SPECIAL TOPIC: EDIFY

This term oikodomeō and its other forms are used often by Paul. Literally it means "to build a house" (cf. Matt. 7:24), but it came to be used as imagery for:

  1. Christ's body, the church, 1 Cor. 3:9; Eph. 2:21; 4:16
  2. building up
    1. weak brothers, Rom. 15:1
    2. neighbors, Rom. 15:2
    3. one another, Eph. 4:29; 1 Thess. 5:11
    4. the saints for ministry, Eph. 4:11
  3. we build up or edify by
    1. love, 1 Cor. 8:1; Eph. 4:16
    2. limiting personal freedoms, 1 Cor. 10:23-24
    3. avoiding speculations, 1 Tim. 1:4
    4. limiting speakers in worship services (singers, teachers, prophets, tongue speakers, and interpreters), 1 Cor. 14:3-4,12
  4. all things should edify
    1. Paul's authority, 2 Cor. 10:8; 12:19; 13:10
    2. summary statements in Rom. 14:19 and 1 Cor. 14:26

 

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