Meditation

Hi there,

The word “so” at the start of today’s passage (vv. 11–16) links the initial call for unity to Christ’s gifts to His church with its mission: growth.

The church is a living body and just as healthy bodies grow and add strength; unhealthy ones weaken, sicken, or turn against themselves. If cells attack each other, we call it disease. If a military unit turns inward, it fails its mission.

For the church to grow, it must be unified (vv. 1–6) and gifted (vv. 7–10). But it also must be organized, trained, and engaged in the mission (vv. 11–12).

Christ charged imperfect leaders to equip imperfect people so that together they might encourage one another and grow up into love (vv. 13–16). Healthy members make a healthy body—fit together, maturing in Christ, and abounding in love.

Today's verses are Ephesians 4:11-16 (and are marked in black. Previous verses are shown in grey for context).

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 says:

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

⁹ (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions 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.

Encouragement

⁴ For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, ⁵ so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

⁶ We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.

Romans 12:4-6

Steve Pawley

God's word in your hand

I've attached this explanation of Ephesians from The Bible Project to accompany this season's copy work.

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