Editing Lumen gentium (section)

===Chapter 2: On The People of God (9–17)===

====Church is the people of God====
One of the key portions of {{Lang|la|Lumen gentium}} is its second chapter, with its declaration that the Church is "the People of God":
{{quote|At all times and in every race God has given welcome to whosoever fears Him and does what is right. God, however, does not make men holy and save them merely as individuals, without bond or link between one another. Rather has it pleased Him to bring men together as one people, a people which acknowledges Him in truth and serves Him in holiness{{nbsp}}[...] Christ instituted this new covenant, the new testament, that is to say, in His Blood, calling together a people made up of Jew and gentile, making them one, not according to the flesh but in the Spirit. This was to be the new People of God. For those who believe in Christ, who are reborn not from a perishable but from an imperishable seed through the word of the living God, not from the flesh but from water and the Holy Spirit, are finally established as "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people{{nbsp}}[...] who in times past were not a people, but are now the people of God.(9)}}

====Common and ministerial priesthoods====

The three-fold ministry of Christ is also exercised by every baptized. Thus in a sense all the baptized share in the priesthood of Christ:

{{blockquote|Though they differ from one another in essence and not only in degree, the common priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial or hierarchical priesthood are nonetheless interrelated: each of them in its own special way is a participation in the one priesthood of Christ. The ministerial priest, by the sacred power he enjoys, teaches and rules the priestly people; acting in the person of Christ, he makes present the eucharistic sacrifice, and offers it to God in the name of all the people. But the faithful, in virtue of their royal priesthood, join in the offering of the Eucharist. They likewise exercise that priesthood in receiving the sacraments, in prayer and thanksgiving, in the witness of a holy life, and by self-denial and active charity.(10)}}

====Possibility of salvation for those outside the Church====
In the second chapter, the Council teaches that God wills to save people not just as individuals but as a people. For this reason God chose the Israelite people to be his own people and established a covenant with it, as a preparation and figure of the covenant ratified in Christ that constitutes the new People of God, which would be one, not according to the flesh, but in the Spirit and which is called the Church of Christ.(9)

Consequently, "it [the Council] teaches that the Church, now sojourning on earth as an exile, is necessary for salvation. Christ, present to us in His Body, which is the Church, is the one Mediator and the unique way of salvation." Those who "knowing that the Catholic Church was made necessary by Christ, would refuse to enter or to remain in it, could not be saved."(14)

All human beings are called to belong to the Church. Not all are yet fully incorporated into the Church, but "the Church recognizes that in many ways she is linked with those who, being baptized, are honored with the name of Christian, though they do not profess the faith in its entirety or do not preserve unity of communion with the successor of Peter."(15) In addition, the Council describes how non-Christians and non-theists are related to the Church and that God does not deny them the helps necessary for salvation:

{{quote|Finally, those who have not yet received the Gospel are related in various ways to the people of God. In the first place we must recall the people to whom the testament and the promises were given and from whom Christ was born according to the flesh. On account of their fathers this people remains most dear to God, for God does not repent of the gifts He makes nor of the calls He issues. But the plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator. In the first place amongst these there are the Muslims, who, professing to hold the faith of Abraham, along with us adore the one and merciful God, who on the last day will judge mankind. Nor is God far distant from those who in shadows and images seek the unknown God, for it is He who gives to all men life and breath and all things, and as Saviour wills that all men be saved. Those also can attain to salvation who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, yet sincerely seek God and moved by grace strive by their deeds to do His will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience. Nor does Divine Providence deny the helps necessary for salvation to those who, without blame on their part, have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God and with His grace strive to live a good life.(16)}}

====New Evangelization====
The [[New Evangelization]] message in the Catholic Church is rooted in LG 17 and is one of the signs that the Church is seeking to fulfill {{lang|la|Lumen Gentium}}.<ref name="Pronechen"/> As the Father sent the Son, so he too sent the Apostles (Matthew 28:18–20).<ref>{{bibleverse|Matthew|28:18–20}}</ref>