It is God’s intention to do this tremendous work with and in the church. Imagine to be such a servant who can serve the saints so they can be made perfect “for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” “The elect of God, holy and beloved . . . .” What kind of people are they? We can read about this in Colossians 3. There we can see what kind of exhortations such people get. Formerly they had lived in all kinds of sins and were from many different nations. In 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 we read, “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world . . . .” In other words, those who were most wretched. Nevertheless, what Jesus becomes to them makes them greater than all the mighty men according to the flesh. These mighty men are as nothing compared to the work God does with the foolish things of the world. The least wisdom God has become to them, and the least strength they have received from God, has made them wiser and stronger than men. V. 25. “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” V. 18. “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Gal. 2:20. We can see that to be crucified with Christ is a matter of choice. No one can enter into this life without hating his own life. But if he does that, he is a disciple of Jesus. Luke 14:26-27. He judges himself, and he is glad when he is chastened by the Lord so he will not be judged together with the world. 1 Cor. 11:31-32. Those are the ones whom Jesus can sanctify, and He is not ashamed to call them brethren. Heb. 2:11. We can see that all those who are elected and holy have this one thing in common: they hate their own life according to the flesh. Then it is of no importance at all how deeply they have fallen or how mighty and wise they are in the world. They all have to hate their own life and love the word of the cross to come to a divine life, the righteousness of God which we can only obtain through faith in Christ. Paul expresses his longing, and the way to its fulfillment, with these words: “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” Phil. 3:8-11. This is the only way in which we can mature so Jesus can make us into the kind of servant we read about in Ephesians 4:11. He who gives us these servants is also the One who descended first. Vs. 9-10. We can only be examples in the virtues of Christ and be capable of helping the others to be made perfect in the work of ministry for the edification of the body of Christ, by following Jesus. 1 Tim. 4:12, 16; 1 Pet. 2:9-10. Only in the virtues of Christ do we have this wisdom in the work of ministry.Sigurd Bratlie