DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
Ephesians 4:14-19 (10/1) Epistle for Thursday
of the Seventeenth Week after Pentecost
The Church and Salvation IV ~ Working Out Salvation: Ephesians
4:14-19, especially vss. 14, 15: “...we
should no longer be children, tossed to and fro...but...grow up in all things
into Him who is the head – Christ....” We
have reviewed the relationship of the Apostolic vision of Salvation to the
Church and creation wherein Christ is disclosed as the sole Source of
Salvation. The Lord Jesus’
saving work has been revealed as occurring within the life of the Church - the
true
How are we 'to work out our Salvation?' The Apostle once said, “...if you
confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has
raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom. 10:9). In this passage, he teaches that the
confessing heart works cooperatively with God in Salvation. God gives both eternal life and the will
to work for it; but He waits for us to join with Him: “Take My yoke upon
you and learn from Me...” (Mt. 11:29).
Our first task in salvation is “...speaking the truth
in love...” (Eph. 4:15).
Think about it. There are a
number of ways to speak the truth: in detachment, bluntly, punishingly, with a
superior attitude, or intensely with determination to convince. We can do any of these, all the while
using nice manners and socially-approved words. However, none of these, in God’s
truth, are the mode that the Apostle Paul is commending.
Of all men, it is the Incarnate Lord who spoke the truth
perfectly - with full personal involvement combined with concern for the
illumination of others. Still,
“in Christ,” the Apostle shared in the Lord’s ability to
speak both Truth to others; and, by grace, he was able to speak with
Christ’s Love - with the caring we associate with “Love
Incarnate.” This manner of
loving and truthful speaking that we are to embrace, learn, and practice is
fully revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Hence, the more He dwells in our hearts by faith, the more we shall be
able to speak to others with that genuine, life-giving love; for Christ Himself
shall speak through us.
The second facet in the work of salvation is taking our
share in the growth and upbuilding of the Body of Christ (vs. 16). Salvation is worked out in our
relationships with all men, but it must begin with our fellow Christians. We are not saved alone, nor apart from
the Church. “...speaking the
truth in love...” (v. 15) is Christ-like when it contributes to the edification
of our brethren struggling beside us for purity, deeper repentance, greater
openness to the Holy Spirit, transparent humility, genuine faith, and
unqualified hope. May God help us
to uncover within ourselves that poverty of spirit, sorrow of heart, meekness,
thirst for righteousness, mercy, peacemaking, and the acceptance of persecution
for the sake of the
The third dimension of the labor required of us for
Salvation is “...giving [ourselves] over...” but not to the
way of this world – rather, to the life of God (vs. 19). We are called upon to avoid walking
“...in the futility of [our] mind...” (v. 17) as do those without
Christ, but, instead, to walk in the way of the Lord, applying His mind as we
choose and act in life. The Apostle
infers this third work of salvation in a series of negatives (vss. 17-19). Consider the opposite, the saving way of
God: to seek the Lord and His will, to search for His illumination, and to
respond to His love with love through personal purity and generosity in all
that we think, choose, and do.
Why should God save us in this life or in the age to come
if we give only lip service to the Gospel, only serving our passions and
desires? Let us take the tiny
understanding God gives us and emulate His radiant life, for He alone heals the
dead blindness of hearts (vss. 18,20).
Illumine our hearts, O Master Who loveth mankind with the
pure light of Thy Gospel.
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