What will be the result from God’s gifts?
(Ephesians 4:1-16; Acts 2:33; 1 Corinthians 12:1-13) Blog Aug 06-12, 2023
Prepared by Richard A. Marin: Present Truth PO Box 700, Fallbrook CA 92088-0700 USA
REVIEW: Believers in Jesus receive all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. The grace that is ours in heaven overflows in gifts to believers on earth. The Holy Spirit indwells believers giving them power to comprehend and experience the love of God in their lives and making them witnesses to others and to angels and unfallen worlds.
Personal Power
1. Whom does Paul address as he begins chapter 4 of Ephesians? Paul ended his prayer to God in chapter three & now turns to believers in the church & what he desires them to do (Eph. 4:1).
2. To what does Paul make reference when he begins chapter 4 with the word “therefore”? The word “therefore” refers to what Paul has already written about believers having every spiritual blessing in Christ who has broken down the dividing wall & has given them unlimited internal power (Eph. 1:3; 2:14; 3:6, 16).
3. What internal qualities will we have to have in order to put up with other members? In order to put up with other members we will need humility & longsuffering, considering others better than ourselves for we also are faulty Christians (Eph. 4:2; Rom. 3:23; Phil. 2:3).
4. Of what thought expressed in chapter 2 are we reminded by Ephesians 4:2-3? The idea of forbearing other church members & endeavoring to keep unity reminds us that the church is still under construction & not perfect yet (Eph. 2:21; 4:2-3).
5. What should we understand from the words “walk,” “forbear,” and “endeavor”? These are action words that tell us that we will need to exercise diligent human effort to fulfill Paul’s request (Eph. 4:1-3).
6. What kind of unity is Paul writing about in Ephesians 4? Paul is writing about unity of the Spirit & not about a legislated ecclesiastical unity (Eph. 4:3).
7. What spiritual truth does Paul add that greatly helps church unity? The truth that there is only one visible, organized church with only one Holy Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, & one God over all greatly helps church unity (Eph. 4:4-6).
8. What truth about the Godhead is expressed in verses 4-6? Each member of the God is presented as “one” showing that it is made up of three equal persons each having different functions (Eph. 4:4-6; Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14).
Gifts from Heaven
9. To how many believers does God give gifts of the Spirit? Every believer has every spiritual blessing in heaven & to each is given spiritual gifts according to their faith (Eph. 4:7; Matt. 9:29; 1 Cor. 12:7).
10. How did Jesus earn the right to give gifts unto men? It was by bitter conflict on earth that Jesus earned the right to receive the Holy Spirit which he gave to men (Eph. 4:8-10; John 17:4; Acts 2:33; 5:32; Phil. 2:6-8).
11. How does Daniel portray Christ giving unmerited gifts to his disciples? Daniel says that after the Prince of the Covenant was slain, he would come up & do something unusual by giving his people “the prey, and spoil, and riches” (Dan. 11:22-24).
12. Who are the captives that Jesus took with him to heaven? Jesus took with him back to heaven the captives from the graves that were opened at his death (Eph. 4:8; Matt. 27:50-53).
13. For what purpose did Jesus give gifts to his church? The gifts given to the church by Jesus are “for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:12).
14. What will be the result from making the proper use of God’s gifts? The gifts God has given his church will result in bringing entire unity of faith, a full indwelling of God’s Spirit, & perfection of character to God’s people (Eph. 4:13).
Present Results
15. What effect will the gifts God gives his people have in the church today? The exercise of God’s gifts brings current doctrinal stability, emotional stability, & safeguards against deceivers (Eph. 4:14).
16. What kind of church growth do the gifts bring? Paul says that the gifts bring spiritual growth in Christ which probably also result in increased membership (Eph. 4:15-16).
17. What underlying principle makes the gifts exercised in God’s church effective? It is love that must undergird every exercise of the gifts so that the body of Christ is perfected (Eph. 4:16; 1 Cor. 13:1-3).
18. How can we receive benefit from other church member who rightly use their gifts? Only those who are part of God’s church receive all the benefits that come from other members. There are true believers outside of God’s church, but Jesus wants to bring them into the church where all his gifts are exercised (Eph. 4:16; John 10:16; 1 Cor. 12:6).