Outfitting the Church

When Jesus Christ in His resurrection body ascended into heaven, He didn’t leave us to “feel our way” through the Christian life.

“And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers.” Ephesians 4:11

Why: “For the equipping of the saints for the work of service.” Verse 12

Our Lord has established a system on the earth for the specific purpose of training His people to do a job. That system is called the local church. He gave specific gifts to His church, called communication gifts (teaching), through which His Word could be rightly divided and systematically fed to those able to receive it (saints, holy ones. Those are any and all born-again believers). The technical term for this is exegesis. That means the critical explanation  or interpretation of a text or portion of a text, especially of the Bible. There is a profound purpose to all this---“to the building up of the body of Christ;”

How long do we build?

“Until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” Verse 13

So we are to build each other up, thereby building up the church, by keeping each other’s best interest in mind; speaking, doing and offering that which instructs, edifies and brings saints to maturity in Christ.

This is equipping. It means outfitting for service, fully preparing for an assignment. In the King James Version this New Testament Greek word, katartismos, is translated “perfecting,” implying completeness. There is great comfort in completeness, and a profound sense of purpose.

Now, if Christ has given us teachers and ordered us to be equipped (and He has), then doesn’t it follow that personal training in the word of God and spiritual growth to maturity should be priority #1 on each believer’s list?

“…if you abide in My Word, then you are truly disciples of Mine.” John 8:31
The word “abide” in Greek is meno. It means to continue; to endure. This is an ongoing process...and don't forget that "if." You, individual believer, may continue or you might not. It is your decision to make.Your growth in grace and your testimony for Jesus Christ will be determined by this decision.

“…give attention to the public reading of scripture, to exhortation and teaching.” I Timothy 4:13

“Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress may be evident to all.” I Timothy 4:15. The believer who is studying, learning and growing in Bible knowledge will not remain in obscurity. His advance to maturity will be noticed.

“Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching, persevere (continue steadfastly) in these things…”I Timothy 4:16. Let's not get sloppy with our witness.

And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” 2 Timothy 2:2

And on the Word of God goes, commanding pastors to teach and congregations to learn that which is taught only through His church…the mind of Christ!

Thank God for His Word. That Word in our souls is what sets us apart from the world-system. Without it, even though we are saved, we will think and behave like unbelievers. We are different from the world because of what we know.

2 Peter 3:17-18: “…knowing this beforehand, be on your guard lest, being carried away by the error of unprincipled men, you fall from your own steadfastness. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and forever. Amen.”