagree with us will be loved and respected as highly as those who concur. The question is often asked concerning those who are ignorant of the call. Will any be saved outside the church? That Jesus is the Savior of the body is not questioned but will God save any who have not heard the call or in whose case there are circumstances which make it impossible to comply?

     It is frequently affirmed that it is impossible for God to save anyone except on the conditions he has authorized us to announce. We do not think this logically follows. The authority of God is sovereign and supreme. While it is true that "the head of every man is Christ" it is just as certain that "the head of Christ is God" (1 Cor. 11:3). Christ is the head of all things to the church by sufferance of God. "For God has put all things in subjection under his feet" (1 Cor. 15:27). But God is not under Christ and is not bound by his authority, for the same verse says, "But when it says, 'All things are put in subjection under him,' it is plain that he is excepted who put all things under him."

     We have no right to bind God by the ordinances he gave to bind us, nor attempt to place under law one who is su-

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perior to all law. That God's grace existed prior to and constitutes a realm larger than the church no thoughtful student will deny. Grace is not a product of the church but the church is a product of grace. That the church occupies a position under the domain of grace and extends only to well defined limits within that domain I freely concede. But that God's grace can never be administered outside those boundaries I am unwilling to admit.

     It will be said that if God saves anyone at all outside the church he will be contradicting his own law. Such a statement is the fruit of shallow thinking. It overlooks the fundamental truth that the authority which gives a law is superior to the law which it creates. If this was not true no law after being once issued could ever be altered, amended, repealed or suspended. When one acts above and beyond law he no more contradicts law than one contradicts his obligation by acting above and beyond the call of duty. Moreover, it is a recognized principle that a judge may exercise clemency and extend mercy in the face of positive statutes when one has failed to comply with the same because of circumstances. It is even affirmed that "mercy triumphs over judgment." This is because all law must be relative as relates to humanity and no law, human or divine, can be given which anticipates and prepares for all exigencies.

     God has demonstrated in other areas than the spiritual that he makes exceptions in the ordinances he has given. In the natural realm he has ordained a "fixed order" of the sun for light by day and of the moon and stars for light by night. So definite was this ordinance that it was used as a token of his perpetuating power for his chosen people (Jer. 31:35, 36). Yet he had no hesitancy about suspending the arrangement at the behest of Joshua or as a sign to Hezekiah. This was not a contradiction of "the laws of nature" but simply the application of a superior power out of which the ordinances were derived.

     We do not argue that God will do thus and so with reference to salvation beyond his revelation to us. We simply say that he can do so without proving untrue to his covenant. It is not his unrevealed action but his right of sovereign power and grace which we defend. This does not authorize those of us who act under the authority of Jesus to offer salvation to any person except upon the basis of his declaration. It will be no comfort to the one who would deliberately reject the teaching of the Son under the mistaken idea that he might still be saved by grace. But there is a grave difference between refusal to act because of rebellion and failure to do so because of lack of knowledge due to uncontrollable circumstances. It is uncharitable to indiscriminately brand as rebels those who are uninformed or helpless.

     Perhaps we are mistaken in our conclusion that much of our problem is seated in a false opinion about the church, yet we believe there are serious dangers in exalting it to an equality with the Lord. Such a view not only tends to inflate our ego (since we are the church), and make us supplant God in judgment; it also makes the interest of the church turn inward and becomes self-centered. Eventually the church spends its effort in saving itself to the neglect of the lost world. It tends to rely for strength upon the material rather than the spiritual factors of its existence. It becomes rich in all that money can buy and poor in everything it cannot purchase.

     We are the "called out" and he who called us is greater than those who are called. He calls to us but we call upon him. He is lord of all, we are slaves; he is the master, we are the servants. We should cease to hold out the church as a saving institution and regard it as a communion of the saved ones. If it be urged that we are saved because we are in the church, let it not be forgotten that we are in the church because we are saved. We are the church. It is not something separate and distinct from our lives which we join. No man can plant the church; no man can join it. No man has power to save himself nor do all men in the

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aggregate have power to save themselves.

     A proper evaluation of the church in relation to Christ will make it possible for us to exalt Him to His proper status without derogating or deflating the fellowship of the saints. We should be careful that we do not, in our zeal for the church, be guilty of making it a rival in our affection for Him who regards it as His body. "Unto Him be glory in the church, throughout all ages, world without end. Amen!"