Why You Can’t Love the Cross and Reject the Church

People love the cross; and well we should!  The cross is our only hope for boasting and pride!¹  It is through the cross of Christ that we are saved.  It is that old rugged cross that held the Savior of the world between heaven and earth to reconcile us back to God.

But sadly many in their love and desire for the cross reject the rest of the story.  They reject what goes along with the cross–the church of Christ.  The cross was only a part of God’s master plan.  When people love the cross, but reject the church they are committing a grievous spiritual error that will cost them their souls.  

Let me share four reasons why you can’t love the cross and reject the church. 

1. The Cross Made the Church Possible.  At the time of Jesus’ coming to earth people were divided between Jews and Gentiles.  The Jews were under the Old Covenant of Moses given at Sinai.  Christ came and perfectly fulfilled the old law and nailed the old law to the cross.  He made the old law obsolete so Christ could establish His new covenant.  He reconciled Jews and Gentiles together in one body, the church, through his act of dying on the cross.  We now have a responsibility to obey the new covenant of Christ found in the New Testament.²
2. The Cross Purchased the Church. Paul instructed the elders at Ephesus to, “shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”  Later in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Paul will tell each Christian that we were bought with a price.  The price paid for us was the blood of Christ.  We have been redeemed.  The church is the redeemed upon the earth.  The church was valued by God!  God valued the church when he purchased it with the precious blood of His son!³
3. The Cross set the Pattern for the Church. Christ taught His disciples that we must deny ourselves, take up  His cross, and follow Him.  We are to lose our life, so that we might find true life in Christ.  This is the pattern expected out of church members.  It is the pattern that Christ demonstrated when He died on the cross.  At baptism the new believer undergoes this same pattern when they die to sin, bury their old sinful self, and rise to walk in newness of life.  Thus, Paul would instruct us to crucify our flesh with its passions and desires.  The life of every church and individual Christian should be one of reenacting this pattern of dying to self.¹¹
4. The Cross made Entrance into the Church Possible.  The church was a part of God’s divine plan.  It was planned before time and prophesied in the Old Testament.  But it could not be established until Christ came to purchase it at Calvary.  Christ saw his purpose in coming to earth as one to establish and build His church.  Without the cross there could be no church.  But the purpose of the cross was to establish the church.  Thus, 50 short days after Christ died and 10 days after He ascended, the Father sent the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles in Jerusalem to preach the gospel.  They proclaimed the good news of Jesus Christ and established the church.  We should desire to be a part of the church that the Apostles established on Pentecost.  One can be a member of that same body today, simply by doing what they did on Pentecost.  We need to believe in Jesus, repent of our sins, confess Christ, and be baptized to have our sins forgiven.  This adds one to the church of Christ.²²

The church is essential to our salvation.  It cannot and must not be separated from the cross of Christ.  They are intrinsically linked by God for all time.  We must not love the cross and seek to reject the church.  Paul taught us that the reason Christ died on the cross was because “He loved the church and gave himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with he washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.”³³

¹  Galatians 6:14

²  Col. 2:13-14; Heb. 7:18-28; 8:13; Eph. 1:22-23; 2:14-16; 5:23-27

³ Acts 20:28; 1 Cor. 6:19-20; Eph. 5:23-27

¹¹ Matthew 16:21-27; John 12:23-26; Romans 6:1-10; Gal. 5:24

²²  Matthew 16:17-19; Col. 1:13-20; Acts 2; Gal. 3:26-27

³³  Ephesians 5:23-27