BUILDING UP THE CHURCH
Romans 14:19
Let us therefore
follow after the things, which make for peace, and things wherewith one may
edify another. [KJV]
Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual up building. [NRSV]
So let’s agree to use all our energy in getting along with each other. Help others with encouraging words; don’t drag them down by finding fault. [TM]
Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to
peace and to mutual edification. [NIV]
So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to
build each other up. [NLT]
As we see in these different translations the word
edify is defined “to build”.
The
word edify is taken from the Latin
word “aedificare” - to build, to
erect a house, establish – also – to instruct or improve especially in
spiritual and moral knowledge.
Just
what does it mean to build up the church?
By
taking all of these definitions and putting them together, we come up with the
correct application for “Building up the Church”, which is this.
Each born again believer has an obligation to one another to BUILD UP THE CHURCH SPIRITUALLY
AND MORALLY.
Hebrews
3:6 and 1Peter 2:5 informs us that the church is the house of God and that the
church is essentially all born again believers.
As
followers of Christ, we are instructed from our guidebook [the Bible] to do our
part in building up the house of God.
The
New Testament shows us nine components of “Building up the Church”.
1.
Do not cause others to stumble – Romans 14:19-21
2.
Help weaker Christians – Romans 15:1-3
3.
Show true Christ like love – 1Cor. 8:1 / 13:4-7 / Gal. 5:13-15 / Eph.
4:31-32 / Col. 3:12-17
4.
Seek the good of others – 1Cor.
5.
Express spiritual gifts – 1Cor.
6.
Respect God given authority in the church – 1Cor. 10:8 /
7.
Participate in the ministry of the church – Eph. 4:12-12
8.
Speak words of love, grace, and encouragement – Eph. 4:29 /
9.
Avoid religious arguments – 1Timothy 1:4 / Titus 3:9
1 Corinthians 13
[The Message]
The Way of Love
If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.
If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.
When I was an infant at my mother’s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.
We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
But for right now, until that
completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation:
Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.