EPHESIANS 4 : 7-12 by Marietjie

If you are not being equiped or equipping the saints for work of ministry, you are failing to use the gift that Jesus Christ gave to the church, the Body , the Kingdom of God. If you reckon yourself to be part of the five(four)-fold ministry - doma gifts- , are you equipping the saints for work of ministry?? This does not say that the apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastor-teachers should do all the work of ministry. They are to equip the saints to do it. Any work the doma gifts does, is to have the sole purpose of demonstrating to the saints how to do the work of ministry.

The Bible never, in the New Testament, teaches the one-man-show method. It always speaks of more than one elders. It always speaks of bringing all into maturity. There is no New Testament scripture for keeping people in eternal infancy, dependant on a human leader to "moses" them. We are constantly encouraged and admonished to grow up into all that Jesus has completed for us.

Religious empires belong to the Old Testament paridigmn with little to no basis in the New Testament. We are all equal; though differently gifted, each looking out to help and assist one another. The Beehive method of church is totally man made.

We cannot pick and choose pieces of the Old Testament/Covenant to carry on because it suits our human sensibilities. We either embrace the New Covenant and the new way of thinking or not. Does the writers of the epistles in vain warns against this? For the Jews of the first century church it was circumcision that they had a hard time letting go off. Today we cling to tithing, a pastor-priesthood and temple(church)-worship.

Have we really so little faith in God , that we have to have these security blankets???