The True Church
Lesson # 3
The Body of Christ, the Church

  1. The Messiah’s Power and Authority: Christ’s Baptism — Luke 3:21-22
    • Jesus came to be baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River.
    • When Jesus came out of the waters of baptism, the heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit came upon Him in bodily form like a dove.
    • The voice of the Father came from heaven saying that Jesus is His beloved Son on whom He is well pleased. At that moment, the Father was proclaiming to all the people there, but especially to all in the kingdom of darkness that He, the Father, was sending His Son to this world with His authority over all. (Luke 4:32; Luke 4:36)
    • When the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus, the Lord was filled with the Spirit (Luke 4:1), and the Spirit empowered Jesus for the ministry of the Messiah (Luke 4:14).

  2. Power and Authority given to His disciples: Luke 9:1-6
    • Jesus selected a group of disciples whom He taught and equipped for the assignment that He was going to send them.
    • When they were ready, He sent the twelve on the first commission throughout Israel to proclaim the Kingdom of God was near.
    • He told them not to take anything for the journey for they were to totally depend on God.
    • But He gave them power to proclaim the gospel and authority to heal the sick and cast out demons.
    • The same power and authority that He, the Messiah, had received, He was passing it to the disciples so they could do the work.

  3. Jesus proclaimed that He had all authority, but where was the power?
    • Jesus declared that all AUTHORITY had been given to Him in heaven and on earth, and then He told His disciples to “Go, and make disciples…Matthew 28:18-20
    • Just before He went back to the Father, Jesus told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the Promise of the Father, the Holy Spirit, and they would be endued with power from on high. Luke 24:49
    • Jesus commissioned His disciples to go to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the outermost parts of the world. They needed to be His witnesses into all the world proclaiming the gospel of the Kingdom. But they needed to wait in Jerusalem for the POWER of the Holy Spirit to do the work. Acts 1:8
    • Without the POWER of the Holy Spirit, they could do no work for the Kingdom.

  4. The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost: Acts 2:1-4
    • The disciples were in one accord praying in the upper room on the Day of Pentecost.
    • Suddenly a loud sound of a mighty wind was heard and it filled the room where the disciples were gathered.
    • Then something like tongues of fire came to rest on each one of them—the Holy Spirit coming to rest on them like He did with Jesus in His baptism.
    • The disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and they received the POWER—the disciples were filled and empowered just like Jesus for His ministry.
    • The disciples began to glorify God and to speak in tongues.

  5. The Birth of the Church, the Body of Christ:
    • The disciples were filled with the Spirit, but they were also baptized into the Body of Christ, the church. 1 Corinthians 12:12-13
    • Paul writes, “By one Spirit, we were all baptized into one body…and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.” 1 Corinthians 12:13 NKJV
    • Jesus said, “At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in me and I in you. John 14:20 NKJV


    • On the Day of Pentecost, that first group of believers received the infilling of the Spirit, but at the same time, they were baptized into the Body of Christ, and the Church was birthed.

    • The Body of Christ is the church. Paul said, “And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” Ephesians 1:22-23 NKJV
    • The church is the Body of Christ. The church is not a building. The church is not a denomination. The church is not a doctrine and religious rituals. The church is not an institution.
    • The church is the Body of Christ — a spiritual reality where we are baptized into when we are born again.
    • Paul said, “So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.” Romans 12:5 NKJV