"Why does one still need to join the Church Of Christ if he already believes in God and in Christ? Is his faith not enough to be saved?"
GOD’S MESSAGE, September 2022, p. 2
Editor’s reply:
THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, the Savior Himself, commands anyone who wants to be saved to enter the fold or flock, which is the Church Of Christ:
“I am the door; anyone who comes into the fold through me will be safe.’ …” (John 10:9 Revised English Bible)
“Take heed therefore to yourselves and to all the flock over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you overseers, to feed the church of Christ which he has purchased with his blood.” (Acts 20:28 Lamsa Translation)
Hence, one needs to enter the Church Of Christ in order to be saved. To do so requires faith (Rom. 5:2). So, having faith is indeed essential. However, merely believing is not enough to receive salvation:
“What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?” (James 2:14 New King James Version)
Apostle James was clearly making a point that people will certainly not benefit from Christ’s salvation by having faith only because faith without works cannot save. Man is not justified or deemed worthy before God by faith alone (James 2:24), because:
“…faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (James 2:17 NKJV).
Something that is dead cannot do anything, let alone save man.
The kind of faith that man should possess is that which is coupled with works:
“Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?“ (James 2:22 NKJV)
Through works or deeds, faith is made perfect and proven (James 2:18). The work that man should couple his faith with is not just any work he wants to do but what the Father, the One true God, wants:
“Not everyone who calls me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only those who do what my Father in heaven wants them to do.” (Matt. 7:21 Good News Bible)
Not all who believe in Christ as Lord will enter the heavenly abode or be saved. People who believe in God and in Christ must prove their faith by doing what God wants them to do be gathered in Christ:
“Let us know his secret purpose. This was what God wanted, and he planned to do it through Christ. His goal was to carry out his plan, when the right time came, that all things in heaven and on earth would be joined together in Christ as the head.” (Eph. 1:9-10 New Century Version)
To fulfill this will of God, one must be a part or a member of the body that has Christ as its head (Rom. 12:4-5). The body headed by Christ is the Church Of Christ (Col. 1:18; Acts 20:28 Lamsa) and it is the one that He will save (Eph. 5:23). Thus, for people to truly prove their faith in God and in Christ, and be saved, they must join the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ), for it is what God wants all people to be members of and where Christ also commands people to enter.
Note: Some words and phrases are in bold & italics for emphasis.
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“Do not let unwholesome [foul, profane, worthless, vulgar] words ever come out of your mouth, but only such speech as is good for building up others, according to the need and the occasion, so that it will be a blessing to those who hear [you speak].”
(Eph. 4:29, Amplified Bible)
“Love endures with patience and serenity, love is kind and thoughtful, and is not jealous or envious; love does not brag and is not proud or arrogant. It is not rude; it is not self-seeking, it is not provoked [nor overly sensitive and easily angered]; it does not take into account a wrong endured.”
(1 Corinthians 13:4-5, Amplified Bible)