Fr. Alexander Schmemann: The Church as the way of Salvation

 Christ did not establish a society for the observance of worship, a "cultic society", but rather the Church as the way of salvation, as the new life of re-created mankind. This does not mean that worship is secondary to the Church. On the contrary, it is inseparable from the Church and without it there is no Church. But this is because its purpose is to express form, or realize the Church - to be the source of that grace which always make the Church the Church, the people of God, the Body of Christ, "a chosen race and a royal priesthood" (1 Peter 2:9).

+Fr. Alexander Schmemann, from Introduction to Liturgical Theology, Introduction

Archimandrite George of St. Gregorios: Theosis in the Church

Those who wish to unite with Jesus Christ, and, through Christ, with God the Father, recognise that this union is realised in the body of Christ, which is our Holy Orthodox Church. Of course, this Union is not with the Divine essence, but with the deified human nature of Christ. But this union with Christ is not external, nor is it simply moral.
We are not followers of Christ in the way that one might perhaps follow a philosopher or a teacher. We are members of Christ's body, the Church. The Church is the body of Christ, the real body, not a moral one, as some mistaken theologians have written, not having looked deeply enough into the spirit of the Holy Church. Despite our unworthiness and sinfulness, Christ takes us Christians and incorporates us into His body. He makes us members of Himself. We become real members of Christ, not just followers of a code of morality. As the Apostle Paul puts it, "We are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones" (Ephesians 5:30).
+Archimandrite George of St. Gregorios, from Theosis: The True Purpose of Human Life, The Church: The Place of Man's Theosis