How does a person get placed into the body of Christ?
A person is placed into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit, who baptizes or places them there when they believe Paul's message of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection—by faith, and faith alone, without the law. This applies whether Jew or Gentile, bond or free, as all partake of the one Spirit.
Les teaches that the body of Christ came on the scene in the New Testament, and he is convinced it did not necessarily begin at Pentecost because Pentecost was strictly a Jewish holiday with a Jewish message. The body began, in his view, when Paul began to preach the message of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, and salvation by faith, and faith alone, without the law. As men and women began to believe that message, the Holy Spirit baptized or placed them into the body of Christ. This fits the earlier statement that whether Jew or Gentile, bond or free, all have been made to drink or partake of that one Spirit. Les also points to Antioch in Acts chapter 11, where believers were first called Christians as Gentiles came in by faith in the gospel of the grace of God.
For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
More Questions
Is being placed in the Body of Christ only for the most spiritual or those with a dramatic experience?
Spirit baptism into the Body of Christ is not for just the most spiritual or for those who have had some kind of emotional upheaval; every true believer, wherever he is and however great his experience, is a member of the Body.