Ephesians 4:14-16

Into: Paul is in the second half of his letter to the Ephesians addressing practical Christian living.

Through: Paul continues mid-sentence, stating his goal for the church - maturity. He wants the church to be firm in their beliefs, not easily shaken or swayed by trickery and deceitfulness. He wants to be sure that we speak the truth in love so that we can grow up to be mature in Christ. He allows the body to grow, according to how each part does its share. We all need to build eachother up in Christ so that the whole body of believers can grow and be encouraged.

Beyond: Paul expresses a Christian's need to mature in the faith, and to become firm in his beliefs. He compares immature Christians with children, who have no discernment and are easily influenced. Generally, children will believe whatever people they respect tell them to believe, but Christians shouldn't be like that. We need to excercise discernment and be able to know the difference between truth and a lie. That only comes from continually immersing yourself in the Word and building on your knowledge of the faith. The Bereans were a great example of this, when they tested even Paul after he spoke to them, to be sure what he was telling them was the truth. The truth is, wolves in sheeps clothing will try to come and lead us astray, perhaps not even realizing themselves that they are wolves! The contrast to being tossed about is expressed in the next verse, speaking the truth in love. Instead of believing whatever we're told, we should be able to refute that with the truth, our speech being in love rather than in contempt. Speaking the truth is the easy part. Knowing right doctrine from wrong doctrine is a fairly simple task, but loving the person who has been spreading the false doctrine, now that is difficult (at least for me). The goal in mind should be to build people up, not tear them down and destroy them for being ignorant.

The fullness of the maturity is reached when we as a body of believers grow up into little Christs, who is our head. Now, the head contains the brain, which basically decides what the body is going to do, in the same way we should be in complete submission to Christ as a whole. If parts start acting up it's like people having seizures or twitching, not a pretty sight. One could say that the body of Christ would be unhealthy in this case, having lost connections between brain and body. Now, once every part is working together the way it should, it will be able to help the other parts grow. All the parts will be connected and all the joints working well, and the body can halp all the other parts of the body get nourishment and what not. It's a good time. Once again, love must be the principal purpose. We do not edify through hatred or contempt, that cannot edify. We must love one another, confronting if we must, encouraging as much as possible, teaching, etc. All the while avoiding clanging cymbals and gongs, if you get my reference (1 Cor 13). That is the hardest part for me, and something I could use everyone's help in improving.