Tuesday

Related Verses
Eph. 4:12-13
12 For the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ,
13 Until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,

Matt. 5:20
20 For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall by no means enter into the kingdom of the heavens.

Rom. 5:5, 8
5 And hope does not put us to shame, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
8 But God commends His own love to us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Rom. 8:35, 39
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or anguish or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword?
39 Nor height nor depth nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Rom. 15:30
30 Now I exhort you, brothers, through our Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf,

2 Cor. 13:14
14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Related Reading
“We may distinguish between something that is perfect, or complete, organically and something that is perfect according to its function. At birth, an infant is perfect organically; that is, the infant has all the necessary organs. However, a child is not functionally perfect at birth. Organically, a mother cannot help her child, for she cannot add any organs to the child. But she can help him functionally by feeding him so that he will grow normally…In order to develop properly and to function normally, every child needs to be nourished and cherished. This principle also applies to the church as the new man. In Ephesians 2:15 we see the creation of the new man organically, but in 4:13-16 we see the perfecting of the new man in relation to his function. (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 747-748)

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At birth, the new man is organically perfect; however, he is not yet able to function. Just as a child needs to be perfected through nourishing and cherishing, so the organically perfect new man needs to be perfected through the growth of life in order to function in a proper way.  

Only God can create a being that is organically perfect. However, after a child is born, God does not come in to feed him or cherish him. This is the responsibility of the parents, especially of the mother. The more the child is nourished and grows, the more he will function normally.  

In the same principle, the new man created by Christ must be perfected in order to function…Through the operation in the measure of each one part, the Body grows unto the building up of itself in love. The creation of the new man was the responsibility of the Lord alone…But we must fulfill our responsibility to perfect the new man through nourishing and cherishing. As the new man is perfected in this way, he grows and becomes perfect functionally.  

The new man can become perfect in relation to his functions only through receiving the proper nourishment. This, however, is not a superficial matter. On the contrary, it is one of the deepest concepts in the whole book of Ephesians…Because those in Christianity rely on doctrine, they mainly build up something else in place of the Body. The Body does not become functionally perfect through the teaching of doctrine. Actually, in Ephesians 4, a chapter that speaks of the perfecting of the new man through the growth of life, doctrine is depreciated. Paul says that when we are no longer children, we will no longer be carried about by winds of doctrine. What is needed for the building up of the Body and for perfecting the new man functionally is the growth of life. This comes only through feeding.  

I believe that the day is coming when everyone in the local churches will be a functioning member. Consider how children grow by receiving nourishment. The more they grow, the more they function. The principle is the same with our spiritual growth as members of the Body. The more we grow by being nourished and cherished, the more we will function properly in the church life. If the saints are absolute with the Lord, in a relatively short time many will come into function. I have the full assurance in the Lord that soon this will be the situation in the Lord’s recovery.  

In Ephesians 2 we have the creation of the new man, and in chapter 4, the growth of the new man. In order for the new man to grow, we need to experience the crucified, resurrected, ascended, and descending Christ. This means that the all-inclusive Christ must be wrought into us to be our everything. Then the organically perfect new man will also become perfect functionally. (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 748-749, 753, 755)  

Further Reading: Life-study of Ephesians, msgs. 92—93; CWWL, 1958, vol. 1, “The Perfecting of the Saints and the Building Up of the House of God,” ch. 3