DId God Really Say…

March 7, 2024

Read Leviticus 23, Psalm 66, Ephesians 4

When I say the word “church” what comes to your mind? A large building with a steeple maybe or do you think first about the people who are called Christians? When the Bible uses the word “church” it never refers to a building.” The church was the group of believers that gathered. Ephesians 4 contains great teaching on the church and what should be like and what they should be busy doing.

The first topic that Paul addresses in Ephesians 4 is unity. He urged the new believers to make every effort to live at peace with one another. “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” vv. 3-6. Seven times Paul emphasizes the word “one” when he talks about the church. But we are not just to be one and the same. Clones or copies of each other. The body of Christ is filled with many unique and specific parts. Paul listed five of the occupational gifts that lead the church. “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, ¹² to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fulness of Christ.” vv. 11-13.

When the church functions like it should in its gifts the church will thrive more than when it is not operating in them. “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. ¹⁶ From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” vv. 15-16. If Jesus ever fails to be the head of the church, we need to repent and put Christ back in His rightful place.

The remaining section of Ephesians 4 discusses some practical instructions from Paul on how we can live as the church together. Paul connects the way Christians live with the thoughts they hold.  “So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking” v. 15. The bottom line, your thoughts, convictions, and beliefs all have an affect on your actions and behavior. Paul closes with an illustration of taking off clothes and putting new ones one. These clothes are the outer actions of the believers, the outward things seen from a new inward belief. “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; ²³ to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴ and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” vv. 22-24. The last few verses really zoom in on our words and the things we say to one another.

What else do you see in these chapters? What words, phrases, or themes stand out to you?
Add your thoughts below.

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