Showing posts with label The Church is One Body. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Church is One Body. Show all posts

Friday, October 11, 2019

Teaching Notes EPHESIANS 4

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Teaching Notes EPHESIANS 4

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THE CHURCH IS ONE BODY

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EPHESIANS  4

Chapter 4. Oneness of The Church 

ONE BODY, Eph 4:1-16. A complex organism. with many functions, 
each in its own place, working in harmony, its basic principle 
love, 16, Christ himself its head and directive force.
Being  composed  of many members of diverse talents  and
tempers, the fundamental requisite to its proper functioning is a 
spirit of humility and mutual forbearance on the part of the 
members one toward another, Its object is to nurture each of its 
members into the perfect image of Christ, Eph 4:12-15. 
The idea of growth, as expressed in these 
verses, seems to ‚apply both to individuals and to the Church as a 
whole. The childhood of the Church will pass. Its maturity will 
come. Compare the companion passage, 1 Cor 12,13. 

The Church is nearly 2,000 years old, and, in this respect, is 
Still in its childhood state. It has not yet, in its visible manifes- 
tation as a whole, known Unity.  Paul’s unceasing fight was against 
factional elements in local churches and the Jew-Gentile dissen- 
sion._Then came the bitter controversies of the 2nd to 4th cen- 
turies. Then the Imperial Church, with its outward semblance of 
Unity under State authority, but poisonous blight of its spiritual 
(life; Then the Papal Hierarchy with its Unity of Authority that 
robbed men of their rights of Conscience and drove the Bible out 
of circulation. 

Then, 400 years ago, the Protestant break for freedom. Natu
rally, when men began again to think for themselves, after the 
long night of Papal bondage, they would see things somewhat 
difierently; and it was inevitable that the Protestant Movement 
would go down the years in difierent streams.  So we still have a 
Divided Christendom. Whether there will ever, in this world, be 
an outward organic Unity of the Visible Church, we do not know. 
The selfishness and pride of men are against it. But there always 
has been, and still is, a Unity in the Invisible Church, of God's 
true saints, which, somehow, sometime, somewhere, will come to 
full fruition, in answer to Christ's own prayer, John 17, and mani— 
fest itself as the fullgrown body of Christ. 
















New Obligations,  Eph 4:25-32. Seeing (the Church is a brotherhood. i:: 
is necessary that its members be very considerate of one another. 
“Anger”. Eph 4:26: perhaps Paul thought it was a little too much to tell 
them not to get angry at all; so he cautions them to be careful not 

to hold it. 

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Ephesians 4 New International Version (NIV)

Unity and Maturity in the Body of Christ

4 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 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.

7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it[a] says:

“When he ascended on high,
    he took many captives
    and gave gifts to his people.”[b]

9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions[c]? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his 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 fullness of Christ.

14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of 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.

Instructions for Christian Living
17 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. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

20 That, however, is not the way of life you learned 21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 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.

25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 “In your anger do not sin”[d]: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. 28 Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.

29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Footnotes:
Ephesians 4:8 Or God
Ephesians 4:8 Psalm 68:18
Ephesians 4:9 Or the depths of the earth
Ephesians 4:26 Psalm 4:4 (see Septuagint)


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New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Some content adapted from Halley, Henry H., Bible Handbook, Grayson Publishing, Minneapolis, MN.  © 1927 - 1959, 1964

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Hugh C. Wood, Atlanta, Georgia


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