SUNDAY June 6, 2021

The Unity of Faith

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ....
Ephesians 4:11-13

The Apostle Paul had already explained about the purpose of the Church to the Ephesian believers and why the Church exists. He went on to say that the body of Christ was made up of many different members. Each person was equipped with different gifts of the Holy Spirit.

This is what is so unique about the Church. God gathers believers into one place, and every person receives spiritual gifts according to His purpose. They are used by the power of the Holy Spirit, in unity, so that the Church can do its effective work in a world that is so dark. Often the main problem is unifying believers to accomplish the work of God. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, spoke of the unity to be found in body of Christ:

For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many.

Paul explained the function of believers working together in unity with the analogy of an intricate human body (1 Corinthians 12:15-31). We are one body, with different members. Not everyone receives the same gifts. God will place a person in the body of Christ where they can use their gifts and their talents effectively. God is the One who works through us.

The Church is the most complex of all human organizations. It is what we call goal conflicted. One goal is to send people forth; another is to care for them. People are always either getting on a stretcher, or getting off ...The Church is like a hospital where sick people come to receive help, to be totally made whole though the work of redemption in Jesus Christ.
~Ed Dalton~

For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!