You Have an Important Part to Play in the Growth of the Church

“To each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, ‘When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men’ …each individual part, causes the growth of the body” (Eph 4:7, 8, 16).

For emphasis, let me restate specific parts of this in a condensed, chronological, and clear way:

“each one of us… was given… the gift… gifts… each individual part”.

Do you get the point? This means that you yourself have received a “gift” or “gifts” from Jesus to cause His church body to grow. This brings us to the next exciting thought: Christianity has been designed by God to be participatory in its nature. Its membership is to be participatory vs. non-participatory. What this means is that God has a special “part” (vs. 16) for you to play in His church and He has gifted you to do it. But after finishing this whole study, you will see that your participation must be done properly vs. improperly. Christianity is not a free-for-all, neither are its gifts, meetings, assemblies, bodies, ministries, relationships, or families, etc. Our God is a God of fitting order, propriety, and rule in the church (1 Cor 14:33, 40).

Next consider several points from a passage of Scripture that more perfectly illustrates how the gifts of the Holy Spirit cause the church to be like a body with many parts.  

.... more about this in the Bible Study on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit