Growing Together: Maturity and Holiness (Ephesians 4-5)
Christians often speak of our ‘personal faith’ in our ‘personal saviour’ Jesus Christ. But faith is not purely personal - biblical Christianity oozes with corporate expression. In fact, the Bible speaks far more of corporate (group) belief and practice than individual faith. The church is Christ’s body and bride, together. Most of us would agree that following Jesus is both an individual and a group thing. So why is it that we often think of our faith as an individual pursuit? A large reason for this is that we are products of an intensely individualised culture. Ephesians 4 and 5 invite us to to start with the group rather than the individual. We see that Christ’s work in us is to transform us together into his mature body, his spotless bride. Shifting to embrace Christ in this way will see us understanding our maturity and our holiness as part of his work on the whole church, together.
