Ephesians 2:16
2:16 and to reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by which the hostility has been killed.
Ephesians 4:4
4:4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you too were called to the one hope of your calling,
Ephesians 4:12
4:12 to equip
the saints for the work of ministry, that is,
to build up the body of Christ,
Ephesians 5:23-32
5:23 because the husband is the head of the wife as also Christ is the head of the church – he himself being the savior of the body.
5:24 But as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
5:25 Husbands, love your
wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her
5:26 to sanctify her by cleansing her
with the washing of the water by the word,
5:27 so that he
may present the church to himself as glorious – not having a stain or wrinkle, or any such blemish, but holy and blameless.
5:28 In the same way
husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
5:29 For no one has ever hated his own body
but he feeds it and takes care of it, just as Christ also does the church,
5:30 for we are members of his body.
5:31 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and will be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.
5:32 This mystery is great – but I am actually
speaking with reference to Christ and the church.
Romans 13:5
13:5 Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of the wrath of the authorities
but also because of your conscience.
Romans 13:1
Submission to Civil Government
13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except by God’s appointment, and the authorities that exist have been instituted by God.
Colossians 1:12-27
1:12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share
in the saints’
inheritance in the light.
1:13 He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves,
1:14 in whom we have redemption,
the forgiveness of sins.
The Supremacy of Christ
1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation,
1:16 for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers – all things were created through him and for him.
1:17 He himself is before all things and all things are held together in him.
1:18 He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn from among the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things.
1:19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in the Son
1:20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross – through him, whether things on earth or things in heaven.
Paul’s Goal in Ministry
1:21 And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your minds as expressed through your evil deeds,
1:22 but now he has reconciled you by his physical body through death to present you holy, without blemish, and blameless before him –
1:23 if indeed you remain in the faith, established and firm, without shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has also been preached in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become its servant.
1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my physical body – for the sake of his body, the church – what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ.
1:25 I became a servant of the church according to the stewardship from God – given to me for you – in order to complete the word of God,
1:26 that is, the mystery that has been kept hidden from ages and generations, but has now been revealed to his saints.
1:27 God wanted to make known to them the glorious riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Colossians 1:18
1:18 He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn from among the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things.
Colossians 1:24
1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my physical body – for the sake of his body, the church – what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ.
Colossians 3:15
3:15 Let the peace of Christ be in control in your heart (for you were in fact called as one body
to this peace), and be thankful.