Building Up

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE EPHESIANS

BUILDING UP

Eph 4:7-13

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 led captives in his train and gave gifts to men."  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 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God's 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.

NIV

Having looked into the gifts to the church, we should now examine why Christ gives the church the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. We should note they are not one of these gifts for their own enjoyment or to have a special station in life, or within the body of Christ. They have been given to the church for the church, to be servants to and for the church. Their main function is to prepare God’s people for works of service. We do think it is interesting the Greek word translated as service is diakonia, the direct meaning is ministering and all throughout the New Testament it is translated as ministry, ministration, or minister. We can see that the office of deacon is within this Greek word. However, diakonia also is used of those who by the command of God proclaim and promote religion among men, which would be pretty good works of service. This word is also used as the ministration of service of apostles, prophets, evangelists’ elders, etc. Diakonia is also used to mean those who render to others the offices of Christian affection. The idea is that this is not associated with what we would think of as “Good works”, or “Good deeds”. The reason for these functions of works of service is so the body of Christ may be built up 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. In other words, any work of service, any ministry that we are all prepared to do, would have nothing to do with us, or holding a special title in the church. It has nothing to do with watching over the building or the church finances or serving on some committee or board. It is all about building up the body of Christ. We are being prepared to build up the body of Christ. This can only be accomplished through interaction with others, building them up, and ensuring they are increasing in their faith and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are being prepared to build each other up so that we become mature believers. This leads us to understand the Greek word translated here as mature, teleios, carries this direct meaning of complete, as in growth, mental and moral character. This Greek word is translated throughout the scriptures as perfect. This would imply to us that we are being prepared to assist our fellow believers in their growth of knowledge and of their moral character, building them up. We cannot do this if we are boasting about ourselves, but rather becoming servants looking to the benefit of others. We are always in the process of being prepared, but at the same time, we should also be in the process of building up the body of Christ.