“that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ.”
The second line of defense challenges us to enjoy intimate fellowship with other Christians.
“being knit together in love.”
“Being knit together” is a compound word in Greek meaning to make to come together. God wants us to join together in a union of the fellowship of love.
In Acts 9:22, “knit together” means to bring together Scriptures to prove the truth, “But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving [to cause something to be known as certain] that this Jesus is the Christ.” We put Scriptures together to compare them with what other passages teach. Paul proved that Jesus was the Messiah by putting Scriptures together. We are to put ourselves together with other Christians as we would put together proof from the Bible.
In Acts 16:10, the word carries the thought of examining closely, “Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.” Paul drew from these circumstances that it was the will of God for the team to go to Macedonia. Close fellowship among Christians is something we should closely examine.
In 1 Cor 2:16, Paul used “knit together” to demonstrate or prove, “For who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.” The implication in this passage is that no one can put information together to instruct God. He transcends finite human understanding. The human intellect does not have an adequate frame of reference to deal with the infinity of God’s mind. No one can prove anything to God. We are to unite Christians together as we would marshal logical arguments.
Ephesians 4:16 uses this word the passive sense, ‘from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.” The passive means that God has already done something to the church. The church did not do this. God brings the church together in one symmetric whole. He gives the church the right gifts and the right people at the right time. He knows the right ingredients that will produce the correct result. It is his mix.
Principle:
God wants Christians to coalesce, join, or knit together in intimate fellowship.
Application:
Intimate fellowship with other Christians enhances the strength of our souls. Close communion comes from love.
