Here are my thoughts (my Senior thesis) on Ephesians 4:1-13, and topic of church unity and spiritual maturity, I hope you all enjoy!
Most Churches and Christians today have a meager interest or even aversion to the study of the Church, and it is easy to say that most Christians don’t like Ecclesiology. According to Christopher McMahon’s Called together: An Introduction to Ecclesiology, “Ecclesiology is both descriptive and prescriptive” (pg. 3). God calls things into existence and names them, showing that He truly does have a purpose and intention for things in this world. He has designed things to function and to be a certain way, like us as his image bears he has created us to reflect His glory by the way we are to live. We are all called to love God and to love others, as well as, to live righteously according to our gifts and talents that he has given us to rule and subdue the earth according to His likeness. Everything that God does, in fact, has a purpose. Still in our society, many Christian don’t like ecclesiology because many have experienced bad church politics or have experienced a church that was running in a very unhealthy way. Furthermore, for some, ecclesiology is a rather complex topic they avoid it all together and focus more on one’s holiness. Presently, because numerous churches do not know how to handle issues due to having a low level of ecclesiology, common issues are brought to the surface. Some parts include health and wellness, discipline, theological disagreements and much more, which eventually lead to authority abuse, and confusions of one’s role in the Church. These problems lead to many people switching churches, confusion of who Christ is, and how to join and become the true Body of Christ. This paper will show how in Ephesians 4:1-13, the author emphasizes church unity and spiritual maturity to become the Body of Christ.
Catherine Cory’s A Voyage Through the New Testament, she says that “…some biblical scholars have suggested that this document was a kind of ‘open’ letter that could have been sent to any church” (pg. 404). This means that this letter was not designated to a specific church with an immediate message, but rather a general letter that was distributed to a region of churches. The reason why they have come to this conclusion is that according to the text there is not a unique problem that Ephesians is addressing. The Church at Ephesus had a mix of two different groups of people, Jews, and Gentles, which both have had a profound and intensive history of not getting along with each other. Eventually, this caused the Church to have conflict and tension within its walls. Any time there is conflict and tension in any situation there is going to be division. The notion here is the Jews and Gentiles are the children of God, and there is a decentralization of the ethnocentrism and a push have Christ at the center. Paul is immediately suggesting the Church at Ephesus that one’s identity—whether it be Jew or Gentile—all are collectively “in Christ.” Why this is clear is because the phrase “in Christ” shows up twenty-four times in the six chapters of Ephesians (Eph. 1.1; 1:3; 1:10; 1:12; 1:17; 1:20; 2:5; 2:6; 2:7; 2:10; 2:12; 2:13; 3:4; 3:6; 3:9; 3:17; 3:21; 4:13; 4:15; 5:2; 5:5; 5:20; 5:24; 6:5). Theologically speaking, many scholars ask the question, “Is Jesus Christ in you?” or “Are you (the believer) in Christ?” From the textual viewpoint, according to Ephesians 3:17, “so that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith” (NIV), but so is the Holy Spirit. It is “through his Spirit in your inner being” (Eph. 3:16 NIV) that we are strengthened. Researchers, like John MacArthur, have suggested in his book The MacArthur Bible Commentary, that Christ is not to us, but rather “the inner, spiritual person should grow stronger through the Holy Spirit, who will energize, revitalize and empower the obedient, committed Christians (cf. Acts 1:8; Rom. 8:5-9, 13; Gal.5:16) (pg. 1690). Therefore, the Holy Spirit who is a counterpart of Christ is there to help and remind believers to be like Christ in the inner worlds, at the soul level. Johann Adam Möhler, a Catholic Theologian in the Nineteenth Century, “emphasized the work of the Spirit in the life of the believer and the manner in which the Spirit worked to bring about the bond of love and communion that constitutes the Church” (McMahon, 67). Indispensably, the role of the Holy Spirit is a helper of those who believe, with the sole purpose of helping glorify Christ by making the believer experience the work, power, and the nature of Christ.
Ephesians 4:1-13 is the active utilization section of the letter which is written roughly around 90 to 100 C.E. to the Church at Ephesus. The author is unknown, but we can safely assume that it is Paul who is making an application in these last three chapters: four, five and six of the doctrine that he pinned in the first three chapters: Eph. 1, 2, and 3. The city of Ephesus, “because of its location on the western coast of Asia Minor and at the mouth of the River Cayster, Ephesus was an important commercial center for the eastern part of the Roman Empire in the first century C.E.” (Cory, 404). Many people from different nations, cultures, and environments would come to the city of Ephesus to trade, so naturally many people did not know how to be united with one another. In the doctrinal segment of this letter, there is a consideration of what God has done through Christ to bring humanity into a bond with him. In New American Standardof Ephesian 2:10, Paul calls this “God’s Workmanship,” and this is the crown jewel of all that God has created. Paul proceeds on to say in Ephesian 2:15, “one new man” (KJV) and according to the Greek translation of the word new it applies to anything that is entirely contrary from the thing that it once was. This “one new man” (Eph. 2:15), has a head and a body. The Bible is not suggesting to a physical man, but preferably a spiritual being that has been made new. For it is Christ who restores eternal life into the world saturated with darkness. Biblical scholars “have observed that the Letter to the Ephesians contains some understanding of eschatology and ecclesiology that are similar to those in the Letter to the Colossians, but different from those in the Letter to the Colossians” (Cory, 404). The first mention of the metaphor, “head and body” that Paul brings out is brought together with Ephesians chapter 1:22-23. It is there that Paul says that “and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which his body” (vv. 22-23 KLV). This comparison is consistently used throughout the writings of Paul and could be thought to be one of his favorite comparisons to refer to the Church in its relationship to Christ. Paul is the only author in the Bible that uses this terminology to convey the truths about our relationship with one another and our relationship to Christ.
In the first portion of Ephesians, Paul is discussing the theology doctrine and in broad terms about what is was that they believed and how the Gentiles had come to be part of the people of Israel. Paul, of course, suggests prayers in both in the first and third chapters of Ephesians as he’s asking God to purify them so that Christ dwells within their hearts. In Ephesians 1-3, there is a deeply rooted theology where we see a new position in Christ if you are born again, and, also Paul answers the logical question how we are to “walk in Him (Christ)” (Col. 2:6 ESV). Ephesians tells the reader that one in Christ must walk in a manner “worthy of our calling” (Eph. 4:1). Jesus Christ after all calls all who believe in Him to walk a life as his, to serve not be served. When you become one with Christ, you are going to have a calling regardless of who you are you going to be called to do something. However, we are not all called to do the same thing as one another, for example, he may just call you to minister to your peers and others evangelists to the nations. For there is too much work to be down in this battle between light and darkness, good and evil. God will not allow one to idle, but rather he is going to call them to do something. Our society today has evolved into this spectacle of just remaining and observing the work of God be done. Though, in chapter 4 of Ephesians, Paul is approaching the moral exhortation or the moral teachings. Christianity, after all, is not a moral religion. When Paul is talking about virtues, he is not talking about living a moral life that’s accepted by society; he more so is talking about what sort of life leads us into communion with God. Whether you are living virtuous life or whether you enter into communion with the living creator, these are two different things. The content may be the same, but the goal is different. At the end of the day, morality is all that one has left in you when you don’t believe in God. Paul makes this very distinct and precise in Ephesians 4 that all of this is so that we enter into the life of God. The primary role of purpose in Christianity is for us to join in the very life of the Holy Trinity, participating in the grace of God. Moreover, this becomes very apparent throughout Ephesians 4, where Paul has laid out the ground rules which are the most important parts of growing both spiritually and numerically. Primarily the Church is required to maintain unity within a body while being able to speak honestly in love and refusing to cause offense.
To accurately summarize what Paul is saying in Ephesians 4:1-13 we must first look at the context of this passage. This introduction to the fourth chapter of Ephesians is a continuation from what he has been saying in his letter to date in the first three chapters. He first mentions to the audience that even as being a prisoner he is serving Christ. From the very beginning, Paul claims authority by saying that he has been the one in prison for the Lord so he has that authority to caution you on how you should be living your life. The reader must identify that Paul is in Rome, “a prisoner for serving the Lord” (Eph. 4:1). Paul takes familiar metaphors of society, for it is here that Paul says I “beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called” (Eph. 4:1 KJV). This passage is pretty much the center of the message of the Church, for the people need to live a life that is worthy of what you have been called to do. Directly, this begs the question “what have you been called to do?” We know that in Matthew, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few” (Matt. 9:37 NIV). In Ephesian 4:1 it starts off with a salvific cry of which the application that every believer, should align themselves in accordance to the high calling from the Lord. The Lord “begs” that we walk in a manner that is worthy of the calling to which you have been called. It is only necessary for the people that are receiving a holy calling from the Lord that they would live their lives in the manner of the calling.
Furthermore, Paul is asking his readers to behave Christ-like in our reactions and actions when dealing with other people. Each job that the Lord has called us to do is different than the next. However, Paul identifies each quality that is on each task. In verse two of Ephesians 4, Paul distinguishes “lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love” (KJV). Paul is saying that everyone who is in Christ must have these qualities to live as a unified body. We are to make allowance for each other faults, and who is without the blame. Every single believer in Christ is aware of how difficult it is to be perfect, for one might seek to be perfect, but it requires such hard work. And, because we are all striving towards perfection in Christ, as guided and taught by the Holy Spirit, we have to be aware of each other’s faults. Technically speaking it the Holy Spirit who lives within us, we know from scripture, that Christ is “seated at the right-hand God” (Acts. 7:55-56; Rom. 8:34; Eph. 1:20; Col. 3:1; Heb. 1:3). Not everyone in the body of Christ is at the same place as one another, and Paul knows this and is striving to tell his readers this information. Sequentially, what Paul is saying is that as Christians, when you are baptized and enter into the life of the Church you are called to become one and to participate in the unity of the faith. Additionally, the unity of the faith is going to be grounded in the life of the Holy Trinity, which is understood as grace. Paul uses grace but in a more natural way, plus he technically only uses once in this chapter; Eph. 4:7. Grace, according to Orthodox theology is kind of shorthand for what is the inner life, the inner working, the spiritual affections of the Holy Trinity. Christians can never claim this because they are not God, but through Christ, they can participate in it. When God created man, he created every one of us so that we could live his life with him, that he could have companionship. From the beginning, God has wanted to be loved by us and to love us. Not to mention, God is the one that has brought all this about for his glory. This tells us the believer that is this all intended, for life does have a purpose. We the reader must see the important fact that God is the creator and who is separate from creation.
The Greeks used the term, Perichoresis, is a circular dance of love or a movement in and out of each other, which is why God created us. When God calls people into the church, he wants them to enter into this inner spiritual penetration where there is unity. This unity, nevertheless, is very hard to maintain and throughout the next sections, Paul is telling his audience how to maintain that kind of unity. The reader must remember that unity is gifted to us by God by being called into his life. Paul suggests to preserve this unity through “lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love” (Eph. 4:2 KJV). These are not virtues that you are going to hear in our culture today, but these are the intentions that God asks of us in living in communion with Him. Lowliness or humility was not a word that was used in Greek or Latin terminology. According to MacArthur, “Humility, the most foundational Christian virtue (James 4:6), is the quality of character commanded in the first beatitude (Matt. 5:3) and describes the noble grace of Christ (Phil. 2:7, 8)” (pg. 1691). Notice in The New Living Version it says, “be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love” (Eph. 4:20). If we look back at Greco-Roman literature of the time, in the Greek and the Latin writing and the philosophers the word, humility had a sense of cringing civility. This was a vice that Christianity commanded and changed the meaning to say that being servant minded is a noble thing. The individual is not trying to glorify themselves and to exert our power and authority, but rather humbling themselves by placing others in a higher position so that they may be served. Meekness comes the Greek praótita, which means controlled strength. So, this meekness that Paul is referring to is not lack of strength, and it’s not cowardice, but rather meekness is this to have the power and have it tamed and controlled. The greatest image of meekness is Christ on the cross. Christ could have retaliated and been victories materially, but rather he managed his strength and held it for he knew the fight that he was fighting was much more important. Longsuffering comes from the Greek word makrothumia, and Paul suggests that this is to take one’s anger and place it far from you. Conclusively, it’s a refusal to respond to the angry sentiments. The way we are to preserve unity is to be servant-minded, to control our strengths (self-control), to refuse to retaliate and ultimately to overlook each other’s wrongs.
In other words, one is “Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3 KJV). Here we see the example of the Divine gifts, the unity of Spirit is what gives us the opportunity to live within the grace of God. In Ephesian 4:4, Paul writes, “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called” (NIV), the call he is referring to is the call to be one in God. The hope here is this unity in the spirit which is then is in participating life of God, “one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Eph. 4:5-6). What is interesting about these verses is that those are different genders in the Greek language, heis kurios pistis and baptisma. This part covers all three grammatical genders male, female, neuter, which is an unyielding passage that could also have been used a baptismal formula that Paul is quoting due to the rhythm of the language and the style in which it is written. It’s fascinating that the Trinity—Spirit, Lord and Father—are mentioned within the two verses, and you can see the inspiration of these things echoing within scripture. “The author of the Letter of Ephesians is the only one among the New Testament writers to describe the unity of the church in seven aspects: one body, one Spirit, one hope (in their calling to be church), one Lord, one faith (referring to a set of doctrines), one baptism (referring to the sacrament of initiation into the church), and one God and Father of all (Eph. 4:3-6)” (Cory, 407). This notion of God “who is over all and through all and in all” (Eph. 4:6 NIV) has characteristics of Trinitarian as well, because we have God the Father who is above all, we have Christ through whom all things have access to the Father, and in all is Holy Spirit which verifies and gives life. The exegetical point in this passage is that our unity is grounded in in the life of the Trinity.
In Eph. 4:7 “But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.” (KJV), given and grace is a repetitious word, and this is most likely a special use. This verse also mentions the word grace which is so much more than salvation. “Because the response of love was itself a grace freely given by God, it is incorrect to speak of acts of love as a means of earning or ‘meriting’ salvation” (McMahon, 162). The important thing here is that Christ is doing the giving. This gift the Paul is referring to are the spiritual gifts. Every believer in Christ has a special spiritual gift that God exclusively shares with the individual according to His sovereign wish and intention. Some theologians believe that these gifts consist on one speaking gift and one serving gift. In 1 Corinthian 12:7, “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good” (NIV), so here these spiritual gifts are for anyone who is a believer in Christ. These spiritual gifts, that are giving by the Holy Spirit include: Prophecy (Rom. 12:6; 1 Cor. 12:10, 28-29; 14:1-40; Eph. 4:11); Service (Rom. 12:7); Teaching (Rom. 12:7; 1 Cor. 12:28-29; Eph. 4:11); Leadership (Rom. 12:8; Wisdom (1 Cor. 12:8); Knowledge (1 Cor. 12:8); Healing (1 Cor. 12:9, 28, 30); Miracles (1 Cor. 12:10, 28, 29); Distinguishing of Spirits (1 Cor. 12:10); Tongues (1 Cor. 12:10, 28, 30; 14:1-40); Apostleship (1 Cor. 12:28,29; Eph. 4:11); Helps (1 Cor. 12:28); Administration (1 Cor. 12:28); Evangelism (Eph. 4:11); and Shepherd or pastor (Eph. 4:11). Each believer in Christ has one or more spiritual gifts, but there is no man on this Earth that has all the Spiritual gifts. God has called us into unity in his body, but he has expressed that through a diversity of gifts. Not everyone is the same, but yet everyone is bound in “one life, one baptism, one God, one Lord, one Father of all” (Eph. 4:5-6 NIV).
The hermeneutical assumption here is the Rule of Purpose, for Paul sets up the unity first because it grounded in God and through the measure of Christ’s gifts, who is doing the giving. If it Christ doing then there is no room for us to be jealous or to be envious of another’s gifts. For this is Christ’s doing and if you trust in Him, then we must have confidence in his measure of His gifts. In verse 8, “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people” (NIV). This passage is a restatement of Psalm 68:18, and it’s interesting because in Psalm 68:18 we see Jesus receiving gifts. In MacArthur Bible Commentary, “Psalms 68 is a victory hymn composed by David to celebrate God’s conquest of the Jebusite city of Jerusalem and the triumph, the king would bring home the spoils and prisoners” (pg. 1692). This is a rather difficult section because this psalm is talking about God climbing Mount Zion and entering the temple being enthroned. As God does this, he leads a train of captives behind—which is imagery for a king returning from battle—and then he gave gifts to man. It’s almost as if Paul misquoted this passage, or took it out of context. In Psalms 68:18, it says “he received gifts from man” (KJV). The significant part to take away from this passage is that there is a shift that had taken place, before it was received and not it is given, therefore becoming a different message. Most rabbinical sources will look at Psalm 68:18 as a Midrash, which is an ancient commentary on the part of the Hebrew scriptures, and most will examine the Jewish tradition that Moses also ascended into the heavenly realm to receive Torah. We see Paul, in another place like Ephesian 1, use that Exodus imagery of Moses. Many scholars and theologians have a hard time understanding what Paul is trying to say. Could it be Jesus ascension from Hades? It seems in the context that Christ gave gifts because he was the great conqueror of death and ascended into heaven where he gave gifts to men. The gifts he gave is the Holy Spirt and the Holy Spirit then, of course, gives us our spiritual gifts so that we can work towards building unity in the church.
In the King James Version, Ephesians 4:9-10 says, “Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth. He that descended is the same also that ascended far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.” To understand this passage, we must look at some keywords. Primarily, the “lower parts” that Paul could be referring to the earth itself or the “lower parts” of the earth, Hades. Depending on how one wants to translate this of, this will direct the direction of this passage. However, the context here does seem to indicate that Paul is talking about the ascension of Christ and that was made possible by the Incarnation. It appears that Paul was trying to say that Christ is present in all things, the heaven, and the earth. Scripture is clear that first there is God and he created this heaven and the earth which is finite and temporal. This Creator and creation distinction is a key point to make and is a part of Christian fundamentals.
In Ephesians 4:11, “So Christ himself gave the apostles, prophets, evangelist, the pastors, and teacher,” Paul identifies the foundation of the apostles, prophets, evangelist, the pastors and teacher which make their role in the whole development of Christ’s body on the earth foundational. This continues the writing form of repetition that is addressed in the earlier passages of given/gave. “These two statements have prompted some biblical scholars to say that the Letter to the Ephesians has a more highly developed ecclesiology, when compared to other books of the New Testament” (Cory, 407). Paul is saying an interesting point here, the people that are to guide us here on this earth, the apostles, prophets, evangelist, the pastors/ teacher are Christ’s gift to humanity. It should be noted that even though the scripture does include five positions, but there are only four positions listed—pastor and teacher are one of the same. The gift is that He has given leadership to his church and that leadership had made through different ministries. These are to provide the foundation and context in which the other gifts flourish. Apostles are the ones who are sent out carry the message of Christ. Prophets, especially in the early New Testament church the spoke forth the words of God. “One of the major messages of the prophets is that God wants the hearts of his people to be pure, full of compassion and mercy” (Mueller, 231). Now, evangelists are someone who stays in the same area, but then proclaim the Gospel of Christ and invite people in to hear the good news. All of these roles together bring the person and the presence of Jesus Christ, ultimately bring the essential revelation of the mystery of God.
The next section of Ephesians 4:12, Paul giving these roles “to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up” (NIV). According to theologian Avery Dulles, “the unity of the body of Christ, of course, leaves room for a multiplicity of local congregations that may, in accordance with New Testament usage, be called ‘churches,’ but it excludes a plurality of rival and conflicting denominations that reject one another’s doctrines, ministries, or sacraments” (pg. 131). The Greek seems to be very clear that the pastors/teachers, apostles, prophets, and evangelist are to equip the faithful. This “equip” is to train the believer in Christ for ministry in building up the body of Christ. Christ is a prime example of this method for he had is three inner circle of Peter, James, and John, then he had the twelve disciples, as well as the seventy, not to mention the crowds of people that followed his ministry. His primary ministry was to twelve, but even more focus more inward to the three. Christ focused on developing their leadership so that they then go out and spread out the work. The gifts that Christ gave us was leadership for the building up of the body of Christ. But why? What is the end goal? The answer to this awaits in Eph. 4:13, “until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (NIV). The core idea of unity shows up again, the message of communion with God, while faith is the idea of trusting the mystery of God. We forget how hard it is to trust Christ for it is much easier to think or have an idea about Christ. For the believers, it much harder to trust Him, but when trust is truly established one enters into the life of Christ, which ultimately is the life that saves you. This life gives the believer in Christ entry into the unity of the faith. Paul brings up a fascinating point about spiritual maturity in this section. In our society, today we do not have spiritual maturity or rite of passage into adulthood. Teleios is the Greek translation meaning knowledge, and Paul is telling his reader that the end goal of humanity is to mature in Christ and become the full human in the “fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13 NIV).
In Ephesians 4:1-13, Paul shares about unity setting forth the standard for which the body can then be built upon. Setting this unity in place allows the body to have growth and unity is very critical in a circumstance where you want to make progress. When there is no unity, there will always be division. We see this in 1 Corinthians 3; Paul scolded the Church in Corinth because they were not unified as “one body,” jealousy and strife were showing several signs of their spiritual immaturity. Paul stresses in this first section that the people need to walk worthy of their calling, for God is calling out to everyone to become a part of the body of Christ. We do this when we receive his invitation, and we obey the gospel. It’s certainly interesting to think that in our culture now how many church growth movements, techniques, and philosophies there are in our world, not to mention the ones that are taking place here in the United States. According to McMahon, Möhler felt that “Ecclesiology was to be more historically centered on the work of the Spirit, it was to emphasize the bond of love created by the Spirit that constitutes the Church as a communion, and finally, ecclesiology was to recover the images of Christ’s Body in order to integrate visible and invisible aspects of the Church” (pg. 69). There are particular church movements of the West Coast, and there are different ones on the East Coast, different denominations and there are all sorts of different ones, so it’s tough to decide which philosophy to use because everyone wants their churches to grow both in numbers and spiritually. What Paul is dealing with here is a very difficult concept of unity and diversity, for these two things create tension in our Christian lives. Christianity is one faith, but within these one faith, there is a diversity of how it’s expressed.
In conclusion, why must do we, the believers, need the unity in Christ—to be bound within the life of God? Paul gives an honest and clear reason why throughout Eph. 4, for life in Christ is protected. Fundamentally, Paul explains that until we grow up into this mature knowledge, we are unsafe and vulnerable of deceit. In Ephesians, the importance of unity is suggesting that we are not individual where Christ is in us. “The Church is frequently viewed as an agent of the transformation of the world according to the pattern of the Kingdom of God” (Dulles, 146). Radically, the question is how do you get various types of people, who are notably ethnocentric, to come together and share one reality, the Church. Climatically, it is Christ who is the link that connects different types of people together. Our culture today is so accustomed to thinking about the individual and not on the whole. How else do we unite very diverse ethnic groups of people, as well as those who have a history with one another and those who don’t care for one another? Therefore, the primary person is Christ. The Church is the first place in which unity is to be taken place, and Paul is direct in his letter that we are all in Christ. If everyone would come together in Christ and he remained to be the central figure, we as a collective would be able to break down a lot of walls ethnically and socially, and even theologically and denominationally. Conclusively, Christ is the head of the Church, and Paul is encouraging his readers to focus on Christ, while the goal of the church is to lift the people up into a state of maturity so that when things of this world do come to lead us away from Christ, each member is protected by the union with Christ. The purpose of unity is to be grounded in Christ to unite as one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Eph. 4:5-6). Avery Dulles puts it nicely, “If there were no Christian unity, there would be no Church on earth; if there were perfect unity, the Parousia would be here” (pg. 151). When the Church is healthy and the leadership is encouraging the faithful to work together as a functioning body the body of Christ, it will grow.
Works Cited
Cory, Catherine A. A Voyage through the New Testament. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.
Dulles, Avery. Models of the Church. New York, NY: Image, 2014. Print.
The Holy Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2017. Print.
MacArthur, John. The MacArthur Bible Commentary: Unleashing God’s Truth, One Verse at a Time. Nashville, TN: Nelson Reference & Electronic, 2006. Print.
McMahon, Christopher. Called Together: An Introduction to Ecclesiology. Winona, MN: Anselm Academic, 2010. Print.
McMahon, Christopher. Called Together: An Introduction to Ecclesiology. Winona, MN: Anselm Academic, 2010. Print.
Mueller, J. J. Theological Foundations: Concepts and Methods for Understanding Christian Faith. Winona, MN: Anselm Academic, 2011. Print.
