Paul often referred to the church as the body of Christ.  In 1 Corinthians 12, he tells us some very important things about the body of Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:12-13 (ESV)
¹²  For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³  For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

The first important point that Paul makes is that there is only one body.  He tells us this in back-to-back verses, indicating how important it is to know this.  In fact, Paul makes this point in other places as well.

Ephesians 4:4 (ESV)
⁴  There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—

Today, there are many denominational churches disguising themselves as the church of our Lord, but, since there is only one body, we know they cannot all be the church of Christ.  It is up to us to identify the true church.  How do we do that?  It is simple—we turn to the Bible and see what the church looked like there.  What work did the church do?  How did the church in the New Testament worship?  How were local churches organized?  Once you discover that, make sure that the church you are a member of matches the church you read about in the Bible.

Let me give you an example of how you would do this.  The local church in the New Testament is made up of elders (also called bishops and pastors), deacons, and saints (Philippians 1:1).  Every church that had qualified men (1 Timothy 3:1-7), had a plurality of pastors, all having equal authority.  To learn this, just look at every passage that spoke of elders and local churches, and you will find that the term elder is always plural, while the term church is always singular (Acts 14:23; 15:4; Acts 20:17).  Now, if you attend a church that has one pastor, or a pastor who has more authority than the rest, that is not the church you read about in the New Testament.  It is just as simple as that.  You can do the same thing with the work and worship of the church.

How do you become a member of the one church you read about in the Bible?  Paul tells us.  He said that they were baptized into the body (ver. 13).  Again, Paul spoke of this in other places.

Galatians 3:27 (ESV)
²⁷  For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Baptism is not the only step one has to take to be added to the body of Christ, but it is the final one.  While believing in Christ (John 8:24), repenting of sins (Luke 13:3), and confessing Christ (Romans 10:9-10), are all just as important as being baptized, baptism, being the final step, is what moves a person from outside of Christ to inside of Christ (Romans 6:3).

Some argue that the element that the saints at Corinth were baptized into was not water, but we know that it was.  How do we know?  We know because we have a record of them being baptized.  The record is found in Acts 18, and it has all the elements of water baptism.  They heard the gospel, believed, and were baptized (Acts 18:8).  Furthermore, Paul referred to them being baptized in chapter 1, saying that he was glad that he only baptized a few of them, implying that the rest were baptized by other saints (1 Corinthians 1:14-7).  Virtually no one denies that the baptism there was in water.  We know it was not the baptism of the Spirit because Jesus is the only one who administered that baptism (Matthew 3:11).

Are you a member of the body of Christ you read about in the Bible?  You should not guess about it.  Be sure!  Make sure the church you belong to is the one you read about in the Word of God and that you were scripturally baptized into it (Acts 2:38).

As you wind down for the night, think about these things