{"id":1170,"date":"2015-04-23T14:52:36","date_gmt":"2015-04-23T19:52:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dsoemarko.us\/christian\/?p=1170"},"modified":"2015-04-25T17:17:55","modified_gmt":"2015-04-25T22:17:55","slug":"from-unity-to-unity-4-serve-in-unity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dsoemarko.us\/christian\/?p=1170","title":{"rendered":"From Unity to Unity (4): Serve in Unity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scripture: Ephesians 4:7-13
\n\"Unity4\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Believers are given the unity of the Spirit (4:3) and are expected to make every effort to keep it as there is a strong basis for unity (4:4-6). But unity is not to be maintained just for the purpose of our own enjoyment. Rather, it is so that, with the grace of God, every believers can take his or her part and serve God so that the body of Christ may be built up (4:12).<\/p>\n

That is why Paul does not stop with unity but continues his teaching with serving.<\/p>\n

As we serve God, there are a couple of things we need to keep in mind:<\/p>\n

Serving is a grace.<\/h3>\n

Paul describes his calling to preach the gospel as an administration of God’s grace<\/span> (3:2). In describing the Philippians’ participation in his missionary works, Paul joyfully calls them sharers of God’s grace<\/span> (Phil 1:5, 7). In this section where he describes the “works of service” of the people of God, he says “to each one of us grace has been given<\/span> as Christ apportioned it.” (4:7)<\/p>\n

How beautiful it is when people of God sees serving as a grace we receive from God! Such a humble heart and attitude must be pleasing to God and to other fellow servers as well.<\/p>\n

Diversity of Servers is a gift from God.<\/h3>\n

Unity does not mean uniformity. While vv. 1-6 stress unity, vv. 7-13 describe different roles and positions of people who serve God (v. 11). This diversity is described as a gift of Christ (vv. 7, 11).1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Thus we are to appreciate different positions and roles2<\/a><\/sup> when different people come together to serve God. Of course, from the context we know that ultimate appreciation should go to Christ.<\/p>\n

When people of God come together “for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up,” it is important that we all serve with a\u00a0right heart and attitude. Hopefully seeing that serving is a grace of God and that different people is also a gift from God will serve as a reminder for us to serve properly.<\/p>\n

\n

1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.<\/span><\/em>
\n2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.<\/span><\/em>
\n3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.<\/span><\/em>
\n4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called;<\/span><\/em>
\n5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;<\/span><\/em>
\n6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.<\/span><\/em>
\n7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.<\/em><\/span>
\n8 This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.”<\/em><\/span>
\n9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions?<\/em><\/span>
\n10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)<\/em><\/span>
\n11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,<\/em><\/span>
\n12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up<\/em><\/span>
\n13 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.<\/em><\/span>
\n14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.<\/span><\/em>
\n15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the head, that is, Christ.<\/span><\/em>
\n16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

(Eph 4:1-16)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scripture: Ephesians 4:7-13 Believers are given the unity of the Spirit (4:3) and are expected to make every effort to keep it as there is a strong basis for unity (4:4-6). But unity is not to be maintained just for the purpose of our own enjoyment. Rather, it is so that, with the grace of God, every believers can take …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[24,23,4,60],"class_list":["post-1170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ephesians","tag-bible-study","tag-church","tag-ephesians-2","tag-unity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dsoemarko.us\/christian\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dsoemarko.us\/christian\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dsoemarko.us\/christian\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dsoemarko.us\/christian\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dsoemarko.us\/christian\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1170"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.dsoemarko.us\/christian\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1170\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1185,"href":"https:\/\/www.dsoemarko.us\/christian\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1170\/revisions\/1185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dsoemarko.us\/christian\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dsoemarko.us\/christian\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dsoemarko.us\/christian\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}