I was asked, “Can I be saved if I don’t join the Eastern Orthodox?” I answered:

I am so sorry you are having to ask this question. Here’s the simplest answer I can give you.

Read Ezekiel 18:20-32; Matthew 25:31-46; and Revelation 2-3 (both chapters). Do read them; don’t skip them, nor go on until you’ve read them.

Now ask yourself:

• Do any of these passages judge you by what church you belong to?
• In the letter to Sardis at the start of Revelation 3, what is more important, which church they are in or their relationship with and obedience to Jesus?
• How important are these passages? What are they offering or threatening?

That all said, let me give you a teaching about your salvation:

Salvation from Sin

In Ephesians 2:1-10, the Bible tells you that you can be changed from dead in your sins and trespasses into God’s workmanship, a new creation in Christ Jesus created specifically for good works. This is salvation from sin. 2 Corinthians 5:14-21 describes this, too, as does Titus 2:11-14.

Salvation from Wrath

In Ephesians 5:5-7, Paul tells you what will happen to you if you do not continue as a new creation, living in the Spirit rather than living by the flesh. You have been saved from sin, meaning you are now empowered to stop sinning, but you shall be, future, saved from wrath if you live by the life of Christ and do the things described in those judgment passages I gave you above. Romans 5:9-10 discusses the salvation we have now and salvation from wrath in the future in exactly the same way I just did.

Those first passages I gave you above describe that future judgment, by works (by how you lived). You will be saved from wrath in the future by learning from those passages, living by the life of Jesus, walking in the Spirit, and thus obeying Jesus’ commands. That sounds hard, but that’s because people are constantly saying it’s hard. It is perfectly normal for a Christian to live in the commands of Jesus, excited about them, and considering them a wonderful blessing, not a grievous burden (Matt. 11:28-30). Of course, no one does them perfectly (James 3:1), but God has made provision to forgive us as long as we are making our best effort to live in the Spirit rather than the flesh (1 John 1:6 – 2:2).

Second-Century Quote

[The Messenger of Repentance] concluded the twelve commandments, and said to me, “You have now these commandments. Walk in them, and exhort your hearers that their repentance may be pure during the remainder of their life. Fulfil carefully this ministry which I now entrust to you, and you will accomplish much. For you will find favour among those who are to repent, and they will give heed to your words; for I will be with you, and will compel them to obey you.”

I say to him, “Sir, these commandments are great, and good, and glorious, and fitted to gladden the heart of the man who can perform them. But I do not know if these commandments can be kept by man, because they are exceeding hard.” He answered and said to me, “If you lay it down as certain that they can be kept, then you will easily keep them, and they will not be hard. But if you come to imagine that they cannot be kept by man, then you will not keep them. Now I say to you, If you do not keep them, but neglect them, you will not be saved, nor your children, nor your house, since you have already determined for yourself that these commandments cannot be kept by man.” (Shepherd of Hermas, c. AD 100-160, Commandment Twelfth, ch. 3)

Will God Judge You by Which Church You Join?

You will read all those verses, and hopefully it will seem ridiculous to you that any organization, the Eastern Orthodox or any other, would claim that you have to join them to be saved. None of the Scriptures above give any reference to any organization, but only to your relationship with Christ.

What Church Is Supposed To Do for You

Now, one thing is important. We do not live our lives by ourselves. We depend on each other. Hebrews 3:13 and 10:24-25 are enough to prove that, though a lot of other passages say the same thing.

I do want to point out, though, that neither the Eastern Orthodox nor just about any other church actually does Hebrews 3:13 nor Hebrews 10:24-25. You are going to have to stir yourself up and seek fellowship that will help you walk in the Spirit and obey Jesus. The Eastern Orthodox are not going to find it for you, and not many Protestant churches will either. You have to find men and women who love Jesus to do the things for you that those two passages in Hebrews mention.

Let’s do this. Write to me once per week unless that’s too much. I will write you a response like this one. You, though, have to go read all the verses in the email I send you. For example, it will take you a lot longer to read the verses I mentioned than to read this email.