Where does the term "Body of Christ" come from in the Bible?
The term "Body of Christ" originates as a Pauline term and Pauline revelation. It does not appear in the Gospels or in Peter's usage. Scripture presents it in Ephesians 2, where believers, baptized by the Holy Spirit, become members of one body whose Head is in Heaven.
Les teaches that the term "Body of Christ" is not found in the Gospels and is never used by Peter. It is a Pauline term and a Pauline revelation. In Ephesians 2, Paul uses the human body as an illustration: one body has many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body. So also is Christ, referring to the Body of Christ. Les explains that just as a human body's control is in the head, so the Body of Christ has its Head in Heaven, where our citizenship and nerve center are. Verse 13 says that by one Spirit—the Holy Spirit—all true believers, not just the most spiritual or those who had an emotional upheaval, are baptized into the Body of Christ. Every true believer, regardless of where he is or how great an experience he has had, is a member of the Body of Christ because the Holy Spirit has baptized him into it.