{"id":21276,"date":"2022-11-16T23:02:49","date_gmt":"2022-11-16T23:02:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/?p=21276"},"modified":"2023-01-03T21:59:55","modified_gmt":"2023-01-03T21:59:55","slug":"body-building-exercises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/?p=21276","title":{"rendered":"Body\u2013Building Exercises"},"content":{"rendered":"

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[Note: <\/strong>This MS is available in larger font on our Brief Articles 1<\/strong> page.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Paul frequently speaks of the church as \u201cthe body\u201d in his epistles. His constant concern is that it be healthy, growing, vital.\u00a0 In his Ephesian letter (4:11\u201316), Paul describes the \u201cexercises\u201d required for spiritual body building.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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  1. Appropriate Organization and Work Distribution<\/strong> (vv. 11\u201312).\u00a0 Paul lists the roles of service common to the church in the first century, some of which (apostles, prophets) were not perpetuated beyond that time. In this list can be seen the diverse functions brethren accomplished and the division of labor involved in that accomplishment. The more members a church puts to work, the more it is going to grow. We must all find our place and fill it.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Unity of the Faith<\/strong> (v. 13). God\u2019s Word constantly urges unity and condemns division, but never is \u201cpeace-at-any-price\u201d compromise allowed. The best organization and division of labor are useless if brethren are not one in the faith (which comes only from the Word [Rom. 10:17]). There is room for differences in matters of opinion (Acts 15:37ff), but not in matters of doctrine, \u201cthe faith\u201d (Rom. 16:17; Jude 3). We must stand as one on the BOOK!<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Unity of the Knowledge <\/strong>(v. 13\u201314). The body can\u2019t grow without nourishment. The diet must be consistent, unified. Our teachers must teach the same things on a given subject or a great confusion will result (1 Cor. 1:10). We are dupes for \u201cevery wind of doctrine\u201d and the \u201cwiles of error\u201d if we disdain opportunities to learn the WORD.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Speak the Truth in Love <\/strong>(v. 15). We are to deal honestly with each other. Our words must be rooted in \u201cthe truth.\u201d They must all be tempered by love. One loveless, albeit truthful, tongue can cause a soul to be lost or a church to suffer constant turmoil, preventing growth. Let us love in word and deed!<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Recognition of Interdependence (v.16). <\/strong>\u201cFramed and knit together\u201d \u201cevery joint supplieth,\u201d working \u2026of each several part\u201d tell the story. We need others and others need us! We can\u2019t ignore these \u201cexercises\u201d and grow.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    [Note:<\/strong> I wrote this article for, and it was published in the February 26, 1976, edition of the Granbury Gospel, <\/em>weekly bulletin of the Granbury Church of Christ, Granbury, Texas, of which I was editor.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Attribution:<\/strong> From thescripturecache.com<\/em>; Dub McClish, owner and administrator.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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    Views: 0[Note: This MS is available in larger font on our Brief Articles 1 page.] Paul frequently speaks of the church as \u201cthe body\u201d in his epistles. His constant concern is that it be healthy, growing, vital.\u00a0 In his Ephesian letter (4:11\u201316), Paul describes the…<\/p>\n

    Continue Reading… Body\u2013Building Exercises<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,596,102,1018,1130,112,125,456],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faith","category-knowledge","category-love","category-organized-religion","category-sharing","category-truth","category-unity","category-work","wpcat-36-id","wpcat-596-id","wpcat-102-id","wpcat-1018-id","wpcat-1130-id","wpcat-112-id","wpcat-125-id","wpcat-456-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21276"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21276\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21701,"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21276\/revisions\/21701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}