Sermon Manuscript:

When we were kids we learned how to add and subtract and then how to multiply and divide. Then somewhere around the fifth or sixth grade we encountered something like this

((3+2) + 5) / (6-4) = ?

Even if you know how to calculate each part you cannot find the correct answer unless you know how the parts connect together. It isn’t enough to understand the pieces, you need to understand how they relate to each other. To find the answer, which is 5, you must calculate what is in the parenthesis first, then multiply and divide, then add and subtract.

Biblical truth is also like that. We can have a lot of true pieces, but if we don’t understand how they connect it can lead to wrong conclusions. We might know for example that God is sovereign over all things, but we also know that our prayers and our choices matter. We can know that we are forgiven but also that we need to ask for forgiveness. Much of our growth as believers comes from gaining a better understanding of how various biblical truths connect. Christianity isn’t a la carte, we can’t just pick and choose the doctrines we like, it all fits together.  

Throughout the letter of 1 Peter is the assumption that believers in Jesus live out their faith together. Today we are going to look at how that connects to his overall message. When we read the word “you” and “your” in this letter, most of the time these are plural, meaning “you all”. There is a community element to what Peter is teaching.

We see this throughout the letter. For example, we see it in 4:12–13 which we will look at again in a couple weeks,

12 Beloved, [which is plural] do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you [all] to test you [all], as though something strange were happening to you [all]. 13 But rejoice insofar as you [all] share Christ’s sufferings, that you [all] may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.  

Peter is addressing the shared experience of believers. So, we are in this together. That raises an interesting question. How does my connection with Jesus fit with yours? 

To put it another way, what does the church have to do with salvation? That is the question we are going to look at today. To answer that question, we need to be clear what we mean by church and what we mean by salvation. 

The Bible talks about the church in two different ways. Sometimes it talks about what we call the universal or invisible church. That includes every single person who believes in Jesus as their lord and savior. Once you are united to Jesus by faith, you become a member of the universal church. This is called the invisible church because it is a spiritual rather than a physical congregation. The Bible also talks about what we call the local church, which is a group of believers who are committed to caring for each other and meet regularly in Jesus name to worship, pray, and affirm one another in the faith.

1 Peter is written to local churches. In fact, every letter in the New Testament is addressed either to a local church or the leaders of a local church. The New Testament references the church about 114 times and 100 of those, or about 88% of the references, are to the local church. Our question is what does the local church have to do with salvation?

The nature of the local church is a big topic, but I will highlight just two things relevant to our question. The first is the nature of the visible church. Jesus is God. He is the second person of the Holy Trinity. He has always existed as a divine spiritual being but to bring salvation, he took upon himself a human nature. He came in flesh and blood to reveal God, to make him known and visible. He suffered in the flesh to pay the penalty for sin. The work of Jesus is carried out in both spirit and in body. 

The Bible says that when we believe we are united with Christ and receive his Spirit. Believers are called the body of Christ. Jesus has ascended to heaven, but we who live by the Spirit are, in a sense, the continued incarnation of our Lord. We are the hands and feet through which the Spirit now works to care for his followers and reveal God to the world pointing them to salvation. When we suffer for the name of Christ we share in his suffering and in the suffering of each other.

Some insist they don’t need a local church because they are already part of the universal church, but we are called to bear the image of Christ and that requires flesh and blood participation. Jesus walked in fellowship with broken and messy sinners, as his followers we are to do the same.

Unless you are an invisible man or woman you shouldn’t be content with being a member of the invisible church. Jesus did not just come in spirit, he came in the flesh. The gospel is a message of redemption not only of the spirit, but of the whole world. To be among the people of God isn’t just about our personal relationship with God, it is about bearing the image of Jesus to a condemned and dying world.

Second, the great commission Jesus gave to believers assumes community. Jesus says in Matthew 28:19–20,

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”   

Some say this doesn’t require a local church, any believer can go. OK, let’s think about that for a moment. Let’s say you go all alone into the world and begin proclaiming the gospel and some people respond in faith. What do you do? If you are following Jesus’ command, you will disciple them and teach them God’s word. You will affirm their testimony through baptism and if you’re observing all Jesus commanded, you will gather, worship, pray, and celebrate the Lord’s Supper. Guess what, you just planted a local church! The marks of a local church are the preaching of the word, administration of the ordinances, and discipline which are all components of discipleship.

To answer our question also requires us to be clear about what we mean by salvation. In fact, I think the reason so many believers think that church has nothing whatsoever to do with salvation is because they have narrowed their understanding of salvation to only include forgiveness of sins or going to heaven. That is certainly the cornerstone of it, but biblically speaking salvation is a broader concept. Ultimately, salvation is union with Jesus Christ and everything that results from it. 

Therefore, the Bible talks about salvation differently depending on what aspect is in view. Sometimes it talks about salvation as something completed like in Ephesians 2:8

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God…

Sometimes it focuses on what God is doing in us now to bring us to our final salvation like in 1 Corinthians 1:18,    

18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.  

In other places, it focuses on our future and final reward in glory like in Romans 13:11,  

11 …For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.  

We can see each of these aspects throughout 1 Peter right from the beginning. Listen to how he starts the letter, in 1:3–5,

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.  

Like a beautiful diamond, salvation has many aspects, each with their own glory as they reflect the light of the love of God. The moment we put our faith in Jesus, our sins are forgiven, and we are accepted by God. There is no condemnation, we are justified in the sight of God, free from the penalty of sin. When we believe we are saved.

We also receive the Holy Spirit and are being transformed into the image of Christ. We are being sanctified, which means we are made holy, free from the power of sin in our lives. Once we believe, we are being saved.

We also receive the promise we will be raised with Jesus in glory, resurrected and redeemed to perfection where we will be with God forever, freed from the presence of sin and death once and for all. Once we believe, we will be saved.

If we reduce salvation to only one of these, we underestimate the fullness of its glory and misunderstand our experiences as disciples. Rather than reduce salvation to a couple benefits, it is better to focus on our union with Christ, from which everything else flows. If you want a real blessing, as you read your Bible underline every reference to what you have “in Christ”, “with Christ”, and “through Christ”.

I am united to Christ and so I am forgiven. I am united to Christ, so I am free. I am united to Christ and so I am growing in holiness. I am united to Christ so I shall be raised with him in glory.

Union with Jesus also means that we are united to every other believer in him. To answer our question, let’s consider how each of the main aspects of salvation connect to our fellowship with each other.

God is holy and perfect, and he created us to love and serve him forever. Rather than serve him, however, we have all rebelled against his law and rejected his love. We have ignored him and followed our own way, doing whatever we thought was best for us. We will not be able to ignore him forever though. The Bible says one day his patience will end and we will stand before him in judgment to give an account for our lives. 

Since he is perfectly righteous and holy, if we try to say that our lives are good enough, our sins will condemn us. Our only hope will be to cast ourselves on the salvation God himself has provided. God the Father sent his eternal Son to become a man and live the righteous life we were supposed to live and then to die the death we deserved to die. Jesus died as a substitute, in the place of everyone who will ever believe in him. He endured the full wrath and justice of God in the place of all who will humble themselves and trust in him and he died. 

But God raised him from the dead, proving that Jesus had no sin of his own and the price for ours was paid in full. Then Jesus ascended into heaven where he is seated at the right hand of God, showing that God has accepted his sacrifice. God’s punishment for sin has been exhausted in Christ. Now God stands ready to forgive all who will repent and believe. Christ has come to redeem sinners and in him we can find new life and peace with God. We will be raised in glory and righteousness to be with him forever in his kingdom.

This is the message God has given to the church. This is the gospel of salvation that all true churches proclaim. To be saved is to be a believer in this message. We do not proclaim this with any confidence in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. The Bible says sinners will reject this message until God graciously opens our eyes and causes us to be born again.

This is the first aspect of our salvation. In John 3:3 Jesus tells Nicodemus, “unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 

and John 1:13 says God gave the right to those to be his children “who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” 

The result of this new life is that we respond in faith. We see our sin and his love and respond with belief. In the same way that fire produces both heat and light, the new birth results in light as we respond to the truth and heat as our hearts are warmed with love for God.

All the glory for this goes to God. We don’t earn it and we don’t deserve it. God isn’t responding to anything good in us while doing it. It is all of grace. Ephesians 2:4–5 says,

4 …God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—  

What does the church have to do with this new birth? Nothing, except that it pleases the Lord to proclaim this message through his people. This is wholly a work of God and neither the sinner or other believers do anything to make this happen. This is a gift.

Through the resulting faith we become connected to Jesus Christ in a special way. The gospel is no longer just his story, it is ours. As believers we are crucified with Christ (Gal. 2:20), buried with Christ (Col. 2:12), baptized into Christ and his death (Rom. 6:3); Christ is formed in us (Gal. 4:19) and dwells in our hearts (Eph. 3:17); Christ is in us (2 Cor. 13:5) and we are in Him (1 Cor. 1:30).

His life is now part of ours, and ours His. He is our righteousness, and our unrighteousness was put to death in him. Believers, our sins really were paid for on the cross. Through Jesus we truly do possess righteousness before God the moment we believe. But it is not righteousness that comes from us. The apostle Paul says it this way in Philippians 3:8–9,

8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—  

What does church have to do with this justification? Nothing other than to encourage and remind believers of these great truths so that they can rejoice and rest in them. We can’t add anything to this. Our justification is accomplished 100% through Jesus Christ on our behalf. The penalty of sin was poured out on him, and his righteousness is transferred to those who believe. Believers are justified by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

These are unfailing promises to those who have faith. They are the foundation of the joy and peace that belongs to every believer, but these are not the only things we gain in our union with Jesus.

I was once at a conference and we were all seated in a hotel ballroom for dinner. The staff brought out salads and then pasta. The food was good, and several guests asked for more but then the waiters explained that there were several additional courses and a dessert coming. The initial blessing was amazing, but even better things were coming! Salvation is a lot like that.

No church can produce the new birth or faith that saves. The church doesn’t contribute to our justification. These things come entirely from God’s grace through faith.

Sadly, the good news of justification by faith alone has not always been clearly taught. There was a time when it was buried under a distorted emphasis on the church. In reaction to this, others began to emphasize the critical importance of being born again and a personal relationship with Jesus. That is a good thing, but a good desire to emphasize individual faith in justification in some cases has led to the neglect of the legitimate biblical role of the church. 

Although the cornerstone of the salvation benefits is justification by faith there is more to salvation than justification. Speaking of God, 1 Corinthians 1:30–31 says,

30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”  

This is a summary of salvation by grace through faith. God gets the glory, this is all of grace, this all happens “because of him”. Because of him we are united to Jesus, and are “in Christ”. Our being united to Jesus leads to confidence in his word, Jesus has become wisdom. Because of our union with Jesus he has become our righteousness. There is our justification. But wait, there’s more! Jesus has also become our sanctification, meaning in him we are made holy or set apart for God, and he has also become our redemption, which is our resurrection and glorification.

When we are united to Jesus by faith, we get all of this because we get all of him. We get not only his death, but we receive his life as well. We are forgiven and adopted, but God doesn’t leave us where he finds us. Jesus gave himself not only that our sins would be forgiven but so that the power of sin in our lives would be defeated.  Ephesians 5:25–27 says,

25 … Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.  

Jesus has purchased in his blood the sanctification or holiness of all believers before God. It is something we already have in terms of our position or standing. But we know we are not yet perfected while in this world. If anyone says they are without sin they are seriously confused or lying. The reality of Christ in us is still being worked out in our lives, not for us to earn anything, but so that we live as who we are, as new creations in Christ. We are not yet what we should be, but by God’s grace, we are not what we were.

The Bible says we cooperate with the work of God in this working out of our sanctification. We who were spiritually dead have been made alive and this new life within us participates with the Spirit in pursuit of holiness. Sanctification is therefore a gracious gift of God that employs our cooperation. It is still all of grace, but it is a grace that enables us to participate. 

Ephesians 4:22–24 says,

22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.  

Hebrews 12:14 says,

14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.  

We do these things enabled by and in response to the gracious work of God in us, but it is work that we do. Philippians 2:12–13 captures it well,

12 …work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.  

This is where the church has its most clear connection to God’s work in salvation. God has given us several means of grace that he works through to sanctify us. He works through his word, prayer, fellowship, service to others, and the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s supper to transform and protect us. Each of these are like the tools of a sculptor, chipping away the rock and sediment of sin and worldliness, increasingly shaping us into the image of Jesus. 

Each of these are designed by God to be worked out in community with others who are also united to Christ by faith. Other brothers and sisters who know you and love you are a gift to guard and sustain your faith as you pursue Christ-likeness. We not only pray, but are prayed for and encouraged in prayer. We not only read the word but hear it proclaimed, explained, and are challenged and encouraged by the insight the Holy Spirit has blessed others with. Light is shined on our blind-spots even as we do the same for others.

We are encouraged by the fellowship of others who affirm our faith and remind us of who we are in Christ. We grow more like Jesus as we bear each other's burdens, being inconvenienced and perhaps even suffering so that others can be blessed. Our testimonies are affirmed by the church in our baptism and our participation in the Lord’s supper together.

When we come to faith, we are not zapped into perfection. Our thinking and our behavior take time to change. It is a process for us to begin to live consistently with who we really are in Jesus. If, however, we have the spirit of Christ we will want more than anything for that to be the case. As our love for Jesus grows, the Bible says we will have an increasing desire for his word, an increasing love for his people, and an increasing hatred of sin.

It is the local church where we find others who also want these things. It is in the local church that we come together not only to worship and be taught, but to lovingly help and encourage each other along the way. It’s the kind of love that cares so much for your soul that they are willing to tell you things that might hurt your feelings but will also comfort you with the promises of God. 

When delighting in Jesus is our deepest desire, we want that. We want brothers and sisters who protect us from the devil. We want friends who will not only tell us the truth, but who will stand in the gap and intercede in prayer for us. We are God’s gifts to each other.

When our kids were younger, we loved to camp. My favorite thing to do was to build the fire. I got pretty good at it and learned the best way to get a really good fire was to organize the wood so that the heat was trapped when the flame was small. If you do that each log will feed the flame on the other until you have a nice warm fire. 

When it comes time to finish up for the night and you want the fire to cool down you just separate logs from one another. If you do that in a little while the flames will go out. They may smolder for a while but they will no longer give much heat or light. That is the way it is with us.

That is why one of the favorite tactics of the devil is to separate us from the committed fellowship of other believers. That is why one of the most important things we can do if we are serious about growing as a Christian is to enter committed fellowship with a solid Christ-centered church. Not as a spectator but serving and being served. 

Only Jesus can save us but the mutual commitment of believers in local churches is God's design for the sanctification of his people. Peter assumes that the believers he writes to will encourage each other and challenge each other with the truth of the Gospel. That is a means God uses for their perseverance. Fellowship with the people of God is a gift to help you grow and for you to use your gifts to help others do the same as we look forward to the final step of our salvation which is when we will be raised with Jesus Christ in glory and enter his eternal kingdom. 

On that great day our transformation will be complete, and we will be like Jesus and will be with him forever. We are saved, we are being saved, and we will be saved. 1 John 3:2–3 says it this way,

2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.  

What does the church have to do with salvation? It is the anvil upon which God forms his saints. It is a training camp for the saints. The people and spiritual gifts you find in your local church are exactly the people and gifts God has designed for you and your growth. Both to fill you and to stretch you into Christlikeness. The local church may not look like much to the world, but it is the one institution in this world established by Christ himself. It is the one community that will last for eternity.