Gifts for the Unity of the Body

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Each one of us, however, has been given grace to be measured by the Messiah’s bounty.

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This is why it says, “After he went up into the heights, he led captivity captive and he gave gifts to mankind.”

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Now this phrase, “he went up,” what can it mean if not that he first went down into the lower parts, that is, the earth?

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The one who went down is himself the one who also went up, far above all of heaven, in order to fill all things.

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Furthermore, he gave some people as emissaries, some as prophets, some as proclaimers of the Good News, and some as shepherds and teachers.

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Their task is to equip God’s people for the work of service that builds the body of the Messiah,

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until we all arrive at the unity implied by trusting and knowing the Son of God, at full manhood, at the standard of maturity set by the Messiah’s perfection.

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We will then no longer be infants tossed about by the waves and blown along by every wind of teaching, at the mercy of people clever in devising ways to deceive.

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Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in every respect grow up into him who is the head, the Messiah.

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Under his control, the whole body is being fitted and held together by the support of every joint, with each part working to fulfill its function; this is how the body grows and builds itself up in love.

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