Ephesians 4:1-16
Unity in the Body of Christ
1I therefore, aa prisoner for the Lord, urge you to bwalk in a manner worthy of cthe calling to which you have been called, 2with all dhumility and egentleness, with fpatience, gbearing with one another in love, 3eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in hthe bond of peace. 4There is ione body and jone Spirit—just as you were called to the one khope that belongs to your call— 5 lone Lord, mone faith, none baptism, 6 oone God and Father of all, pwho is over all and through all and in all. 7But qgrace was given rto each one of us saccording to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8Therefore it says,t“When he ascended on high uhe led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.” ▼
▼The Greek word anthropoi can refer to both men and women
9( wIn saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into xthe lower regions, the earth? ▼
▼Or the lower parts of the earth?
10He who descended is the one who also zascended aafar above all the heavens, that he might abfill all things.) 11And ache gave the adapostles, the prophets, the aeevangelists, the afshepherds ▼▼Or pastors
and teachers, ▼▼Or the shepherd-teachers
12 aito equip the saints for the work of ministry, for ajbuilding up akthe body of Christ, 13until we all attain to althe unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, amto mature manhood, ▼▼Greek to a full-grown man
to the measure of the stature of aothe fullness of Christ, 14so that we may no longer be children, aptossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in aqdeceitful schemes. 15Rather, arspeaking the truth in love, we are to asgrow up in every way into him who is atthe head, into Christ, 16 aufrom whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, avwhen each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
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