22 Bible Verses about Body Of Christ, The Church

Now you are the Messiah's body and individual parts of it.

For we have many parts in one body, but these parts do not all have the same function. In the same way, even though we are many people, we are one body in the Messiah and individual parts connected to each other.

For just as the body is one and yet has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, form a single body, so it is with the Messiah.

There is one body and one Spirit. Likewise, you were called to the one hope of your calling.

Now I am rejoicing while suffering for you as I complete in my flesh whatever remains of the Messiah's sufferings on behalf of his body, which is the church.

He is also the head of the body, which is the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he himself might have first place in everything.

God has put everything under the Messiah's feet and has made him the head of everything for the good of the church,

For the husband is the head of his wife as the Messiah is the head of the church. It is he who is the Savior of the body.

Jesus answered them, "Destroy this sanctuary, and in three days I will rebuild it." The Jewish leaders said, "This sanctuary has been under construction for 46 years, and you're going to rebuild it in three days?" But the sanctuary he was speaking about was his own body. read more.
After he had been raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this. So they believed the Scripture and the statement that Jesus had made.

That is why you are no longer strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, the Messiah Jesus himself being the cornerstone. In union with him the whole building is joined together and rises into a holy sanctuary for the Lord. read more.
You, too, are being built in him, along with the others, into a place for God's Spirit to dwell.

For by one Spirit all of us Jews and Greeks, slaves and free were baptized into one body and were all privileged to drink from one Spirit.

Indeed, all of you who were baptized into the Messiah have clothed yourselves with the Messiah.

He does not hold on to the head, from whom the whole body, which is nourished and held together by its joints and ligaments, grows as God enables it.

The cup of blessing that we bless is our fellowship in the blood of the Messiah, isn't it? The bread that we break is our fellowship in the body of the Messiah, isn't it? Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body, because all of us eat from the same loaf.

Instead, by speaking the truth in love, we will grow up completely and become one with the head, that is, one with the Messiah, in whom the whole body is united and held together by every ligament with which it is supplied. As each individual part does its job, the body builds itself up in love.

so that there might be no disharmony in the body, but that its parts should have the same concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is praised, every part rejoices with it.

Therefore, stripping off falsehood, "let each of us speak the truth to his neighbor," for we belong to one another.

For no one has ever hated his own body, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it, as the Messiah does the church. For we are parts of his body of his flesh and of his bones.

Let the peace of the Messiah also rule in your hearts, to which you were called in one body, and be thankful.

We have different gifts based on the grace that was given to us. So if your gift is prophecy, use your gift in proportion to your faith. If your gift is serving, devote yourself to serving others. If it is teaching, devote yourself to teaching others. If it is encouraging, devote yourself to encouraging others. If it is sharing, share generously. If it is leading, lead enthusiastically. If it is helping, help cheerfully.

For just as the body is one and yet has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, form a single body, so it is with the Messiah. For by one Spirit all of us Jews and Greeks, slaves and free were baptized into one body and were all privileged to drink from one Spirit. For the body does not consist of only one part, but of many. read more.
If the foot says, "Since I'm not a hand, I'm not part of the body," that does not make it any less a part of the body, does it? And if the ear says, "Since I'm not an eye, I'm not part of the body," that does not make it any less a part of the body, does it? If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has arranged the parts, every one of them, in the body according to his plan. Now if all of it were one part, there wouldn't be a body, would there? So there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you," or the head to the feet, "I don't need you." On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are in fact indispensable, and the parts of the body that we think are less honorable are treated with special honor, and we make our less attractive parts more attractive. However, our attractive parts don't need this. But God has put the body together and has given special honor to the parts that lack it, so that there might be no disharmony in the body, but that its parts should have the same concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is praised, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the Messiah's body and individual parts of it. God has appointed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then those who perform miracles, those who have gifts of healing, those who help others, administrators, and those who speak various kinds of languages. Not all are apostles, are they? Not all are prophets, are they? Not all are teachers, are they? Not all perform miracles, do they? Not all have the gift of healing, do they? Not all speak in foreign languages, do they? Not all interpret, do they? Keep on desiring the better gifts. And now I will show you the best way of all.

And it is he who gifted some to be apostles, others to be prophets, others to be evangelists, and still others to be pastors and teachers, to equip the saints, to do the work of ministry, and to build up the body of the Messiah until all of us are united in the faith and in the full knowledge of God's Son, and until we attain mature adulthood and the full standard of development in the Messiah.