Ephesians
4:1 & 4-6 “Therefore I, a
prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling,
for you have been called by God. For there
is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope
for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one
God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all.”
The
good thing about small group studies is that the setting and size is conducive for
the sharing of backgrounds, personalities, prospectives and experiences from
the gifted members that make of the body of the Believers. We learn the doctrinal
principles and position of the Christian faith as communicated from the Bible’s
Holy Scriptures and the application for the godly performance of our duties in
our daily walk as a “fitly framed” body of valuable components, called the
church, working together in harmony to function as God intended in the purposes
of the Lord as “Light” in their life and to the world, for Christ is the head
of the body. Our Friday night home Bible Study continued to explore the
questions of “How are those who have been saved by grace to life?” and “How
critical is it that our walk matches our talk if we bear the name “Christian?” A
life pleasing to God.
Ephesians 4:11-13 “And
He gave some as apostles,
and some as prophets, and
some as evangelists, and
some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping
of the saints for the work of service, to the building
up of the body of Christ; until we all
attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the
Son of God, to a mature man, to
the measure of the stature which belongs to
the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried
about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning
craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the
truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole
body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the
effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body
for the edifying of itself in love.
Saints is ἅγιος hagios, means “holy ones”, those
set apart from the sins of the flesh, the God-rejecting world system and the
lies of the devil. Set apart because they now belong to God through salvation
from their sins – a salvation that came through believing that Jesus Christ
died for their sins as their substitute and rose from the dead three days
latter as the Scriptures foretold. Set apart for a purpose, a particular reason
and function fit for the walk which they was designed. Equipping is the translation
of the Greek word καταρτισμός katartismos, used
in New Testament times for mending nets, setting a bone, and realizing a
purpose. It means “perfecting”, making fit or to “put right”. Ask yourself: “How
you are measuring up to this description of maturity?” When all the parts of
the body of Christ, all true Believers, are working together as a body,
attaining the unity of the faith, and being ministered to by gifted men who are
equipping them, then the body is going to grow and we will see the church
building itself up in love. Then we will see a walk that fits the talk.
In Christ, Brian
This is my 400th Blog Post.
2 comments:
Yea!!! 400th POST!! That's sweet!
I love small groups, they feel very intimate.
Blessings brother keep on sharing the Word and reach 1000 posts!
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Thank you Child of God for the encouraging words. Thank you for your support. Blessings to you and yours.
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