Gifts For The Edification Of The Church

“But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says:
‘When He ascended on high, He led captives in His train and gave gifts to men’.” (Ephesians 4:7-8 NIV)

In my last post, I made reference to the Greek work ‘charin’, which we have translated as ‘an account’, as in the account of righteousness that belongs to Jesus.

From Ephesians 4:8, ‘gave gifts to men’, the word for gifts is (singular accusative, by the way) ‘charis’. ‘Charis’ is to bestow graciously. So, we arrive at the word ‘Grace’ as an alternate way of saying ‘gifts’, which we read Paul explaining that Jesus gave gifts.

Look at what Paul says about what God gives in Romans 2:6-8, below;

“God ‘will give to each person according to what he has done’. To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, He will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.”
(Romans 2:6-8 NIV)

Look at how this plays out in Matthew 25:31-46: click here (specifically verses 44-46).


Jesus says in Matthew 7:21-23:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’, will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophecy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from Me, you evil doers!’” (Matthew 7:21-23 NIV)

You may want to ask, “How is it that these people have the Holy Spirit by which they were empowered to prophecy, drive out demons and work miracles?”

Answer:

“If anyone confesses with his mouth that Jesus is Lord (which these people in Matthew 7:21-23 do) and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead that person will be saved.” (Romans 10:8-9)

Paul reiterates from Psalms, in reference to those who confess with their mouths that Jesus is Lord:

“But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says:
‘When He ascended on high, He led captives in His train and gave gifts to men’.” (Ephesians 4:7-8 NIV)

The people in Matthew 7:21-23, as well as those in Matthew 25:31-46 do call Jesus Lord. They believe in Jesus’ ministry and obviously the ministry of the Holy Spirit. So God recognizes them as righteous. They had faith. With that, (and here is the point I am getting at concerning gifts) they received gifts for the edification of the church.

So what was lacking?

Jesus said to them, “I never knew you.” Could it be as Paul says in Romans 2:9, these people were “self-seeking”? Could it be they sought to do these works in an effort to secure eternal life? In their selfishness, they were not seeking a relationship with God through holiness. These people did not consecrate themselves for God’s use?
Paul says:

“It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of good will. The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached..” (Philippians 1:15-18 NIV)

We can now apply Romans 2:6-8. Paul says we will be judged according to what we have done. Christ gives us the opportunity to draw near to God. This is what it means to be saved from ‘the law of sin and death’. But, with out doing, ‘works’ we have no relationship with God. The relationship never grows, only recedes.

In our works, we show ourselves to be the family of God, signing our membership with love. And so, I conclude, the gifts we are given are for the edification of the Church. In using them we cultivate our relationships with man and Jesus Christ. If we sit on them as in the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30 , we can expect that God will not see us as being truly invested in the atonement of Christ. For this, as we see in the parable of the talents, the imagery is of one being cast away from the Master, in the dark and cold where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.