In another discussion forum, someone asked, Is the Church a necessity for a personal relationship with God? I am not convinced. Are we saved by ourmembership of a church? Do we need to be a member to be ‘born again’? This person’s argument was that a Christian can and should discard “institutional religion.” My own thoughts follow:
I am not a Catholic, though I respect Catholic ecclesiology — for a billion or so Christians around the world, the ultimate answer is yes, the Church literally is necessary for salvation. Coming from more of a Reformed perspective, at some point I have to respectfully disagree with my Catholic brothers and sisters here. Yet, I don’t think this should result in an ecclesiology that guts the Church of any significance in the economy of salvation. The lines evangelicals like to draw between salvation and sanctification perhaps are too sharp sometimes. Membership in a local church body does not save, but saving faith produces the desire and need to fellowship in a local church body. The local church body absolutely is essential to the ongoing progress of a believer’s sanctification, and the fellowship, maturity and service that happen in a local church body are part of the ongoing process of an individual believer’s salvation. Being “born again” isn’t merely a one-time transaction, it’s an entry into lifelong fellowship with Christ and into the community of the Church, over which Christ is head.