God gives each of us gifts to use in kingdom work. We are to use these gifts, not only to grow our faith, but also the faith of others. This devotion looks at how we are to build the body of Christ.
Nuggets
- God gave people varying gifts.
- God expects us to use these gifts to further His kingdom.
- Our spiritual health is always God’s focus.
- Paul wanted us to grow because, with out increased understanding, we will be more constant in our faith.
Paul started talking about gifts back in Ephesians 4: 7. “But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift” (Eph. 4: 7 RSV).
Grace is a free and unmerited gift from Heavenly Father given through His Son, Jesus Christ that enables salvation and spiritual healing to believers. Each of us has been the recipient of this grace to further God’s kingdom.
We talked in a previous devotion about how we don’t all get the same amount. Christ has allocated it to us what we we need for the tasks and experiences that our in our plans.
Just after that, Paul chased a rabbit. When he picks the discussion back up, he elaborates on the differences of the gifts.
Gift Job Titles
“And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers” (Eph. 4: 11 RSV).
God knew that His people would need a variety of supports. Because of that, He gave people varying gifts.
Let’s take a look at what each do. I used the Holman Bible Dictionary to look up definitions.
When we hear the word apostles, we think of the Twelve men that Jesus chose as followers. Technically, it can mean anyone sent out on a mission to represent someone else.
Prophets receive a message from the Lord. They are then charged to tell others of this message.
Evangelists are people who commit to proclaiming God’s message. They share the good news with people as directed by the Holy Spirit, giving others the opportunity to accept Jesus as their Redeemer and Savior.
Pastors are caretakers of the church. Translated from the word shepherd, pastors are teachers who help other believers grow in knowledge and faith.
Teachers disciple those who have already made a profession of faith. The instruction strengthens believers.
What Paul is telling us here is that God has appointed each of us to a job. What? You don’t think you are any of those.
Somewhere along the line growing up, I picked up the saying leaders, followers, and rug rats. You know, the take-charge people, the worker bees, and the dead weight.
God doesn’t expect us to be rug rats. Dead weight is not acceptable.
How Are We to Use the Gifts?
“to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Eph. 4: 12 RSV)
God expects us to use these gifts to further His kingdom. Now, don’t be saying you aren’t a saint. Remember, we decided that all believers are saints.
We are saints because we are holy. Both mean set apart. God has set us apart to be perfect and pure and has given us the title saints to signify that.
If we look at the King James Version for this verse, it reads, “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Eph. 4: 12). Perfecting is a scary thought because we know we are far from perfect.
But, when we are perfecting something — say a recipe — aren’t we tinkering with it so it will be better? Maybe we are trying different spices or ingredients to get a better taste. Maybe we want to switch things up to make it healthier.
We know God has to tinker with us. There are areas in our lives where we have to grow closer to Him. We have some work to do before we are perfect and pure.
What is the work of the ministry? We are to help people with the ABCDs.
The ABCDs of Salvation
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
Our mission is to help others realize they need to admit their sins, believe on Jesus as Redeemer, and confess God as Sovereign Lord. Then we have to help them demonstrate that commitment. We have to teach them so that they can grow in grace and knowledge (II Pet. 3: 18). We also need to help them grow so they can follow the disciples’ job description.
We’ve talked before about the body being the church. We said that baptism into one body by the Spirit brings us unity through one Lord. Paul sums this up by using the term body of Christ.
The whole purpose of the work is to build up the church. We have to learn God’s laws and commandments. We have to learn His ways (Isa. 55: 8-9).
That is going to take work. We will need to seek God. How do we do that?
How to Search and Seek for God
Hearing His Word (Rom. 10: 17 NLT).
Reading His Word (Rev. 1: 3 ESV).
Praying to Him (Heb. 4: 16 ESV).
Studying His Word (Ac. 17: 11 NLT).
Meditating on His Word (Ps. 1: 1-2).
Memorizing His Word (Ps. 119: 11 NLT).
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A Different Unity?
“until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Eph. 4: 13 RSV)
What is unity of the faith? Paul has talked a lot about unity us the last couple of chapters.
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But that was unity of the people. I think this goes back to the one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God.
Our spiritual health is always God’s focus. He didn’t send Jesus to be a pacemaker. He sent Him to be a Savior and Redeemer.
I think Paul is wanting us to work out our salvation with the help of others until we have learned everything we can here on this earth. We aren’t supposed to be satisfied until we know all we can about Him.
Paul likened growing in grace and knowledge to that of a child growing. “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways” (I Cor. 13: 11 ESV).
This is a good analogy to use. Just as we don’t arrive full grown, we aren’t “full grown” when we give our lives to God. We have a lot of learning to do.
Learning comes by accepting one piece of knowledge. Then we get exposed to new material, and we have to evaluate what we already know to see how this applies to that. Does it expand our knowledge? Does it change our beliefs? What changes do we need to make on our lives to reflect what we now believe?
We have to keep growing. No matter how many times we read a passage, God can continue to speak to us through it. That is because we are no longer the same person we were when we last read it. We have more experiences and more knowledge that can change what that passage means to us.
Withstanding the Wind
“so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the cunning of men, by their craftiness in deceitful wiles” (Eph. 4: 14 RSV)
Oh, wow! This is a great verse. Look at the imagery of it.
Paul wanted us to grow because, with out increased understanding, we will be more constant in our faith. We will be less likely to fall prey to Satan’s temptations and to false teachers. Remember, false teachers were prevalent in Paul’s day.
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God wants us to walk in His truth. He wants us to be secure in our relationship with Him, so that, when the winds do start to blow, we are sheltered.
Making the Connections
It is so easy to stop at verse 11. We aren’t apostles. We aren’t evangelists or preachers. We aren’t even teachers.
Thing is, God has a job for each of us to do. We should all build up the body. We should all help other grow to adulthood.
God knows that we each respond to different things. It could be different people or different presentations. Some in the beginning may not like to it in a pew and be preached to because the Spirit is working on them. They may feel more comfortable in someone’s living room.
That is why God gave us so many different gifts. He knew how diverse we are.
How Do We Apply This?
We have to make sure we are perfecting ourselves. Go back and look at the graphic above. I know, I know. It is a favorite of mine. isn’t it?
That is what we need to do to grow our relationship with God. We need to dive into His Word, chew on it, and figure out what it is telling us. We need to pray and listen when we pray.
I get it that we are uncomfortable sharing our faith with others. What do we have to do to get over it?
Because we need to get over it.
God calls each and every one of us to be a witness. There are different presentation models we can use – Three Circles, Roman Road to Salvation, FAITH, just to name a few. Find one that works for you. Practice with someone. Sign up to go on a mission trip.
God doesn’t want us to just sit still. He wants us to grow in our faith and help others grow in theirs.
Father. You have given each of us gifts to use to expand Your kingdom. Help us to grow in our own relationship with You so that we are comfortable sharing our faith with others. Amen.
What do you think?
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