11 And His gifts were [varied; He Himself appointed and gave men to us] some to be apostles (special messengers), some prophets (inspired preachers and expounders), some evangelists (preachers of the Gospel, traveling missionaries), some pastors (shepherds of His flock) and teachers.
12 His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people), [that they should do] the work of ministering toward building up Christ's body (the church),
13 [That it might develop] until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the [full and accurate] knowledge of the Son of God, that [we might arrive] at really mature manhood (the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ's own perfection), the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him.
Our Father has anointed some men with special ministering gifts. He has done this so that we may all be fully equipped and one and so that we may all mature to the full stature of Christ’s Own perfection. This is done by the Holy Spirit using us to preach, teach, and prophesy. The Truth is that faith comes from hearing the Truth and the Truth is what sets us free. So it should be preached by these men that there is only One Spirit, One Body, and One Father, and that we are all now, this day, one with them. And because we are now part of the One, as Jesus is One with the One, so are we. The Truth is not that we will have all of these things, but that we do have all of these things. This is the Truth that will set us free and this is the Truth that will cause the world to believe that they are loved just as Jesus is loved, John 17:23!
14 So then, we may no longer be children, tossed [like ships] to and fro between chance gusts of teaching and wavering with every changing wind of doctrine, [the prey of] the cunning and cleverness of unscrupulous men, [gamblers engaged] in every shifting form of trickery in inventing errors to mislead.
So many are tossed to and fro because they believe that there is some separation between us and our Father. They believe that there are many bodies in Christ, not just one. They look to themselves and to their own strength and abilities to accept and believe the Truth. They believe that they have their parts to play apart from our Father. Unscrupulous men teach this, preying on peoples fear. They use fear and guilt to con money from people. They preach that we must act on our own, so that we look to them for help. They always want the focus to be on sin and the weaknesses of man to keep the people under condemnation and control. But the Truth is freeing and the Truth is that we are now One, there is no separation between us and our Father. And amen, Greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world.
We have the perfect love of our Father dwelling within us and His perfect love drives all fear from us, 1 John 4:17. We are free to take absolutely no thought for our own life’s, as we are consumed with taking thought and interceding for others, Matthew 6:32-34. Through our Father’s love we have been perfected, regardless of our works. Our Father’s love is the work and it never leaves us or forsakes us.
No comments:
Post a Comment