Seldom do I wade into the mire of tertiary theological debate on social media. Time for and interest in such matters dissuade me. But recently I found myself sifting through a thread that peaked my interest when I came across this statement:

“The Church cannot save someone, but it saves the Truth that saves all men!”

The boldness of the statement and its implications arrested my attention. Does the Church “save” the Truth and does the Truth save “all men”? I turned to Scripture for references regarding the Church and the Truth and here’s what I found (I know, it’s a lengthy list, but Biblical conclusions can only be drawn from the Bible):

The church is to pray for all men because God wants all men [including Gentiles] to be saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth. (1 Timothy 2:1-7)

The church is the pillar and ground of the Truth (1 Timothy 3:14-16), holding up and supporting the Truth for all to see.

The preacher is to be diligent and rightly handle the Word of Truth as he labors amongst those who have strayed from the Truth. (2 Timothy 2:14-18)

The preacher, in the midst of a culture turning their ears away from the Truth, is called upon to: preach the Word when it is convenient and when it is not convenient; convince, rebuke and exhort with all longsuffering and teaching; be watchful (sober-minded, calm in spirit), endure afflictions, do the work evangelist (Gospel work) and fulfill one’s ministry. (2 Timothy 4:1-5)

The saints are to rejoice in the Truth. (1 Corinthians 13:6) The saints are to speak the Truth in love. (Ephesians 4:15) The saints, called by the Gospel, experience salvation by belief in the Truth. (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14) The saints are born again by the Word of Truth. (James 1:18) The saints are sanctified by the Truth. (1 Peter 1:13-25) The saints need to be reminded of the Truth in which they are established. (2 Peter 1:12) The saints are to receive and care for itinerant Gospel workers (missionaries) and so be fellow-workers in the Truth. (3 John 1:8)

True worshippers worship in Spirit and in Truth. (John 4:23-24)

The Truth makes people free. (John 8:32)

The unrighteous perish because they will not receive the love of the Truth. (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12)

The Word made flesh, Jesus, is full of grace and Truth (John 1:14); grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ. (John 1:17) Jesus is “the way, the Truth, the life.” (John 14:6)

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Truth. (John 14:17)

The Father’s Word is Truth by which the saints are sanctified. (John 17:17-19)

The Word of Truth is the Gospel of our salvation. (Ephesians 1:11-14) The Word of Truth is of the Gospel. (Colossians 1:5)

The grace of God is known in Truth. (Colossians 1:6)

Now one can argue with certainty that the Church guards the Truth through obedience to it and the proclamation of it. But to say that the Church saves the Truth is to imply 1) that the Truth is in peril of being lost if it is not somehow saved and 2) that the Church is in some way greater than the Truth so as to be able to save it. This is simply wrong.

The Church is saved by the Truth. The Church is sanctified by the Truth. The Truth, the Word of God, the Gospel of Christ and Jesus, Himself, need no saving. The Truth is not in our guardianship to be parented and kept as a child. The Truth is in our keeping to be kept through submission to and obedience to it. The Truth is entrusted to us not to be preserved for safe keeping from the world, but to be preached to the world and practiced before the world.

And herein is found the growing divide among the brethren and churches of the associated work in which I participate.

For certain, there are extremists on both sides. Some are for all practical purposes old style “hard-shell” Baptists, meeting regularly and lamenting the culture both religiously and secularly, keeping the ritual but with no heart for Christ and His Gospel and a lost world. Such “practical hard-shellism” eschews evangelism and ignores missions. It views the Truth as in peril and thus to be secured away in a vault.

Yet, on the other side, some have fallen victim to the philosophy that the culture will be won by becoming one with the culture, speaking little of the Gospel while waiting for a church to organically develop. Such a philosophy is convinced the Truth needs help to be cool and relevant.

The truth is that many of us are satisfied with neither extreme. We took to heart what we were taught in seminary. We believed, and still believe, that the Bible is our rule of faith and practice. We diligently desire to rightly handle the Word of Truth. And as we poured through its pages, the Word of Life came to life, capturing our hearts and igniting a passion for the glory of God and the good of the nations through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

And for us the Church is not a vault for the keeping of the Truth. It is an assembly, a congregation, a community for living out the Truth. The Church is the gathering of the saints of God in covenant communities around the world to worship God, pledging our allegiance to the King of kings while living out the Kingdom life together in covenant relationship to Christ and one another. The Church is where we hear the Word of Truth read and preached with expositional diligence and with a heart of confession and surrender to its message, convinced that our role is not to rearrange the Truth for modern life, but simply to unleash the Truth through faithful Gospel preaching and Gospel lifestyle in the culture in which we live.

The Church is where we join hearts and hands to lift high the banner of our King, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, carrying it forth into the kingdoms of the world, from the streets outside our doors to remote islands in far away seas so that the peoples of the world might know, love and believe in the King, Jesus. Because, contrary to the quote back at the beginning of this article, the Truth does not save all men. It saves only those who believe in the Truth.

For a growing number of us it is simply not enough to continue to go to Church. We must be the Church. Holding to the ancient doctrines of the ancient Word of Truth, yet pressing forward into the present culture with a passion for Jesus and His Gospel.

For us it is not about the style of music, the name on the sign, the architecture of the building or the dress of those who enter, all which have changed time and again through centuries and across varying cultures. It is about Jesus. He is the Truth. He never changes.

“Praise the LORD, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples! For His merciful kindness is great toward us, And the truth of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD!” (Psalm 117)