Have
you ever been told to grow up? Paul, and the Holy Spirit, tell us
that in Ephesians 4:14–16
Grow
up! Don’t be babies. Infancy is normal–for a time. \Don’t forget
that at the beginning of our Christian walk we all were infants. And
being a baby Christian is far different from being an unbeliever.
However, don’t be satisfied with spiritual immaturity. Christ has
blessed his church with word gifts so that you can grow in maturity.
Paul contrasts maturity with the weakness and lack of coordination of
an infant. The immaturity is also compared to a small boat driven
about and influenced, in this case not by the waves of a storm, but
by the winds of false teaching. The cults are superb at concealing
what they want to.
Live
truthfully in love. Paul has in view not just physical maturity and
coordination, but the development of character as well. Instead of
being easily led and influenced, a maturing young person begins to
look beyond the self-centeredness of infancy. Although “speaking
the truth in love” may express the idea, don’t limit what Paul
says to speech. He had ways of talking about speaking in love, see v.
25. Here action is included as well as speech. “Living in truth and
love,” or “truthing in love” might express the idea. What Paul
is describing involves a concern for union with Christ and for
relationships with other believers. These need to be characterized by
love. Don’t use Paul’s command as an excuse to avoid confronting
falsehood–look at the context of v. 14. But also be careful in how
you differ with those you believe may be in error. God is no less
concerned with how we oppose error than he is with the fact that we
do oppose it. John, in his first epistle, speaks of love as defining,
not just Christian maturity, but Christianity itself. Paul comes back
to love in v. 16.
Grow
in Christ. Grow into Christ. How do you measure growth? Not by
marks on a door frame, but by a person. While growth involves each of
us as individuals, it is also something corporate. We together grow
into the Head, that is Christ. If the image of the church as a
strengthening body works, it is because central to the body is the
head. Christian maturity involves a clearer, more self-conscious
relationship with Christ. Union with Christ defines you. This growth
in Christ affects all areas of your life. It happens “in all
things.” Nothing that you are or do is not related to him.
Grow
from Christ. Paul uses enough athletic imagery that you know
that he appreciates what the body can do. Instead of early, wobbling
steps, picture a young man running his heart out, or making a move on
a basketball court. Picture a young woman performing a triple Lutz on
the ice rink, or blocking a rifle shot of a volleyball. All of this
activity is connected to the head. True, the athlete doesn’t stop
to think, but the eye catches the flight of the line drive, the brain
calculates location and timing, then orders the body into motion,
leaping and stretching horizontally to make the catch–all faster
than one can describe. The head is crucial to the process of growth,
and coordinates how the body functions. Paul keeps pushing you back
to the basics–Christ working through the Word that he has given his
church. Christ working by his Spirit in enabling the preaching and
teaching of that Word as the basic means of grace.
Build
up one another. Grow as a body. God does not call us to isolate
ourselves and work on sanctification. Rather, he unites us to our
head, his Son, and united to him, we are connected to one another.
There is a centrality to the proclamation of the Word, but it takes
place in the context of the fellowship of the saints. We belong to
one body. We build up one another. Does that seem like a challenge
beyond you? It can start with something as simple as singing
together, see Colossians 3:15–17. It means encouraging one another.
It involves being willing to listen, to accept correction. It
involves truth-speaking in love, Ephesians 4:29. The opposite of that
involves grieving the Holy Spirit. (This passage is a powerful
testimony to the personality of the Spirit.) “Christians
who are already united to Christ and therefore to one another grow
nearer to and more and more like Christ and correspondingly nearer to
one another in his body, the church. Paul describes this with vivid
imagery. Like a human body, the church is held together with joints.
Only when every part is working
properly
does health growth take place. But where there is a wise and
nurturing ministry of the Word it will happen. And it will do so
almost like a youngster growing to maturity in his or her own body –
which seems to ‘grow itself’: the
body builds itself up in love.”
(Sinclair Ferguson, Let’s
Study Ephesians,
pp. 113–114).
Be
the body of Christ. Notice that Paul, addressing the church at
Ephesus, does not tell them to become
the
body of Christ. As they trust in him, as they have been united with
him by faith, as they have been baptized into him. They are
the body of Christ. And so are you, if you are part of his church.
You need the church. That is where nurture takes place. “Paul’s
image of the body of Christ offers profound insights for nurture: all
members are needed; gifts are for the body as a whole, and isolation
is tragic; and diversity of function produces, not division, but
unity (Eph. 4:11–16).” (Edmund P. Clowney, The
Church,
p. 138). Take part in the life of the church. Don’t treat it as a
fast food restaurant. The church is where you can celebrate in times
of joy. It is, and should be, the place where you can find comfort in
your grief. The other day I heard again of a young mother, wasting
away from cancer, who came to church on Sunday, before passing away
on Thursday. And the following Sunday her parents were in church,
setting up chairs, because it was their rotation.
You
need to build up one another because you are becoming, and are
helping one another become, a fragrant offering to the Lord
(Ephesians 5:1–2). Jesus Christ is working by his Word and
Spirit—and he is using you, his body, to help make you what you
will be in glory.
Have
you ever been told to grow up? Paul, and the Holy Spirit, tell us
that in Ephesians 4:14–16
Grow
up! Don’t be babies. Infancy is normal–for a time. \Don’t forget
that at the beginning of our Christian walk we all were infants. And
being a baby Christian is far different from being an unbeliever.
However, don’t be satisfied with spiritual immaturity. Christ has
blessed his church with word gifts so that you can grow in maturity.
Paul contrasts maturity with the weakness and lack of coordination of
an infant. The immaturity is also compared to a small boat driven
about and influenced, in this case not by the waves of a storm, but
by the winds of false teaching. The cults are superb at concealing
what they want to.
Live
truthfully in love. Paul has in view not just physical maturity and
coordination, but the development of character as well. Instead of
being easily led and influenced, a maturing young person begins to
look beyond the self-centeredness of infancy. Although “speaking
the truth in love” may express the idea, don’t limit what Paul
says to speech. He had ways of talking about speaking in love, see v.
25. Here action is included as well as speech. “Living in truth and
love,” or “truthing in love” might express the idea. What Paul
is describing involves a concern for union with Christ and for
relationships with other believers. These need to be characterized by
love. Don’t use Paul’s command as an excuse to avoid confronting
falsehood–look at the context of v. 14. But also be careful in how
you differ with those you believe may be in error. God is no less
concerned with how we oppose error than he is with the fact that we
do oppose it. John, in his first epistle, speaks of love as defining,
not just Christian maturity, but Christianity itself. Paul comes back
to love in v. 16.
Grow
in Christ. Grow into Christ. How do you measure growth? Not by
marks on a door frame, but by a person. While growth involves each of
us as individuals, it is also something corporate. We together grow
into the Head, that is Christ. If the image of the church as a
strengthening body works, it is because central to the body is the
head. Christian maturity involves a clearer, more self-conscious
relationship with Christ. Union with Christ defines you. This growth
in Christ affects all areas of your life. It happens “in all
things.” Nothing that you are or do is not related to him.
Grow
from Christ. Paul uses enough athletic imagery that you know
that he appreciates what the body can do. Instead of early, wobbling
steps, picture a young man running his heart out, or making a move on
a basketball court. Picture a young woman performing a triple Lutz on
the ice rink, or blocking a rifle shot of a volleyball. All of this
activity is connected to the head. True, the athlete doesn’t stop
to think, but the eye catches the flight of the line drive, the brain
calculates location and timing, then orders the body into motion,
leaping and stretching horizontally to make the catch–all faster
than one can describe. The head is crucial to the process of growth,
and coordinates how the body functions. Paul keeps pushing you back
to the basics–Christ working through the Word that he has given his
church. Christ working by his Spirit in enabling the preaching and
teaching of that Word as the basic means of grace.
Build
up one another. Grow as a body. God does not call us to isolate
ourselves and work on sanctification. Rather, he unites us to our
head, his Son, and united to him, we are connected to one another.
There is a centrality to the proclamation of the Word, but it takes
place in the context of the fellowship of the saints. We belong to
one body. We build up one another. Does that seem like a challenge
beyond you? It can start with something as simple as singing
together, see Colossians 3:15–17. It means encouraging one another.
It involves being willing to listen, to accept correction. It
involves truth-speaking in love, Ephesians 4:29. The opposite of that
involves grieving the Holy Spirit. (This passage is a powerful
testimony to the personality of the Spirit.) “Christians
who are already united to Christ and therefore to one another grow
nearer to and more and more like Christ and correspondingly nearer to
one another in his body, the church. Paul describes this with vivid
imagery. Like a human body, the church is held together with joints.
Only when every part is working
properly
does health growth take place. But where there is a wise and
nurturing ministry of the Word it will happen. And it will do so
almost like a youngster growing to maturity in his or her own body –
which seems to ‘grow itself’: the
body builds itself up in love.”
(Sinclair Ferguson, Let’s
Study Ephesians,
pp. 113–114).
Be
the body of Christ. Notice that Paul, addressing the church at
Ephesus, does not tell them to become
the
body of Christ. As they trust in him, as they have been united with
him by faith, as they have been baptized into him. They are
the body of Christ. And so are you, if you are part of his church.
You need the church. That is where nurture takes place. “Paul’s
image of the body of Christ offers profound insights for nurture: all
members are needed; gifts are for the body as a whole, and isolation
is tragic; and diversity of function produces, not division, but
unity (Eph. 4:11–16).” (Edmund P. Clowney, The
Church,
p. 138). Take part in the life of the church. Don’t treat it as a
fast food restaurant. The church is where you can celebrate in times
of joy. It is, and should be, the place where you can find comfort in
your grief. The other day I heard again of a young mother, wasting
away from cancer, who came to church on Sunday, before passing away
on Thursday. And the following Sunday her parents were in church,
setting up chairs, because it was their rotation.
You
need to build up one another because you are becoming, and are
helping one another become, a fragrant offering to the Lord
(Ephesians 5:1–2). Jesus Christ is working by his Word and
Spirit—and he is using you, his body, to help make you what you
will be in glory.
