The priorities of a biblical church : An exegesis of Ephesians 4:1-16 and its implications to the Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches

Abstract

The special paper is about unity, edification and maturity. The main objective is to understand unity, edification, and maturity, three priorities necessary for the church to have as it fulfills its God-given mandate to witness in the world. This understanding and appreciation will be of much help to the Body of Christ because the lack of them will have a negative effect in the fulfillment of said mandate.

Unity, edification and maturity are going to be studied exegetically based on Ephesians 4:1-16. The questions that will be pursued are the following: (1) What is unity, edification and maturity? (2) How are unity, edification and maturity related? (3) How are the three related to the mission of the people of God which is to bring order in a divided and distorted cosmos? (4) How are the results of the study going to affect the existing realities in the Convention of the Philippine Baptist Churches?

The exegesis will concentrate on topics that were chosen based on the text which when understood are expected to contribute to the understanding of unity, edification and maturity. They are (1) the calling, v.l; (2) the characters and community life, w.2-3; (3) the creed of unity, vv.4-6; (4) the charis, vv.7-12; (5) the Christ-like image, vv.l3-15a; and (6) the Christ-Body-Head metaphor, vv.l5b-16.

The conclusions and implications based on the exegesis are included in chapters III (Letter F) and IV, respectively