{"id":97879,"date":"2026-09-10T09:53:06","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T14:53:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=97879"},"modified":"2026-09-10T09:53:06","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T14:53:06","slug":"edification","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/edification\/","title":{"rendered":"Edification"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<p>by Hugh DeLong<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;<em>Let all things be done for edification<\/em>&#8221; (I Corinthians 14:26 NASB95).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>But what does &#8216;edification&#8217; mean in practical terms? Often it is used to mean educate or teach. While it includes that, it also means simply &#8216;to build up&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>This is said in connection with our association in a local church group, such as the church in Corinth. We see here that Paul repeatedly emphasizes building up the congregation:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Prophecy edifies the church (I Corinthians 14:3-5).<\/li>\n<li>Believers should seek to abound for the church&#8217;s edification (I Corinthians 14:12).<\/li>\n<li>A contribution must edify others, not merely benefit the speaker (I Corinthians 14:17).<\/li>\n<li>Every part of the assembly must serve this goal (I Corinthians 14:26).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In this setting, &#8216;edify&#8217; means to build up in more ways than &#8216;teaching&#8217; or &#8216;knowledge&#8217;. &#8220;<em>But one who prophesies speaks to men for edification and exhortation and consolation<\/em>&#8221; (I Corinthians 14:3). This building up is to help other members of the congregation grow in knowledge of the truth. It would also encourage them toward faithfulness in discipleship and encourage and console those who struggle.<\/p>\n<p>The problems discussed earlier in this letter did <strong>not <\/strong>build up the people; instead, they were divisive and destructive to their faith. Hence the instruction to let all things be done for edification. This is included in your association with the members with whom you are joined. Much of this is done &#8216;when you come together&#8217; (cp. I Corinthians 11 again, and here in I Corinthians 14:23), but much can also be done in our association with them outside of our assemblies. When Paul came to Jerusalem after his conversion, he first &#8216;<em>tried to associate with the disciples.<\/em>&#8216; When he was rebuffed, Barnabas took him to the apostles and explained how Paul had been converted. With that, Paul then was &#8220;with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem.&#8221; (Acts 9:28 KJV).<\/p>\n<p>In I Corinthians 14, Paul instructs us to &#8220;<em>seek to abound for the edification of the church<\/em>&#8221; (I Corinthians 14:12). Take an inventory of your association with other disciples. Are you busy edifying them?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Hugh DeLong &#8220;Let all things be done for edification&#8221; (I Corinthians 14:26 NASB95). But what does &#8216;edification&#8217; mean in practical terms? Often it is used to mean educate or teach. While it includes that, it also means simply &#8216;to build up&#8217;. This is said in connection with our association in a local church group,&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1059,728],"class_list":["post-97879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-edification","tag-i-corinthians"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":18591,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-we-pray-individual-prayers-together-in-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":97879,"position":0},"title":"Can we pray individual prayers together in worship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 18, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Brother Jeffrey, Please, I want to know from Scriptures about mass prayer in New Testament worship.\u00a0Can we pray together, when we come together, but each one prays his or her own prayer? Thank you. Answer: Worship as a church is distinct from individual worship. In a church service, everything\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":85433,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-our-church-assemblies-are-designed-to-do\/","url_meta":{"origin":97879,"position":1},"title":"What Our Church Assemblies Are Designed to Do","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 8, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Gibson When we gather on the Lord's Day or other occasions, our assemblies have vertical and horizontal dimensions. Vertically, we raise prayers and songs of praise to God. Horizontally, we teach and encourage one another. Let's focus on the latter. Edifying\/Encouraging\/Exhorting\/Teaching \"Let all things be done for building\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":82734,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-work-god-gave-the-local-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":97879,"position":2},"title":"The Work God Gave the Local Church","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 1, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Steve Klein God is the Master designer. We need only look at the physical universe to realize this. Psalm 19:1 tells us, \"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork.\" The intricate and marvelous design of the creation shows the wisdom of God. \"O\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":95697,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/eating-foods-formerly-designated-as-unclean\/","url_meta":{"origin":97879,"position":3},"title":"Eating Foods Formerly Designated as Unclean","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 19, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Romans 14 shows that liberty in Christ has taken all \"unclean\" foods under the Law of Moses off the list of unclean. However, those who grew up under that Law had a hard time releasing their conscience into such liberties in Christ. If pork were unclean,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4006,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-mutual-edification\/","url_meta":{"origin":97879,"position":4},"title":"What is &#8220;mutual edification?&#8221;","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 2, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is the term \"Mutual Edification\" associated with the Ketcherside movement?\u00a0\u00a0We had a couple come into our services today, and they seemed to go out of their way not to tell us exactly where they attend. It seemed to me that he was indicating that he was trying to find\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14434,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-work-of-the-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":97879,"position":5},"title":"The Work of the Church","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 19, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: Psalm 104 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The world is evidence of the ability of God to design perfect systems - Psalms 19:1 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Everywhere we turn the wisdom of God is manifested - Psalms 104:24 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This same masterful designer displayed His great wisdom in the design of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Audio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97879"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97879\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}