How many churches are there?  Today, there are over 760 differing denominations all claiming allegiance to Christ.  The Bible plainly teaches there is only one Church (Eph. 1:22, 23; 4:5), because Jesus established only one Church (Matt. 16:18) and only purchase one with His Blood (Acts 20:28). Therefore, we believe that the Church is essential to salvation.  If there is no Church, there can be no salvation.  If you are saved you are a part of the Lord’s Church.  How?

The Church is Essential to Salvation

God Adds the Saved to the Church

           How is it that if one is saved he is a part of the Lord’s Church?  God adds the saved to the Church.

“And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47, NKJV).

“And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47, NASV).

            The word “added” here means to “join to, to gather to any company.”  Those who were saved became numbered or joined with the apostles.  Notice the Church did not do the adding.  The Lord is the One that added the saved.  Neither did any of these 3000 who were saved on the day of Pentecost join themselves to the Church.  God did the saving and God did the joining.  
           Furthermore, God adds people to the Church as soon as they are saved.  He is perfect.  Therefore, He makes no mistakes in His record-keeping.  No soul is added who is not saved.  He does not fail to add anyone who is truly saved.  God does not fall weeks or months behind.  He does this job daily.  To assume that one can be saved out of the Church is to assume that one can be saved without the Lord knowing it.  To be saved and join yourself to the Church of your choice is insolent.  God does the saving, and God has the right to join to the Church of His choice.  You have no choice in the matter. After all, you did not send your son to die for and establish a Church (Acts 20:28). 

The Saved Are in the Church
            On the day of Pentecost when the Church was established, those who were being saved by the Lord did not stand around wondering, “Which church should I join?”  They joined no Church.  The Lord added or joined them to “the church.”   If one is saved, he is joined by God to the Church, and thus, it is superfluous and nonsensical to argue about which Church he could join.  The saved are in the Church.  None of the saved are outside of the Church.  There was only one Church to be joined to by God.  It was God’s choice as to which Church He joined the saved.  Therefore, all the saved have been added to the Church of Jesus Christ from the moment they are saved.
            No record exists of anybody being saved outside of Church.   To be a Christian, to be saved, to be a member of Christ’s Church, are all the same thing.  All true believers were added to the Lord by God:    “And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women” (Acts 5:14).

The Church Does Not Save
            The American Standard Version says God added “...those that were saved.”  Therefore, the Church does not do the saving.  The Church Is the saved.  It is the recipient of saved, not the dispenser of salvation.  The Roman Catholic Church believes that is has the right to dispense salvation to men or even withhold salvation.  However, the Church is the saved, not the Savior. The Son of God is the Savior of the Church (Eph. 5:23).  One does not become a member of any denomination or even the Church we read about in the New Testament to be saved.  Instead, if they are saved, they are at that point added or joined by God to the Church of the New Testament.

Baptism Saves and Puts One into the Church
            If God adds a person to “the Church” at moment of his salvation, at what point is one saved? God has chosen a very simple mechanism for man to gain entrance into His Church. That mechanism is baptism.  On the day of Pentecost, the people interrupted Peter’s preaching to ask, “‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?' Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins’” (Acts 2:37,38).  At the point in time they were baptized their sins were remitted.  Remission of sins is the same as being saved. 
            There is no evidence in the New Testament were one is saved and later baptized in order to join a Church of his choice.  Rather one is saved at the moment he is baptized and at that point, he is also added or baptized into the Church.  “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free and have all been made to drink into one Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:13).  No one can be saved unless he is baptized into the Church, that is, the Body of Christ (Eph. 1:22,23, 4:3-5). 

The Saved Are Not Added to a Denomination
            Again, God never added anyone to a denomination when he was saved.  Not a single denomination was in existence at the time.  Any attempt to separate or divide Christians into separate religious denominations was met with strong rebuke by the Lord’s apostles (1 Cor. 1:10-13).  None of the apostles ever joined a denomination, created a denomination or even added a single soul to a denomination.  God adds all the saved to “the church” (Acts 2:47).  There are no saved souls to be added to a denomination.  If “the church” contains all the saved added by God, and a denomination does not contain all the saved, it stands to reason that no denomination is the Church of the New Testament.

Denominations Do Not Save
            Even the staunchest supporters of denominations concede that one can be saved outside of a denomination or all the denominations.  Since this is so, why have denominations?  Division upon division- -what’s it good for?  In fact, not only are denominations non-essential to salvation, a person cannot be saved in a denomination. 
            The Church we read about in the New Testament is not a denomination; it is not the sum total of all the denominations; and it has nothing whatever to do with  denominations.  No denomination is required. No denomination is commanded. No denomination is permitted. Denominationalism is sinful.  Jesus prayed  that all His disciples be one as He and the Father have oneness (Jn. 17:20,21).  Paul pleaded that there be no religious divisions among the Church, but that all believers are to be like-minded (1 Cor. 1:10-13).  Denominationalism is characterized by its division, while New Testament Christianity is characterized by its unity.  There is “one body” (Eph. 4:3-6) “which is the church” (Eph. 1:22,23).
            In summary, God adds the saved to “the church.”  All the saved are in “the church.” The Church does not save, but “the church” is composed of all those who have been saved. It is at the point of being baptized “for the remission of sins” that one is saved and thus added by God to “the church.” The saved are not added to a denomination.  No denomination is essential to salvation. However, the Church is essential to salvation, because God adds all the saved to the Church.
              At this point, you may still being asking, “Where is the passage that says one must be a member of the Church of Christ to be saved?”  It is found in Ephesians 5:23: “For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.” Again, “the body” is the Church. To be saved outside the Church is to be saved without a Savior.

In Christ & In the Church

                                                                                               
          For more than a year, a little old cleaning woman, who lived on the wrong side of the tracks had been trying to join a fashionable downtown church.  The preacher was not eager to have a seedy looking person in faded, out-of-style clothes sitting in a pew next to his rich members.  When she called for the fifth time to discuss membership, he put her off for the fifth time.   "I tell you what," said the preacher, "you just go home tonight and have a talk with God about it.  Later you can tell me what He said."   The poor woman went her way.  Weeks moved into months. The preacher saw no more of her, and his conscience did hurt a little. Then one day he encountered her scrubbing floors in an office building, and felt impelled to inquire, "Did you have your little talk with God, Mrs. Washington?" he asked.   "Oh, my yes," she said, "I talked with God as you suggested."   "Ah, and what answer did He give you?" asked the preacher.   "Well, Preacher," she said as she pushed back a wisp of stringy hair with a sudsy hand, "God said for me not to get discouraged, but to keep trying.  He said that He Himself had been trying to get into your church for 20 years, with no more success than I have had."     
_ Unknown via PULPIT HELPS, Sept., 1990

          How to obtain membership in a particular church varies from denomination to denomination.  However, to be a part of the Lord’s Church has never changed in two thousand years.  God adds the saved to the Church at the same moment they are saved (Acts 2:47).  God is not a respecter of persons.  It does not matter if you are rich or poor, educated or ignorant, young or old, etc. God will add you to the church when you are saved.      

If In Christ, Then In The Church

          At the point one is baptized for the remission of sins he is saved, and God adds the saved to the Church (Acts 2:47). Likewise, when one is baptized he is in Christ and puts on Christ (Gal. 3:27).  Paul said the Christians in Thessalonica were  in Christ and God and  constituted the Church (I Thess. 1:1).  Who could deny that salvation is in Christ (2 Tim. 2:10)? Therefore, those enjoying the salvation in  Christ are those in the Church of Christ.  It is unfeasible to detach salvation from the Church since salvation is in Christ. To be in Christ means to be in the church, then salvation must be in the Church.
          Conversely, to be out of the Church means to be out of Christ.  Can one be saved outside of the Church?  Only if he can be saved apart from Christ, for “He is the Savior of the body” (Eph. 5:23).  How is it possible to be saved without a Savior?  Can anyone save themselves?

All Spiritual Blessings Are in Christ

          Where are all spiritual blessings (Eph. 1:3)?  Where are all promises (2 Cor. 1:20)?  Where is the blood, the forgiveness of sins found (Eph. 1:6-7)?  Where must one be to have an inheritance (Eph. 1: 11)?  Where are those saved by grace created (Eph. 2:8_11)? Where is sanctification (1 Cor. 1:2)?  Where is redemption (Col. 1:14)?  Where is there no condemnation (Rom. 8:1)?  Where do we become new creatures (2 Cor. 5:17)?  Where is the "prize of the high calling" (Phil. 3:14)?  Where do men die blessed (Rev. 14:13)?  If you said “in Christ,” then you are correct. All these things are found in Christ.  Apart from Christ, not one of these blessings can be found. The New Testament is a vast catalog of the various spiritual blessings that can be found in Christ (2 Tim. 2:10).
          You should take careful note of Ephesians 1:3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.”  The term “heavenly places” is found five times in Ephesians and refers to the Church, the glorious bride of Christ.  Therefore, all spiritual blessings are found in Christ and in His bride or Church.  Can you name one spiritual blessing that is not in Christ?  Can you name one spiritual blessing that cannot be found in the Church?  To be in Christ is to be in the Church and to have all these spiritual blessings.  Who could now argue that the Church is not important and non-essential to our salvation?  Can we be saved without the spiritual blessings found in Christ and His Church?

The Church Is the Fullness of Christ

Which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,   far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.  And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,  which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all (Eph. 1:20-23).

          If the Church is the fullness of Christ and salvation is in Christ, how could one be saved out of the Church?  How is it the Church is non-essential or unimportant?  The church is filled with the fullness of God by Christ (Eph. 3:19).  It is to grow up into the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:13,16).  Christ is the Head, but a head must have a body.  Christ is the bridegroom, but a Bridegroom must have a bride.  Just as a body completes or fulfills the Head and a bride completes or fulfills the Bridegroom, the Church is the fullness of Christ. The Church is necessary for the completion of Christ and the plan of salvation.
                       
Redemption, Justification, Reconciliation & Sanctification

            The familiar Biblical terms redemption, justification, reconciliation and sanctification are found throughout the epistles of the New Testament.  They have several things in common: 1) they express different aspects of our salvation; 2) they can only be found in Christ; and 3) they are found in His church.
 
Redemption
            The idea behind redemption is “to buy back” or to recover something.  To redeem a coupon for its redemption value you must go to the store and use it toward the purchase of the specified item.  If it is 50 cents off a particular box of cereal, then you will have redeemed the coupon at the time of purchase.
            Man has sinned.  The cost of sin is death or his blood.  To redeem us from under the penalty of death, blood had to be shed in our place.   God does not remit sins without the shedding of blood (Heb. 9:22).  “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins” (Heb. 10:4). So we did not have to pay the price of our redemption ourselves,  God sent His Son to die for us.  “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7; cf. Matt. 26:28).  We are redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Pet. 1:18-19).
            Not only did God redeem our souls from sin through the blood of Christ, but Christ purchased the Church with His blood. "...the church of God which He purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28). The blood of Christ is in the Church, and to claim to be saved out of the Church is to claim to be saved without the Blood of Christ.
            Paul said to the members of the Church at Corinth, “Ye are not your own; for ye were bought with a price” (1 Cor. 6:19,20).  So when Christ bought you, He bought the church.  Collectively, He purchased the Church - His People.  For example, I have a library of books which I collected one book at a time. Yet, I still purchased the library.
            Christ purchased the Church with His own Blood (Acts 20:28).  Why did Jesus shed His Blood for it, if man can be saved without it?  The precious blood of Christ is meaningless if one can be saved outside the Lord’s Church because of his own goodness.  Just think how preposterous it makes God to seem when a man says he can be saved outside of the Church?  God has paid the life of His Son for that which is non-essential and unnecessary.  It is equal to attributing God with being an unmerciful monster who used Christ’s Blood to purchase a useless and unnecessary institution.

Justification
            The word justify means to deem to be right, and justification is the state of being acquitted of one’s sins.  This is not a declaration of innocence, but having done the right things or met the right conditions to be declared right or just before God.
            A sinner must be justified to be saved (Rom. 3:23-24).  Those whom God has called are justified (Rom. 8:30).  The called are in the body (Col. 3:15).  The Body is the Church (Col. 1:18).  Therefore, the justified are in the Church. 

            Justification is made possible by the Blood of Christ.   “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him” (Rom. 5:9). The Church is purchased by the Blood of Christ. Thus, those in the church are those who are justified.

Reconciliation
            When one is reconciled, he is made friends again with the one he has become estranged from.  Spiritually, we have become enemies of God by way of our love of this world and fellowship with darkness (Js. 4:4).  Reconciliation means we have been placed back into a state of acceptability with God. We have been made friends again with our Creator.

            The one who made the reunion possible is God’s Son, Jesus Christ.  Reconciliation is in or by Christ. “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,   that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:18,19).  Three things are clearly stated: 1) God is reconciling us unto Himself by Christ; 2) He does not impute the trespasses unto those who are reconciled; and 3) this is done by the word of reconciliation. 
            Where are those who are reconciled? They are in Christ. But are they in the Church or out? Reconciliation is in the Body of Church: “and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity” (Eph. 2:16).  It is admitted that man must be reconciled to God to be saved.  Reconciliation unto God is in the Body or Church.  Therefore, man must be in the Church to be saved.  Paul is not saying that we’re reconciled to God by the Church, but  in the Church.  Outside the Body there is no reconciliation.  Reconciliation is in the Body.  So, can one be reconciled and not be in the Church?  Can one be saved without reconciliation?  A person might as well argue that one can be saved or reconciled apart from Christ or be reconciled outside of Christ.  God has no friends apart from those in Christ and in the Church.

Sanctification

            To be sanctified means to be holy, cleansed, released from sin, and set apart from sin into the service of God.   We have been sanctified by the Blood of Christ:  “By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb. 10:10). Christ has sanctified the Bride (His Church), “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it,   that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5:25-27).
            How did Christ cleanse or wash the Church?  Paul had his sins washed away when he obeyed the instruction of baptism (Acts 22:16).    The way one becomes a member of the Church is exactly the same way one is sanctified, born again, reconciled to God, and enters into Christ through having his sins washed away in baptism. Those sanctified are in the Church (1 Cor. 1:2).  If you are in the Church it means you are being sanctified.  Can one be saved outside the Church?  Can people be saved without sanctification?
            Akin to the term sanctified is the word saint.  When a sinner is sanctified he becomes a saint.  The church is made up of saints, not alien sinners. Consider the significance of the following chart:

The saints, the individually sanctified ones, comprise the Church of Christ in the specified location.
            Christ sanctified, or set apart, the Church.  But just what did He sanctify?  A denomination?   No; He sanctified the Church we read about in the New Testament, the one He bled and died for and the one He built.
            The Redeemed are in Christ and in the Church.  Those justified through Christ are in the church. Those who have been reconciled through Christ are in the Church.  The saints who have been sanctified “with the washing of water by the word” make up the Church. Redemption, justification, reconciliation, and sanctification are all terms used to describe the various aspects of our salvation.  They are all necessary for salvation and the Church. Therefore, to say that salvation is only in the Church is no more than to say that salvation is only in Christ.

                                                           
Metaphors of the Saved

Can You Imagine...

           
A kingdom without any citizens

A family without any children
A body without any parts
A flock without any sheep
A building without any stones or building materials
A bridegroom without having a bride

            Yet we are told that being a part of the Church is non-essential to salvation.  Each one of these represents the saving relationship we have with God through Christ in His Church.

Citizens of the Kingdom
            There are only two spiritual kingdoms.  You are either in the kingdom of Satan or the Kingdom of Christ.  Every man is a member of one or the other of these kingdoms.  Christ in the one and only king of His Kingdom.  As citizens of His kingdom, we must recognize His authority. “We must live in the kingdom or under the government of Jesus Christ if we would enjoy the blessings of his reign.”  (Alexander Campbell, Millennial Harbinger, Vol. 2, p. 53).
            Christ is the King and the Church is His Kingdom (Mt. 16:18; Col. 1:13; Heb. 12:28; Jn. 18:36). Just how does one get into the kingdom?  Nicodemus came to Jesus by night and asked the same question.  “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’  Nicodemus said to Him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God’” (John 3:3-5).  A person becomes a part of the Kingdom of God by being born again of water, that is, baptism.  Likewise, a person becomes part of the Church via baptism.  To be in the Church is to be in the Kingdom of Christ.  To be out of the Church is to be outside of the Kingdom of Christ.  One must be a citizen of the Kingdom of God to be saved (Col. 1:12,13). The Kingdom will be delivered up to God at the end of time “Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power” (1 Cor. 15:24).  When Christ comes again, only those in His Kingdom will make it to Heaven.

Children in the Family
            Just as there are only two kingdoms to be a part of, there are only two spiritual households to be members.  A person is either a Child of God or a child of the Devil (Jn. 8:42-44). God’s family is “the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15). Can a person be saved with the Devil as his spiritual father? Absolutely not! Therefore, a person must be a member of God’s house to be saved.
            As part of the family of God, we are blessed with a relationship (Mt. 28:19; Eph. 2:19, 20; Heb. 12;22-24); a new family name, Christian (Isa. 62:2; Acts 22:16); privileges or blessings (Jn. 14:6, 14); divine assistance (1 Tim. 2:5; Rom. 8:26); and an inheritance (Jn. 14:1-3; I Pet. 1:4).  All of these are essential to your spiritual well-being and eternal destiny. 
            Elsewhere in the Scriptures, we find that the Church is made up of family members showing us that the family of God is the Church.  It is the “brethren” who constitute the “churches.”  “Judas and Silas ...exhorted the brethren...and strengthened them” (Acts 15:32). Paul went out “strengthening the churches” (Acts 15:41).  The disciples sent relief funds to the brethren in Judea (Acts 11:29), and Paul brought it to the “churches of Judea” (Gal. 1:21).
            One becomes a member of God’s family by being born again (John 3:5).   The new birth or being “born again” puts one into Christ.  After baptism, one arises out of the water to walk in  “newness of life” (Rom. 6:3f).  He is now a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17).   Paul told the Galatians, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:26).The next verse tells us how faith operates to make us family members. “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27). There is no such idea in the Bible as a man becoming a Christian and then looking about for a Church that suits him to join. The same thing that made a man a Christian in New Testament days also at the same moment made him a member of the church of the Lord. In Christ, in the body, a new creature, born again, in the Church are all synonymous terms.
            Can one be a child of God and not be in His Family or Household which is the Church? If one can be saved out of the Church, he can be saved without becoming a Child of God. If becoming a Child of God necessitates one’s entering the Household of God, which is the Church, salvation outside the Church would be salvation without being a Child of God. Does God have illegitimate children- children outside His Family?  I think not! 
            All Christians are Children of God.  All of God’s Children are in God’s Family. God’s Family is the Church.  If one is not in the Church, he is not a Child of God; and if he is not a Child of God, he cannot be saved. Being a part of His Household is essential to salvation.

Members of the Body
            Christ “is the head of the body, the church” (Col. 1:18).  This particular metaphor speaks to the inseparable connection Christ has with the Church.  You cannot have a head without a body anymore than you can have a body without a head. Can one be “in Christ” and not be “in His body”?  Can a person be saved without the Body of Christ?   If one is saved out of the Body of Christ, he is saved without being connected with the Head. 
            Just how does one become a member of Christ’s Body?  We get into Christ and into the Church the same way, namely, by being baptized into the one Body (I Cor. 12:13) and being baptized into Christ (Gal. 3:27).  These cannot represent two different baptisms because there is one baptism (Eph. 4:4).

            Perhaps the most important passage demonstrating the Church’s essential role in salvation is found in Ephesians 5:25 where it states that Jesus Christ is the “savior of the body.”  We, therefore, must be a part of the Church to be saved.  Otherwise, you would have to assume that one can be saved without a Savior.  If you can tell me how one can be saved without a Savior, I will tell you how to be saved without being a member of the Church.  The deduction is certain: if one is not part of the Church, he does not belong to that of which Christ is the Savior.

Glory, Prophecy & Typology

            Some argue that the Church is not important. They say that one can be saved without ever being a part of any Church.  However, according to Paul, the glory of God comes through the Church.  According to Isaiah’s prophecy, salvation is in the Church.  According to the book of Hebrews one cannot get to Heaven except through the Church.      

Glorify God Within the Church
            To glorify means “to esteem of great value, to give one’s appraisal of item’s or a particular person’s worth.”  How important and valuable is God?  Paul says that God is glorified by Christ in the Church: “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen” (Eph. 3:20,21). To glorify God by Christ Jesus, one must be in the Church.   One can no more glorify God outside the Church than he can glorify God outside of Christ.
            There is no evidence in the Scriptures that God is to be (or even can be) glorified in a denomination. Jesus prayed that His disciples would be one as He and the Father are one.  As a matter of fact, the oneness of the disciples in the one Church brings glory to Christ. "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;  that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one” (John 17:20-22).

Prophecy of Salvation Within the Church      
            Isaiah prophesied that "salvation would be in Zion" (Is. 46:13; 2:2,3). The Hebrew writer identifies Zion with the Church (Heb. 12:22-23).  After His resurrection and before He ascended into Heaven, Jesus promised, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:46).  In Acts chapter two we find the fulfillment of these prophecies when the Church was established at the preaching of Peter.  Peter preached repentance and baptism for the remission of sins.  Those who were saved were added by God to the Church (Acts 2:47).

Typology of Salvation Through the Church
            The Tabernacle and the Temple were composed of two compartments divided by a veil. The first room was called the Holy Place.  Here the priests served God daily at the table of showbread, in lighting the candle sticks and altar of incense.  Once a year, the High Priest would enter behind the veil into the Holy of Holies to offer sacrifice for the sins of the people. 
            The tabernacle is said to be a pattern for the Church and Heaven (Heb. 3:4-6; 8:4-6). The "most holy place" was a type of Heaven (Heb. 9:24). The "holy place" was type of the Church.  There was only one way you could access the Holy of Holies and that was by going through the Holy Place.  Therefore, the Bible teaches in type that man must go through the Church to get into Heaven.                            

Staying Safe

            When disaster comes and dangers arise, one must follow good advice on how to stay safe.  The safest thing to do when a hurricane or tornado is approaching is not to run outside to watch, but to stay safe it is advised to stay inside and away from the windows.  During a hail or lightening storm, it is best to stay inside to stay safe.  Even if the house is on fire, it is best not to run out through the blind smoke but to stay close to the floor and crawl to safety.
            Once a sinner has been saved and added to the Church by God, how can he stay safe?  Believe it or not, staying safe requires one to stay in the Church where God has placed the saved.  Perhaps, that is why God adds one to the Church as soon as he is saved, so that He can keep them in the safest place on earth.
            Throughout the scriptures, we find that God knew how to keep the righteous safe.  When the world was so wicked that God was to destroy it by way of a global flood, God was able to save Noah and his family by sealing them up in an ark.  So long as Noah stayed on the ark he was safe.  All those who chose not to heed the preaching of Noah were not on the ark and were not saved (Gen.7:7,23; Heb.11:7; 1 Pet.3:19-21). 
            During the tenth plague upon Egypt, Death was to pass by each house and kill the first born.  The Israelites needed to be saved from this plague. To do so, they were instructed to keep the Passover feast. The blood of the Passover lamb was to be sprinkled on the door post and door header of each home.  When Death saw the blood he passed over the house and the firstborn occupants were saved.  To stay safe, they had to stay in the house that night (Ex.12:7,12,13,29,30).
            When God gave instructions in the Law of Moses, a law was given on how to deal with an accidental death.  For example, if a man was chopping wood with an axe and the head flew off and killed his neighbor, he could be in danger of losing his life from the next of kin.  However, he could flee to one of six cities strategically placed throughout the Promise Land and save his life. These were called cities of refuge (Num. 35:26-28).  In order to stay safe, he had to remain there until the death of the current High Priest.
            As the children of Israel entered into the Promised Land by crossing the Jordan River, they faced the walled city of Jericho.  Two spies were sent in to check it out.  Their lives were spared by Rahab. Because of her kindness, by the grace of God, she was to be saved when the rest of the city of Jericho was destroyed.  The Israelites marched around the walls a total of thirteen times, and they shouted as the walls came down.  Every one in the city was killed except Rahab and her household.  However, to stay safe she had to stay in her house - the only place of safety in the entire city (Josh. 2:19).

            In the New Testament, Paul had been arrested by the Jews and examined by the Roman governors.  Since he appealed to Caesar, he was on his way to Rome.  The trip was long and became quite perilous.  However, God showed Paul that all the lives of those who stayed on the ship would be saved.  When some of the sailors tried to abandon ship Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, "Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved” (Acts 27:31). The place of safety was on the ship. Outside the ship was certain death.
            After Judgment Day, souls will go to either Heaven or Hell.  There is no other place of safety than Heaven. “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.  But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie” (Rev. 22:14,15).  You must be in Heaven to be saved, and you must stay there.  Who would want to be anywhere else?