Jesus said in Matthew 16:18, “I will build My church.”  The Lord refers to Himself as the “bridegroom” (Matthew 9:15; Mark 2:19, 20; Luke 5:34, 35). Both Paul and Peter refer to the Lord as the “head” or “chief corner stone of the church” (Ephesians 2:20; 1 Peter 2:6, 7). Since Christ says that the church is His; He is the Bridegroom, the Head and Chief Corner Stone of the church, we call ourselves the church of Christ (the church belonging to Christ). Referring to a plurality of churches in Rome, (Romans 16:16) Paul says “the churches of Christ” salute you. There is only one body (church) as shown in an earlier lesson (Ephesians 4:4).

In the second chapter of Acts, the apostle Peter preached the very first gospel sermon. He told those Jews present that they had crucified the Son of God (v. 36). His sermon touched the hearts of some of those who heard it (v. 37), and they asked the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Peter answered, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.”

About 3,000 of them were baptized following Peter’s sermon (v.41). They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and in fellowship, and in breaking of bread (the Lord’s Supper), and in prayers. The last verse of the chapter (v. 47) says that the Lord added to the church daily those that were being saved.

Some things have not changed in the last 2,000 years. To become a member of the Church of Christ today, one simply needs to do the same thing those early disciples did. Repent and be baptized just as they did and the Lord will add you to His church as well.

In our next lesson, we will look at God’s complete plan for the salvation of men and women in the world today.