In the context of scripture, we find that a supernatural union is disclosed concerning God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. It is so distinct that you cannot separate them under any guise of diversity, but only discern a divine nature that each personality presents. This is the same manner of union that the whole body of Christ is to have, a discernible divine nature at work in every part, doing its part as a whole under the headship of Christ.
Eph 4:1-3 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, 2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; 3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Obviously, there is a method to be applied to our madness when it comes to the Church as a whole. Paul, by the Holy Spirit, endeavored to bring to the forefront an understanding of the work of the gifts of ministry and the effects it is to have on the body of Christ. However, what has been revealed in these first verses speaks volumes about where we are in respect to this truth. Simply, seen in the fact that if today’s denominational division is forbearing one another in love or endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in peace as one body, I’ll eat my hat.
Eph 4:4-6 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
The Church that Jesus said He would build, as mentioned in Mathew 16:18, is around two thousand years old; yet, it presents a spiritual stature that is far more infantile in its power and authority through Christ than scripture reveals. I know, this conflicts with what is commonly present in the work of ministry, as today’s manner of it is proclaimed to be by the Spirit of God. But the one body as seen here is to be a body of believers all functioning by the same divine nature, in one extent of faith given by God, through revelation by one Holy Spirit, under one Lord, Jesus Christ, through one baptism into the body of Christ, and all of it according to one God, the Father of all.
As mentioned, today’s denominations struggle in their efforts to love one another; instead, they abstain from unity because of doctrinal disparity each upholds as the truth. You know, if we could see the form of the body that Christ is the head of, we would be amazed at how deformed it is, not in a physical sense, but in a spiritual one. The fact that this division exists through power and the right to uphold it is the reason we have today factions of communal statures within the confines of the Church, each declaring to be the one most right in the manner of what is to be the truth among believers.
Eph 4:7-10 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. 8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. 9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
The above verses make it clear who is orchestrating the gifts and works to be done, since only Jesus, the Son of God, has accomplished a spiritual descent and ascension among humanity. He alone has fulfilled every aspect of the Father’s will concerning us as the Church and how it is to be seen on this earth.
Eph 4:11-13 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Paul’s attempt to clarify these gifted positions and their purpose yields a truth concerning today’s stature of faith among the body of Christ. Mediocrity has become the premise of work of faith among many of today’s believers; thus, the Church as a whole has not ventured into what he says is to occur. This is not the fault of God, Christ, or the Holy Spirit; it is the fault of those who stand in these gifts and minister as if they are the ones perfected and no others. Did that get your attention?
The denominational confusion that doctrines bring over scripture has rendered the truth ineffective, and the body of Christ suffers for it, as it abides in a world of evils without power to overcome because of ignorance of the truths it is to operate in faith. The pastoral gift is a positional directive for those who are in the leadership of congregations within churches. But it is a gift that all the body must perceive for their work of ministry.
Example: If you are in some other country doing ministry work and there is a person who the Holy Spirit knows needs Christ through a pastoral manner of presentation, if you know and understand the truth concerning such a capacity, then He can use you to fulfill that purpose. It does not require you to be a pastor to do so, but if you are ignorant of it, then He will need one who isn’t.
The same goes for all these gifts we call the five-fold ministry; each of them, if the truth concerning them is known, gives the Holy Spirit a pathway through a person’s faith to minister as needed through them. While those called into these gifts are fulfilling the supernatural working of it, they are to train up the body of Christ for knowledge of such a gift to work the manner of it through each believer by faith and the Holy Spirit.
I know what I am saying is against the traditional position all denominations hold in regards to these gifts. But if all ministry is confined to those who are gifted, then the world continues to be lost, as there is not enough to bring all to Christ. But you do not have to be an evangelist to be understanding of how such a gift operates by the Holy Spirit, and if you know the truth about it, then He can use you in such a manner of ministry as needed, though you are not gifted to supernaturally operate as one.
How does the truth of the word of God appear? Whatever God has crafted into His word works by the faith of the one who has the truth of it. John 14:10 MSG. Therefore, if the body of Christ knows the truth concerning each of these gifts and understands their purpose then it can by the Holy Sprit be an effective union of spiritual power operating on earth.
Eph 4:14-16 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: 16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
If the body of Christ, from its leadership to its pew followers, were taught the truth as by the Holy Spirit, then so much of this confusion over who we are and what we are supposed to do would be gone. Do you see how the above verse 16 can be at work on the earth through those who know the truth? Pulpits must be filled with the manner of leadership that trains up the whole body of Christ for the work of ministry, which consists of these gifts and the supernatural work they accomplish by those who stand in them.
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