WEEKLY
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
An
international Sunday school lesson commentary
For
Sunday December 31, 2017
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146,000 readers worldwide
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FAITH
TO UNITE
(CHRIST
calls us to unite in love and service)
(Ephesians
4:1-16)
In
Ephesians chapter 4, verses 1-16, the Apostle Paul urges us to maintain
attitudes that express love and unity within the Body of CHRIST, which is the
Church. In the Greek the word Paul uses for “worthy” in verse 1 is “axious” and
it literally means “to balance the scale”. Here Paul is saying that we must
give “equal weight” to our “calling” and “conduct”. In other words, we must
make an effort to practice what we preach, and our doctrine must be balanced
with our lifestyle.
This passage, along with Romans 12:1, and 1
Corinthians 12, constitutes “the Christian image of the holy Body of CHRIST”.
Whenever a person joins themselves to a society or faith, they must obligate themselves
to change or adapt to a living style that is compatible in that society, or
faith. People who choose to join the body of CHRIST must adapt their style of
living into a way that is compatible with GOD’s Word. We must work on being
“humble” and “gentle, and also be “patient” and “loving” to those who are our
“neighbors”, who are also living in the “community of GOD” (v.2).
In verses 4-6 we find no less than seven
theological elements of the Christian Church. There we see that;
·
We
are all one body
·
We
have the same SPIRIT
·
We
have all been called to the same glorious future
·
There
is one LORD
·
There
is one Faith
·
There
is one Baptism
·
There
is one GOD and FATHER over us all, in us all, and living through us all.
JESUS,
the ONE WHO descended from Heaven to this lowly earth in order to usher in to
us, “a brand New Covenant” from GOD, is also the ONE WHO gives us all certain
gifts that should be used to enhance, improve, nourish, and grow HIS Body, the
Church. The apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers are
responsible for equipping GOD’s people to do HIS work and build the Church to
the point, where, we are unified in Faith and knowledge of JESUS CHRIST, and,
are mature and full grown in the LORD. Our goal is to measure up to the example
that CHRIST JESUS showed us as a 100% man, during HIS life here on earth
(Vs.11-13).
GOD does not wish for us to continue to act
like children who can’t make up their minds about what they believe. HE doesn’t
wish for us to fall prey to the cleaver liars who make their deceitful words
sound like the truth (v.14). And if we are able to hold fast to the truth,
becoming more and more like CHRIST, the whole Body will be fitted together
perfectly as each part (person) does their own specially assigned work. By
performing our own special work assignment to the best of our GOD-given
ability, we will also be helping the other parts of the Church to grow so that
the whole Body is healthy and operational, and filled with love (v.15-16).
To waver back and forth like a ship lost at
sea, is not the life of a true Christian. Each member of the Body of CHRIST
must grow and mature and reflect GOD’s image to others through our own
behavior, by standing firm in GOD’s Word. Satan will always plant people in the
Church who will try to introduce his agenda through the things that are popular
in the world, such as miming (witch craft), worldly music, trunk or treat,
trunk fest, fall festivals and other things that parallel Halloween, etc., but
serious, mature Christians must resist such influences in the Church, and, in
their personal lives.
The Church must function like a body
because it is a body, the Body of CHRIST. It needs all of its parts to be
working properly, held together by “love” if it is to have a productive
spiritual life, and grow by GOD’s standard of success, not the world’s
standard. And we should always remember that, most importantly, the one thing
that will keep the Church healthy and efficient, is by it maintaining an
intimate and personal connection to JESUS CHRIST, WHO is the head, brains,
mind, and SPIRIT of the Body.
The Church has never needed our human ingenuity
to operate successfully. It only needs us to share the gifts with the Church
that GOD has so graciously given us, and it is incumbent upon us to know the
difference. We don’t need to try and improve upon that which GOD has already
perfectly set up. We just need to be obedient and do things the way GOD says do
it. And when we take the time to study the plan of GOD, we’ll find that it is
not open to our own personal interpretation, but rather, we’ll find that “the
Word of GOD interprets itself to us” all by itself.
A Sunday school lesson
by,
Larry D. Alexander
LARRY D. ALEXANDER- Official Website
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