Growing Up
Growing Up
Paul issues one of the most memorable clarion call’s for doctrinal fidelity and precision in all of scripture.
Unity happens due to common beliefs
Growth together relies on unity
The Five Solas are:
Sola Scriptura (“Scripture alone”): The Bible alone is our highest authority.
Sola Fide (“faith alone”): We are saved through faith alone in Jesus Christ.
Sola Gratia (“grace alone”): We are saved by the grace of God alone.
Solus Christus (“Christ alone”): Jesus Christ alone is our Lord, Savior, and King.
Soli Deo Gloria (“to the glory of God alone”): We live for the glory of God alone.
Unity is found in common belief
My Prayer is that we “Grow Up” In Him, In Christ.
When it comes to the balance between love and doctrine, Christians must not take an either/or approach! Both are necessary, and neither is inimical to the other: love and truth, practice and doctrine, relational warmth and theological light. In the first few verses of Ephesians 4, Paul’s emphasis is on the former—love and peace. In these more recent verses, he stresses the latter—fidelity to the truth of Christian doctrine. Indeed, Paul highlights the importance of biblical truth in more ways than one. Not only does he say, in verses 13–14, that we must be united as to what Christian truth actually is, but in verses 15–16, Paul also reminds us that Christian truth is in fact the instrument by which unity is created in all the areas of practical church life and ministry.
It is as we begin “speaking the truth” to one another “in love” (v. 15a) that the people of God grow into maturity and the body of Christ begins to conform to the image of Jesus, its head (v. 15b). Then, as the members of the body begin taking cues from the head, the various joints and body parts (v. 16) begin to work in unison. Note that process well. The synchronization of the various members of Christ’s body (v. 16) is dependent upon their Christlike spiritual maturity (v. 15b). And that Christlike spiritual maturity is fostered as Christians speak “the truth” to one another in love (v. 15a). Christian unity, therefore, is achieved not only by holding certain truths in common, but also by applying them to one another in love!
Unity, diversity, and fidelity—in Christ!
Finally, let us be sure to notice, in yet another portion of his letter to the Ephesians, Paul’s continuing emphasis on the person, work, and centrality of Jesus Christ. If we have unity with fellow believers, Paul says, it is largely because we belong to “one Lord” (v. 5). If any of us possesses a spiritual gift, it is “Christ’s gift” (v. 7). If we understand the Christian faith, our understanding is, in large part, “the knowledge of the Son of God” (v. 13a). If we are maturing in the faith, we are merely growing up “to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ” (v. 13b). And if we are, indeed, fulfilling our little part in the body, it is because we are led by “Him who is the head, even Christ” (v. 15).
Paul is simply consumed with the supremacy of Jesus! Surely we should be the same! Jesus is, after all, the one whom God has blessed and honored “so that he might fill all things” (v. 10)!