Title Ephesians 04:1-16 The Christian Life
Content The Christian Life
(Ephesians 4:1-16)
When I believe in Jesus, it means that I, God, and Jesus are one. A personal relationship has been established with God the Father, and it is the relationship of “unity” to become such an intimate relationship where I understand the Father’s heart and God knows all of my inner circumstances.
Now it is the turn of the members to become one in the church. God really wants us to be one. For that unity, Jesus even died on the cross. How can we become one? The apostle Paul speaks of four ways to do that.
First, at the end of verse 1, we say that we must live and act worthy of our calling.
Now, second, we say we need humility and meekness. Really, the real Jesus is humble. And meek. The opposite of shinson means "force is in the face, voice and neck. The opposite of Onew is "a cold wind blows. It makes a defensive posture". No matter how hard you work, how hard you work, and no matter how good your faith is, if you are not humble and not meek, how can you merge with each other and become one?
The next step is to be patient in love. If you are in a hurry, it will split and split. If you are in a hurry, it will split and split. However, if you are patient and patient, the day will come when we will be able to accept each other. Accepted means that you have been accepted and that you have come to like it.
But how were you told to be patient? Do not forget that we were taught to persevere in love. It is patience, waiting, and silence in love, not because of pride, profit, or anything else.
When that happens, the end is bound to each other in peace.
Peace is the strong cord that holds us together. Peace will preserve and protect our unity. Look at verse 3. “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
In the second part, in verses 7 to 10, you can see how God is managing and taking care of the believers who are united in this way.
It is briefly summarized in verse 7, and to put it simply, this is what it means. "Graces have been given to each of us, and given according to the principle of the Lord's giving."
Now, the third part, verses 11 to 16, specifically writes what kind of grace God has given to each of us to serve the church and what He wants to accomplish through that work. Verse 11 tells us that there are various people in the church. According to each person's characteristics and talents, God entrusts them with work. “That the saints may be perfected, and that they may do the work of service, to build up the body of Christ.” To build up the body of Christ, that is, to make the church stand upright and strong.
The saints will be perfected when they work diligently according to the grace given to them by those who hold their respective offices. To be more precise, the word to be perfected is “to provide what is needed.” Therefore, when we work in various fields and according to various gifts, our service and devotion will result in meeting the needs of other saints. Therefore, the church that becomes the body of the Lord will stand strong.
The greater the number of active members, the healthier the church.
Let's live diligently today, thinking about the day when we will be patient with humility and meekness, and we will successfully complete our Christian life worthy of our calling and stand before the Lord.