In going through my office (which needs a thorough cleaning anyway), I ran across a hand-full of old, short tracts written by a preacher named Paul Simon.  I honestly don’t know anything about him outside of the fact that he wrote these tracts.

Previous “Tracts from the Past” posts have been very well-received, so we decided to post these here as well.  If you happen to know some background on Mr. Simon, please add it in the comments section or send us a message via our contact page.

Can A Person Be Saved Outside Of The Church Of Christ?

By PAUL SIMON, Minister.

Let us forget about denominationalism, and ask, “Can one be saved outside of the church?”

Some cannot see beyond “de­nominational Christiani­ty.” Some cannot conceive of the non-denominational New Testament Church. A defini­tion of the church will help us to arrive at the correct answer to our question. The church is a spiritual institution, com­posed of every Christian in the world. To say that one can be saved outside of the church is to say, “One can be saved with­out becoming a Christian.”

Christ is the Savior of the church. “Wives, submit your­selves unto your husbands as unto the Lord: For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is head of the church, and he is the savior of the body” (Eph. 5:22). To say that one can be saved outside of the church is to say, “One can be saved without being saved.” “And the Lord added unto the church, daily, such as should be saved” (Acts 2:47).

Christ gave Himself for the church. “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it” (Eph. 5:25; see also Acts 20:28; 2 Pet. 1:18). To say that one can be saved outside of the church is to say, “One can be saved without being purchased by the blood of Christ. Christ is no thief. He will receive unto Himself only that which He has purchased with His blood — the church.

The church is the bride of Christ. “Wherefore, my breth­ren, ye, also, are become dead to the law by the body of Christ: that ye should be mar­ried to another: even unto him that is raised from the dead, that ye should bring forth fruit unto God.” — (Rom. 7:4; see also 2 Cor. 11:2; Rev. 21:9-11).

The church is the kingdom of Christ. “Upon this rock will I build my church; and I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom” (Matt. 16:18; see also Col. 1:13-14). To say that one can be saved outside of the church is to say, “One can be saved outside of the kingdom of Christ— without permitting Christ to reign over him.”

The church is the house, or household of God. “The house of God, which is the church of the living God” (1 Tim. 3:15; see also Heb. 3:6; Isa. 2:2-3). To say that one can be saved outside of the church is to say, “One can be saved outside of the household of God.”

One cannot be saved without being born again (John 3:3, 5). One cannot be born again with­out being born into the family of God. To say that one can be saved outside of the church is to say, “One can be saved with­out being born again.”

One cannot be saved outside of Christ. “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made night by the blood of Christ” (Eph. 2:13). To be in Christ is to be in His spiritual body. His spiritual body is the church – “the church, which is his body” (Eph. 1:22-23; see also Col. 1:18, 24). To say that one can be saved outside of the church is to say, “One can be saved outside of the spiritual body of Christ” (see Eph. 1.3, 7; 11 Tim. 2:10; 11 Cor. 5:17; Acts 4:12; John 15:1-8), and apart from His blood.

A responsible person cannot be saved without obeying from the heart the form of doctrine. “But God be thanked, that ye were the ser­vants of sin, but ye have obey­ed from the heart that form of doctrine which was deliv­ered unto you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness” (Romans 6:17-18). “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16). To say that a responsible per­son can be saved outside of the church is to say, ‘‘A respon­sible person can be saved with­out becoming a servant of God.”

A responsible person cannot be saved without eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Christ. “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you” (John 6:53). The supper of His flesh and blood is in His kingdom for His chil­dren. “That ye may eat and drink at my table in my king­dom” (Luke 22:30).

You cannot be saved outside of the family of God. “Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named” (Eph. 3: 15). To say that one can be saved outside of the church is to say that one can be saved out of the family of God, com­posed of His children.

The word, church, comes from a Greek word, ekklesia, which means the called out. “God hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son” (Col. 1:13). To say that a respon­sible person can be saved outside of the church is to say that a responsible person can be saved in the kingdom of dark­ness.

Can A Person be Saved Outside the Church?

In the light of God’s word, can one be saved outside of the church? Saved out of which church? Whose church? About whose body, bride, kingdom, family, household, ekklesia, and church have we been Studying? Can a responsible person be saved outside of the church of Christ? This ques­tion you must answer before God.