Ephesians 4:14 (ESV Strong's)
14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
The Purpose of Spiritual Growth
This verse is taken out of the middle of a long, GREEK sentence. Paul, in this section, is telling the church about the purpose of the church teachers. The teachers are to speak truth and that truth is to grow the members of the body of Christ to bring them to maturity. In this verse he tells them something about maturity:
1. GROWTH IS NATURAL! If we are growing in Christ, we will no longer be children. This simply speaks to the natural part of growth. We expect children to grow. That is natural. It is also natural for believers to grow. We should see it.
2. GROWTH IS STABLE! If we are growing in faith we will not be tossed around in the waves of false teaching. Perhaps a word picture is would be the difference between a little boat and a big boat in the waves of a sea. The larger the boat the less the waves impact their direction. If we are growing we are less impacted by the false teachings of this world.
3. GROWTH IS DISCERNING! Those who are growing in Christ are able to discern the differences between the schemes of man and the doctrine of Christ, False teachers have always been and will always be. The growing believer will know the difference between the “Paul the Apostle” teachers of live and the “Paul on the Network News” of life. Growth develops discernment.
Paul expects us to grow. That is the natural aspect of Christian development.
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