Furthermore, in 4:16 we see that we are knit together. This is closely related to the matter of fitting. However, it emphasizes the aspect of attachment. We need to be attached to one another. As we are fitted and knit together, we are built up. Once we have been built up in the church life, it will be very difficult for us to leave the church. This is altogether different from joining a denomination. We do not join the church; we are built into it. Those who have been built into the church can be neither pulled out nor pushed out.
Ephesians 4:23 speaks of being “renewed in the spirit of your mind.” We all need to be renewed. We need to have the old element discharged, and a new element wrought into us. The old element, the element of Adam, is discharged, and the eternal element, the element of Christ, is added to take its place.
According to 5:26, Christ is sanctifying the church. To be sanctified is to have the divine nature wrought into our human nature. Once again we may use the illustration of making tea. When tea is added to water, the water is “tea-ified.” In the same principle, when the divine element is added to us, we are sanctified. Christ as the heavenly “tea” is wrought into us. To be sanctified does not mean that we wear certain kinds of clothes or style our hair in a particular way. That is mere outward correction or adjustment. I am not for long hair or for short hair, but for sanctified hair. When the element of God is worked into our being, we are truly sanctified.
In 5:26 we see that Christ is cleansing the church by the washing of the water in the Word. Such a washing cleanses us from wrinkles caused by oldness and from spots caused by wounds. This cleansing is a metabolic cleansing, a cleansing in which a new element is added to replace the old element that is being discharged.
In 5:29 Paul points out that Christ is also nourishing and cherishing the church. To nourish is to feed, and to cherish is to nurture with tender love and foster with tender care. A mother nourishes her child by feeding the child healthy food. She also cherishes her child by embracing the little one in love. As we are cherished by Christ, we are warmed, softened, and comforted, just as a child is soothed by the loving embrace of the mother.
Finally, according to 6:11 and 13, we need to be armored. This means that we put on the armor of God in order to stand against the stratagems of the Devil. To be armored is to be armed for warfare. As we are armed with the whole armor of God, we become God’s army to fight the battle for God’s purpose and for His kingdom.
If we would have the proper church life, we need to experience every aspect of God’s work covered in this message. We need to pray concerning all these items, pray-reading the verses that speak of them, until they become our reality. May we exercise our spirit to apply all the aspects of God’s work concerning the church.