Ephesians 4:14-16

Day 34

“As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.” Ephesians 4:14-16

Christian Maturity
The initial Christian experience transforms a person. We were lost and alienated from God. God made us alive in Christ. He forgave our sins, adopted us into His family, declared us to be holy and blameless in His sight through Christ, preserved our eternal inheritance, poured out His love and grace upon us, gave us His Holy Spirit, and brought us all into one church with Christ as head, the One who is supreme over all. With so many enumerable blessings, it can be difficult to imagine much more beyond all of this. However, we have seen the urgent call for the Christian to pursue unity and peace with one another. (Ephesians 4:1-3)  The first three aspects of unity for individual believers, and thus for the church as a whole, concern our attitudes, our theology, and divinely appointed leadership. The main objective of the divinely appointed leadership is to provide for the church theological teaching that expounds the need for humble and loving attitudes while affirming the unifying foundation of Christian doctrine. This three pronged approach, right attitudes, right theology, and right leadership, provides the basis of our Christian unity. Today’s verses give us the outcome in the church when these three divinely designed approaches are followed. 

“As a result we are no longer children…we are to grow up.” Each believer should be in the process of maturing. We are not to live stagnant lives, simply enjoying the divine favor that has come to us through faith in Christ. Instead, there must be change: growth, increase in knowledge, marks of greater wisdom, applying spiritual gifts for the good of the church, proper attitudes as we use our gifts, greater discernment, and spiritual stability. These attitudes, knowledge, maturity, and use of gifts, do not simply happen instantly. Though the eternal transformation takes place instantly, the moment we believe, the transformed believer, functioning in the church for the unity of the church, takes time to develop.

A lack of theological and moral discernment, along with unloving arrogance, mark Christian immaturity. For the early church, false theology and philosophical ideas constantly bombarded the church.  A dedication to the revelatory ministry of the apostles and prophets, taught in the local church on the authority of Christ, guarded the church from falsehood.  Two thousand years have passed and this still remains the basic need of the church. False teaching can be seen in the divergent claims of well-spoken teachers who adjust the biblical doctrines with their own version, often to their own personal benefit.  We see this today in false teachers who emphasize the supernatural over personal discipline.  We see it today in false teachers who claim that God wants all believers to be wealthy and healthy while ignoring that the apostles all died poor because of their faith.  Most of the initial apostles were martyred and taught that suffering for the faith was a mark of authenticity.  Yet today, large ministries and very successful professional ministers make huge amounts of money selling a health, wealth, and prosperity doctrine that is completely foreign to the New Testament teachings.  Jesus Himself told a prospective follower that the “Son of Man has no place to lay His head.” (Matthew 8:20) Some false prophets try to hoist the Old Testament Law on the modern church, claiming that the apostles all followed the Law of Moses and commanded the church to do so as well, despite the massive scriptural evidence to the contrary.  The most basic challenge to this false theology is the church’s first council in Acts 15 in which Peter declared that it would be a violation of the whole tenor of saving faith to obligate gentiles to do what Jewish people have never been able to accomplish.  As Paul told the Colossian church, “As you received Christ Jesus, so walk in Him.” (Colossians 2:6)  Other false teachers emphasize the use of supernatural works such as the gift of tongues or miracles, often directly violating the explicit teaching on these gifts in the book of I Corinthians.

False teachers, in both theology and in morality, are ubiquitous.  Paul knew that and encouraged the Ephesians to anchor themselves to the teachings of the apostles and prophets through the teaching ministry of local pastors, so that they would mature in their faith and thus be able to use their gifts for the mutual benefit of the church. As Paul articulated here, by growing up we will be able to supply one another with the basic Christian encouragement that all of us need.  We need each other.  We were designed by Christ for the benefit of one another.  The local church, using our gifts as designed by God Himself, with right attitude and right knowledge, produces a unified, Christ-honoring church.

Suggested prayer: God please bring about a spiritual maturity in my life. By the power of Your Spirit, bring growth in my attitudes, knowledge, and discernment, so that I may bear much fruit in my ministry to others and so that the whole church will grow in its maturity and unity. Amen.

Ephesians