Reading Ephesians 4:1-16, NIV
Summary: Im humility and gentleness, build each others up in the body in peace and love to unity and maturity-different levels of maturity of different parts; mature, firm rooted, not toss to and fro OR blown here and there, and get up-rooted; the ligaments support the body; every part has its own function in serving Christ, the Head; one body, one God and the Father
Map: live a life worthy of calling-humble, gentle, patient, bearing one another in love; keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace-one body, one spirit, one hope, one God and Father, one baptism; buld up the body of Christ to full maturity-no longer infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, blown here and there by every wind of teaching…unsteady, weak and can be easily uprooted; instead speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ (vs 15,NIV); …held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work (vs 16, NIV).
Ephesians 4:1-16, GNB
[1]I urge you, then — I who am a prisoner because I serve the Lord: live a life that measures up to the standard God set when he called you.
[2]Be always humble, gentle, and patient. Show your love by being tolerant with one another.
[3]Do your best to preserve the unity which the Spirit gives by means of the peace that binds you together.
[4]There is one body and one Spirit, just as there is one hope to which God has called you.
[5]There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
[6]there is one God and Father of all, who is Lord of all, works through all, and is in all.
[7]Each one of us has received a special gift in proportion to what Christ has given.
[8]As the scripture says: “When he went up to the very heights, he took many captives with him; he gave gifts to people.”
[9]Now, what does “he went up” mean? It means that first he came down to the lowest depths of the earth.
[10]So the one who came down is the same one who went up, above and beyond the heavens, to fill the whole universe with his presence.
[11]It was he who “gave gifts”; he appointed some to be apostles, others to be prophets, others to be evangelists, others to be pastors and teachers.
[12]He did this to prepare all God’s people for the work of Christian service, in order to build up the body of Christ.
[13]And so we shall all come together to that oneness in our faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God; we shall become mature people, reaching to the very height of Christ’s full stature.
[14]Then we shall no longer be children, carried by the waves and blown about by every shifting wind of the teaching of deceitful people, who lead others into error by the tricks they invent.
[15]Instead, by speaking the truth in a spirit of love, we must grow up in every way to Christ, who is the head.
[16]Under his control all the different parts of the body fit together, and the whole body is held together by every joint with which it is provided. So when each separate part works as it should, the whole body grows and builds itself up through love.