Ephesians 4:1-16
Ephesians 4:1-16 (Good News Translation)
1I urge you, then—I who am a prisoner because I serve the Lord: live a
life that measures up to the standard God set when he called you.
2Be always humble, gentle, and patient. Show your love by being
tolerant with one another.
3Do your best to preserve the unity which the Spirit gives by
means of the peace that binds you together.
4There is one body and one Spirit, just as there is one hope to
which God has called you.
5There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
6there is one God and Father of all people, who is Lord of all,
works through all, and is in all.
7Each one of us has received a special gift in proportion to
what Christ has given.
8As the scripture says,
"When he went up to the very heights,
he took many captives with him;
he gave gifts to people."
9Now, what does
"he went up" mean? It means that first he came down to the
lowest depths of the earth.
10So the one who came down is the same one who went up, above
and beyond the heavens, to fill the whole universe with his presence.
11It was he who
"gave gifts to people"; he appointed some to be apostles, others
to be prophets, others to be evangelists, others to be pastors and
teachers.
12He did this to prepare all God's people for the work of
Christian service, in order to build up the body of Christ.
13And so we shall all come together to that oneness in our
faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God; we shall become mature
people, reaching to the very height of Christ's full stature.
14Then we shall no longer be children, carried by the waves and
blown about by every shifting wind of the teaching of deceitful people, who
lead others into error by the tricks they invent.
15Instead, by speaking the truth in a spirit of love, we must
grow up in every way to Christ, who is the head.
16Under his control all the different parts of the body fit
together, and the whole body is held together by every joint with which it
is provided. So when each separate part works as it should, the whole body
grows and builds itself up through love.
1I urge you, then—I who am a prisoner because I serve the Lord: live a
life that measures up to the standard God set when he called you.
2Be always humble, gentle, and patient. Show your love by being
tolerant with one another.
3Do your best to preserve the unity which the Spirit gives by
means of the peace that binds you together.
4There is one body and one Spirit, just as there is one hope to
which God has called you.
5There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
6there is one God and Father of all people, who is Lord of all,
works through all, and is in all.
7Each one of us has received a special gift in proportion to
what Christ has given.
8As the scripture says,
"When he went up to the very heights,
he took many captives with him;
he gave gifts to people."
9Now, what does
"he went up" mean? It means that first he came down to the
lowest depths of the earth.
10So the one who came down is the same one who went up, above
and beyond the heavens, to fill the whole universe with his presence.
11It was he who
"gave gifts to people"; he appointed some to be apostles, others
to be prophets, others to be evangelists, others to be pastors and
teachers.
12He did this to prepare all God's people for the work of
Christian service, in order to build up the body of Christ.
13And so we shall all come together to that oneness in our
faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God; we shall become mature
people, reaching to the very height of Christ's full stature.
14Then we shall no longer be children, carried by the waves and
blown about by every shifting wind of the teaching of deceitful people, who
lead others into error by the tricks they invent.
15Instead, by speaking the truth in a spirit of love, we must
grow up in every way to Christ, who is the head.
16Under his control all the different parts of the body fit
together, and the whole body is held together by every joint with which it
is provided. So when each separate part works as it should, the whole body
grows and builds itself up through love.
God bless you.
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