The Operation of Spiritual Gifts Within God’s Church

Sunday, October 14, 2018

The Equipping & Building Of The Church (Ephesians 4:12-16)

Unfortunately, in many churches, only the office of the pastor seemingly is in operation. Christ’s intent was that all of his saints, having been graced with a measure of his gift, would operate in their gifting “in order that everything in the church might be well arranged, or put into its proper place. Why? That Christians may have every possible advantage for becoming complete in love, and knowledge and order.”[1]  The main idea here is that the church becomes mature when Christ’s gifts are functioning within the community of believers. Jesus proclaimed he would build his church (Matthew 16:18), and he saw fit to govern such an organism through these various offices.

The equipping and building up as described in Ephesians 4:12 is an individual and a collective effort. The aim here is maturity or completeness in Christ (1 Corinthians 1:10). In another of his writings on spiritual gifts the apostle Paul emphasizes the importance of the exercise of gifts –“Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.”[2]