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Ephesians 4:16 – Growth At Work

Posted on November 9, 2015 by Will

from whom the whole body, having been closely joined together and united by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working in the measure of every single part, produces the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

Truth to Learn

Growth of the body depends on all parts doing their part.

Behind the Words

The word “from” is translated from ek, meaning “out of.” This word indicates the source from which something is derived.

“Closely joined together” is from sunarmologeō, which is made up of sun, meaning “together,” harmos, meaning “an articulation (a joint), and logos, meaning “a word spoken.” Actually, the original meaning of logos was “to lay forth,” which is the sense in which it is used in this word. Sunarmelogeō means “to be laid-out closely together.” It is a picture of blocks of stone which are laid down together, fitting perfectly because they have been shaped into a perfect fit.

“United” is translated from the Greek word sumbibadzō, which is made up of sun, meaning “together” and bibadzō, meaning “to uplift.” Thus, sumbibadzō means “to knit together” or “to unite together.” This is a picture of two bushes planted close together which grow into each other so that they form the appearance of a single bush.

The word “joint” is haphē, which refers to “that which connects or joins two things, like a ligament.”

“Growth” is translated from auxēis, which is based on auxanō (which we saw in yesterday’s verse) meaning “growth as a result of an outside power.”

“Building up” is from the Greek word oikodomē, which is made up of oikos, meaning “a house” or “a dwelling place” and the base of demō, meaning “to build.” Oikodomē refers to the edifying, or building up of a structure, an organization, or a person.

Meaning Explained

This verse starts out with “from whom.” This is a reference to Jesus Christ who is the head of the body. The words from “joined” to “every single part” are parenthetical. So to understand the base meaning behind this verse, we could temporarily exclude the parenthetical expression. Thus, we have “from whom the whole body … produces the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.” In other words, it is Jesus Christ working through the church which causes all the body to grow. Keep in mind that the word “growth” refers to that growth which is caused by an outside power. So, the source of growth in the body of Christ is God, but the process of growth is through all the various parts of the body, with each one doing his or her part.

In the parenthetical expression we are told a little about how the body is put together and how it functions. The words translated “closely joined together and united” tell us that every part of the body is specially formed and gifted by God to be perfectly joined to the other parts of the body. But it doesn’t stop there. As we are joined together in service to and with our brothers and sisters, we actually grow together. We become so united that we become an inseparable unit (that’s the unity that Paul has been talking about for most of this chapter).

The final point to learn is that the growth of the body depends on every part doing its share. If part of the body is not working, it becomes like a cancer sucking the life out of the church.

Application

From these last few verses we see how important it is for members of the church to be growing. In order for that to happen, though, we all have to be working, performing the function for which God has gifted us. Let’s all get to work and build up the body together!

In God's service, for His glory,

Ephesians 4:16 – Growth At Work

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Will

from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

Truth to Learn

Growth of the body depends on all parts doing their part.

Behind the Words

The word “from” is translated from ek, meaning “out of.” This word indicates the source from which something is derived.

“Joined … together” is from sunarmologeō, which is made up of sun, meaning “together,” harmos, meaning “an articulation (a joint), and logos, meaning “a word spoken.” Actually, the original meaning of logos was “to lay forth,” which is the sense in which it is used in this word. Sunarmelogeō means “to be laid-out closely together.” It is a picture of blocks of stone which are laid down together, fitting perfectly because they have been shaped into a perfect fit.

“Knit together” is translated from the Greek word sumbibadzō, which is made up of sun, meaning “together” and bibadzō, meaning “to uplift.” Thus, sumbibadzō means “to knit together” or “to unite together.” This is a picture of two bushes planted close together which grow into each other so that they form the appearance of a single bush.

The word “joint” is haphē, which refers to “that which connects or joins two things, like a ligament.”

“Growth” is translated from auxēis, which is based on auxanō (which we saw in yesterday’s verse) meaning “growth as a result of an outside power.”

Meaning Explained

This verse starts out with “from whom.” This is a reference to Jesus Christ who is the head of the body. The words between “joined” and “its share” are parenthetical, so to understand the base meaning behind this verse, we could temporarily exclude the parenthetical expression. Thus, we have “from whom the whole body … causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love." In other words, it is Jesus Christ working through the church which causes all the body to grow. Keep in mind that the word “growth” refers to that growth which is caused by an outside power. So, the source of growth in the body of Christ is God, but the process of growth is through all the various parts of the body, with each one doing its share.

In the parenthetical expression we are told a little about how the body is put together and how it functions. The words translated “joined and knit together” tell us that every part of the body is specially formed and gifted by God to be perfectly joined to the other parts of the body. But it doesn’t stop there. As we are joined together in service to and with our brothers and sisters, we actually grow together. We become so knit together that we become an inseparable unit (that’s the unity that Paul has been talking about for most of this chapter).

The final point to learn is that the growth of the body depends on every part doing its share. If part of the body is not working, it becomes like a cancer sucking the life out of the church.

Application

In God's service, for His glory,

2 Peter 1:8 – A Growing Christian

Posted on April 13, 2009 by admin

2 Peter 1:8

For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Truth to Learn

We need to be continually growing in our Christian faith.

Behind the Words

The word “possess” is the Greek word huparchonta, which means “to begin to be” or “to come into existence.” It is expressed here as a present, active participle, indicating continual action. So we could translate the beginning of this verse as, “For if these things are beginning to be to you” or “For if you are continually acquiring these things.”

The words “in increasing measure” are translated from the Greek word pleonadzō, which means “to cause to increase.” In the Greek text this word and huparchonta are joined by the equivalent of our English word “and.” The implication is that we should be constantly acquiring these character qualities and consistently building on what we already have.

“Ineffective” is from argos, meaning “not working” or “inactive,” and “unproductive” is from akarpos, meaning “without fruit.”

Meaning Explained

Okay, so why is it so important that we develop these Christian qualities that Peter has been talking about? Why should we work hard at developing faith, morality, knowledge and understanding, self-control, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love? Peter says that if these qualities are constantly growing in us then we will neither be idle nor unfruitful.

The last phrase of today’s verse is a little misleading due to an unfortunate translation. The word translated “in” is the Greek word “eis” which means “into” or “unto” implying a result, and the word translated “knowledge” is the word “epignosin” which means complete knowledge or full understanding. Peter is saying that developing these Christian qualities in abundance will result in constant successful efforts in the service of the King, resulting in a complete understanding of Him.

This was the Apostle Paul’s desire in Philippians 3:8-10 where he expressed disdain for the things of this world in favor of knowing Christ,

But whatever things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. But no, rather, I also count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them to be dung, so that I may win Christ and be found in Him; not having my own righteousness, which is of the Law, but through the faith of Christ, the righteousness of God by faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable to His death;

Is that your desire, to disdain worldly accomplishments, to know God better, to serve Him more faithfully?

Application

Back in verse five we said: as a Christian you’re either moving forward, or you’re sliding backward. Which direction is your Christian life going? Which way does God want you to go?

In God’s service, for His glory,

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