SBS | 1st Quarter of 2024 | CPAD Adults | Theme: THE BODY OF CHRIST - Origin, Nature and Mission of the Church in the World | Sunday Bible School | Lesson 3 - The Nature of the Church Slides created by Celso Napoleon

1. January 21, 2024
Lesson 3
The Nature of the Church

2. GOLDEN TEXT
“For just as the body is one and has
many members, and all the members,
being many, are one body, so is Christ.”
(1 Cor 12.12)

3. PRACTICAL TRUTH
Knowing the Church in its nature
makes us aware of the importance
of being part of it.

4. DAILY READING
Second - John 1.1 The Church centered on the Living Word of
God
Tuesday - Rom 8.14 The Church in the sphere of the Spirit
Wednesday - 1 Co 1.1-3 The Church as a visible and local
expression
Thursday - Heb 12.23 The Church in its invisible and universal
aspect
Sixth - Eph 4.3 The indivisibility of the Church of Christ
Saturday - Phil 2.2 The Church in search of unity

5. BIBLE READING IN CLASS
1 Corinthians 12.12-27
12 - For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the
members, being many, are one body, so is Christ.
13 - For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether
Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free, and we have all drunk of one
Spirit.
14 - Because the body is not just one member, but many.
15 - If the foot says: Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body;
Isn't that because of the body?

6. 16 - And if the ear says: Because I am not an eye, I am not of
the body; Isn't that because of the body?
17 - If the entire body were eyes, where would the ear be? If
all was about hearing, what would be of the olphat?
18-But now God has placed the members in the body, each
one of them as he wanted.
19 - And if everyone were one member, where would the
body be?
20 - Now therefore there are many members, but one body.
21 - And the eye cannot say to the hand: I have no need of
you; nor yet the head, to the feet: I have no need of you.

7. 22 - Rather, the members of the body that appear to be the weakest are
necessary.
23 - And those whom we consider to be less honorable in body, these we
honor much more; and to those in us who are less decorous we give much
more honor.
24 - For those of us who are more honest have no need of this, but God
formed the body in this way, giving much more honor to those who lacked
it,
25 - so that there is no division in the body, but rather that the members
have equal care for one another.
26 - So that if one member suffers, all the members suffer with him; and
if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with him.
27 - Now you are the body of Christ and its members in particular.

8. INTRODUCTION
The study of the nature of the Church must analyze what it is in
essence. What defines a genuinely Christian church? Evidently,
there are many characteristics that show what a true church is.
However, for our purposes here, we will only deal with some of
them. Therefore, in this lesson, we will see that a genuinely
Christian church is confessional, that is, it is based on the Word
of God; it has a local and universal dimension, that is, it exists in
both visible and invisible form; and, finally, the genuinely
Christian church is one, that is, it is not divided, because without
unity there is no Church. KEYWORD: Nature

9. I - THE NATURE OF THE CHURCH IN ITS
CONFESSIONAL DIMENSION
1. Based on the Word. A truly biblical church is based on the Word
of God. In this aspect, firstly, we have Christ as the Incarnate Word,
the Living Word. In the beginning was the Word (John 1:1). Jesus is
the Word that became humanized, that is, God made man. The biblical
church has Jesus Christ as its foundation (Eph 2:20). A truly biblical
church is Jesus-centered. Second, a biblical church is founded on the
Holy Scriptures, the Inspired Word. If there is no true church without
Jesus, in the same way there is no true church without a biblical
foundation (2 Tim 3.15). Heterodoxy, doctrinal deviation and apostasy
come from distancing and abandoning the Word of God.

10. 2. Indwelt by the Spirit. The Church is indwelt by the
Spirit, directed and empowered by Him. The Holy Spirit is
the driving force of the Church. In fact, the work of the
Spirit begins in his work of convicting the sinner. It is the
Spirit who convinces human beings of sin (John 16:8-11).
It is the Holy Spirit who produces the work of
regeneration. When the evangelist Luke says that the Lord
opened Lydia's heart (Acts 16:14), we see a powerful work
of the Holy Spirit bringing conviction for salvation.

11. 3. Anyone who is part of the Church walks in the
Spirit. When someone responds to the message of the
cross, the Spirit of God produces in them the certainty of
salvation (Rm 8.16). Now, regenerated, the Christian
begins to walk or be led by the Spirit (Rm 8.14). Failure in
the spiritual life lies in the fact that we do not walk in the
sphere of the Spirit (Gal 5.16,17). The Spirit, therefore,
indwells the believer; empowering him (Acts 1:8). Without
the empowerment of the Spirit, the church is inoperative
and loses its essence.

12. SYNOPSIS I
A biblical church is founded on the Word
inspired by God, indwelt by the Spirit,
directed and empowered by Him.

13. II - THE NATURE OF THE CHURCH IN ITS
LOCAL AND UNIVERSAL DIMENSIONS
1. Local and visible. Biblically, we can speak of the Church
in relation to its spatial dimension, that is, in relation to the
location or geographic space. It can be seen and felt. In this
respect, the Church exists locally. Thus, we see the apostles
writing their letters to certain churches, located in different
locations: “to the church of God which is in Corinth” (1 Cor
1.2); “to the foreigners scattered in Pontus, Galatia,
Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia” (1 Pet 1.1). In these texts we
see the Scriptures referring to the ekklesia, the community of
believers, located in different locations.

14. 2. The particularities of local churches. From the
content of the New Testament letters, we observe that these
local churches had their particularities. The problems found
in one were not necessarily the same as those in the other
(Phil 4.2,3 cf. 2 Ts 3.11,12). Likewise, the virtues. On the
other hand, although they were all under apostolic
supervision, we observe that they were autonomous in
relation to each other. So they had their own dynamic. A
method that works in one church may be inappropriate in
another.

15. 3. Universal and invisible. Just as the Church exists in its
local dimension, it also exists in its universal dimension. We
are aware of the existence of the local church, as we are
part of it. However, it is not always easy to realize the
universal aspect of the Church because in this sense, the
Church is not limited to geographic or physical space. Thus
the universal and invisible Church is formed by all
regenerated Christians who are everywhere and by those
who are also already in glory (Heb 12.23), not limited only
to the earthly dimension. Here, it is important to
differentiate “Church” from “denomination”. In a city, for
example, there may be several denominations; however,
there is only one Church.

16. The church is divine, denominations are human.
Denominations can be temporary, the Church cannot.
Denominations may disappear, but the Church is
indestructible (Mt 16.18). It is worth saying that not every
group that calls itself Christian can be seen as being part of
the Christian Church. There are groups that call themselves
“churches”, however, they are synagogues of Satan (Rev
3.9). However, what will make a church or denomination
Christian is its fidelity to Christ and the Holy Scriptures.

17. SYNOPSIS II
The Church of Christ reveals itself in an
earthly dimension and, equally, in a
spiritual dimension.

18. III - THE CHURCH IN ITS COMMUNITY
DIMENSION
1. The church is one. This means that the church is indivisible. In
the analogy where he compares the Church to the human body,
Paul makes it very clear that a truly Christian church is united
because there can be no division in the body (1 Cor 12:12). Jesus
said that a divided kingdom will not stand (Mt 12:25). This
principle applies to the Church as well. What the Devil cannot
achieve against the Church through persecution, he can achieve
through division. We must avoid, at all costs, partisanship,
preferences and exclusivism if we want to preserve the unity of the
local church (Eph 43).

19. 2. Unity in the Church. Paul wrote to the church at
Philippi: “make my joy complete, so that you may feel the
same way, having the same love, the same spirit, thinking
the same thing” (Phil 2:2). This text shows the apostle's
desire for the unity of the church which, as the Body of
Christ in its collective form, must ensure unity and, in the
same way, each believer must seek this.

20. 3. Diversity in the unit. This reverberates Jesus’ desire for
the unity of his disciples (John 17). There is what
theologians call “unity of essence”. In the Trinity, The
Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit are different people,
with the same essence, possessing the same substance and
one purpose. Likewise, Christians should seek this type of
unity. In this respect, unity is not uniformity. We are
different, diverse, we have different temperaments and
different ways of doing things; but even so, we are one in
Christ Jesus to persevere toward the same goal.

21. SYNOPSIS III
The church as the Body of Christ in its
collective form must strive for unity and, in
the same way, each believer must seek this.

22. CONCLUSION
We have reached the end of another biblical lesson, which
addresses the nature of the Church. We saw that it is not
possible to refer to a church as Christian if certain marks or
characteristics are not present in it. We highlight here that
the local church must be based on the Word and indwelt by
the Holy Spirit. The Church also exists both locally and
universally. It is not limited by time or space. It exists for
eternity!

23. REVIEWING THE CONTENT
1. What is the main characteristic of a truly biblical church?
A truly biblical church is based on the Word of God.
2. What characterizes a church indwelt by the Spirit?
The Church indwelt by the Spirit, directed and empowered
by Him.
3. How can we talk about the spatial dimension of the
Church?
The spatial dimension of the church concerns its location or
geographic space.

24. 4. How is the universal and invisible Church formed?
Thus the universal and invisible Church is formed by
all regenerated Christians who are everywhere and by
those who are also in glory (Heb 12.23).
5. Explain the expression “unity of essence” in
relation to the Trinity.
In the Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit
are different people, however, with the same essence.
They have the same substance and a single purpose.

25. REFERENCES
CPAD. O CORPO DE CRISTO - Origem, Natureza e Missão da Igreja
no Mundo. Rio de Janeiro: Casa Publicadora das Assembleias de Deus
(CPAD), 2024. (Lições Bíblicas, Adultos CPAD).
SOCIEDADE BÍBLICA DO BRASIL (org.). Bíblia De Estudo Plenitude
Revista E Atualizada. Barueri, SP: SBB, 2005.

26. Slides created by Celso Napoleon
SBS | 1st Quarter of 2024 | CPAD Adults | Theme: THE
BODY OF CHRIST - Origin, Nature and Mission of the
Church in the World | Sunday Bible School | Lesson 3 - The
Nature of the Church

27. LESSONS:
Lesson 1- The Origin of the church
Lesson 2 - Biblical Images of the Church
Lesson 3 - The Nature of the Church
Lesson 4 - The Church and the Kingdom of God
Lesson 5 - The Mission of the Church of Christ
Lesson 6 - Church: Organism and Organization
Lesson 7 - The Ministry of the Church
Lesson 8 - Discipline in the Church
Lesson 9 - Baptism – The First Ordinance of the Church
Lesson 10 - The Lord's Supper – The Second Ordinance of the Church
Lesson 11 - The Worship of the Christian Church
Lesson 12 - The Role of Preaching in Worship
Lesson 13 - The Power of God in the Mission of the Church