Ephesians 4 | Growing as a Mature Christian: How to Stand Firm Against False Teachings

What does Ephesians 4 teach about unity in the church?
How can I grow in spiritual maturity as a Christian?
Why is speaking the truth in love important for Christian growth?

Ephesians chapter 4 dives into the importance of unity, maturity, and living out the new life in Christ. Paul emphasizes that believers are called to maintain unity in the body of Christ, despite differences. He urges the church to see themselves as one, under one God, one Spirit, and one faith. This unity should be prioritized over individual distinctions, creating a cohesive Christian identity that transcends cultural and social differences.

The chapter highlights the essential roles within the church—apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers—meant to equip believers for the work of ministry. When Christians grow in spiritual maturity, they are no longer "children tossed to and fro by the waves" but instead stand firm against false teachings. Paul stresses that Christian growth should be marked by maturity, where believers move from spiritual infancy to maturity in Christ, embodying His fullness. 

Paul also warns against divisive behaviors like anger, deceit, and corrupt talk, urging believers to live lives that build up the body in love. Speaking the truth in love is crucial in maintaining a healthy, growing Christian community. The chapter challenges believers to renew their minds continually and live out their new identity in Christ, which is marked by righteousness and holiness. This renewal is a daily commitment to aligning one’s thoughts, attitudes, and actions with God’s will.

The concluding verses focus on practical instructions for Christian living. Believers are reminded to put away bitterness, wrath, and slander, instead choosing kindness, tenderheartedness, and forgiveness. This transformation is powered by the Holy Spirit, who guides and shapes believers into the likeness of Christ. The message is clear: Christian maturity is not just about head knowledge but is demonstrated through a transformed life that reflects Christ’s love and grace.

Overall, Ephesians 4 encourages believers to prioritize unity, embrace spiritual growth, and live out the new life they’ve received in Christ. The chapter serves as a blueprint for building a spiritually mature, unified, and loving Christian community that stands firm against false teachings and worldly distractions.

#ChristianUnity #SpiritualMaturity #Ephesians4 #NewLifeInChrist #EquipTheSaints #BodyOfChrist #ChristianIdentity #SpeakT

Transcript

 Ephesians 4

Ephesians 4

[00:00:00] Hey everyone. Welcome to God's plan. Your part year two, where this year we're reading through and studying the entire new Testament one chapter at a time. Thanks again for joining us in discovering God's plan and your part in it. Today, we are looking at Ephesians chapter four, and I got to tell you, I am loving Ephesians more and more every day.

Ephesians four is a favorite passage of mine. I'm going to start saying that so often that you guys are not going to believe me. Um, but Ephesians four has a couple of things in it that I like to quote. offhandedly, because I think they're very important. Uh, we're going to talk about some unity. We're going to talk about maturity, and we're going to talk about new life in Christ.

There's a lot to dig in here and I encourage you just like I always encourage you read it for yourself, or at least stick around to the end of the episode to listen to us. Read it. Please hear God's words. They are more important than ours. I'm actually genuinely surprised that you did not say. Equipping the Saints.

I thought that was going to be your list of things. I was like, I was going to get there without giving to call it out. I was like waiting for it. That was like a [00:01:00] tease and now it's ruined. Ugh. Anyway, I would say it's probably just refreshing to continue to be in a letter like Ephesians where it is encouraging to the body.

And not so wrist slapping as we have seen in prior letters. So I think perhaps maybe we're resonating so much because it's like, Oh, thank goodness, I'm so sick of hearing all that other stuff, but it is cool again. Um, to really focus now on. even talking about some of the spiritual giftings of each believer and how they work together.

I think that's really cool. Um, and he's just encouraging that unity of the body that way. Um, and I do also really like, uh, the first part where it is talking about that unity, to really shed The newness of being a follower of Jesus and Walk towards maturity. Yeah in Christ and what that looks like for believers when we even confront each [00:02:00] other With that maturity or about that maturity or lack thereof and what that should look like and really a pressing issue I think is the idea of Not falling to false

So to pick this up from the very top of the chapter, chapter, chapter, my annunciation is not good tonight. Um, I want to point out there, this is a powerful verse. Remember I told you that the letter to the Ephesians, uh, was written to bring unity to this very diverse group of people. Like the actual problem.

If there was one that Paul was addressing and he is. Is that there's, there's Jews and Gentiles in this new church. There's slaves and freed men in this new church. There's men and women in this new church. And all of it is new because everyone was like at the, the same level at the feet of Christ. So you, you're suddenly have this movement of God's spirit that is breaking down all these barriers that would have previously existed.

And I think Jews and Gentiles is the [00:03:00] main one, but there are others that we should Recognize. And so I want to read this passage and then just give a little bit of commentary on it. Um, he says, uh, let's start here with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.

Listen to all the ones here. There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to one hope that belongs to your call. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and father of all who is over all and through all and in all. Um, but. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.

Like it is very clear that Paul is encouraging them to see themselves as one. We have one God, we have one spirit, we have one baptism. Let's have unity despite all of our differences. And the reason I want to dig into that section is diversity is like. Like it's a hot topic today. Like it's, it can be a buzzword today.

And I want to recognize right here. We've been alluding to it like chapter over chapter. [00:04:00] I want to recognize right here that Paul is encouraging these people to see themselves as Christians first, all those other identities. He doesn't say that they're not important. Like he doesn't say forget who, well, actually he goes on to say, forget the old you and live as a new creation.

So, so he does allude to that to some degree. Um, I do think we get into trouble when we pursue highlighting all of our differences instead of highlighting all of the things that we have in common in Christ. So we don't see Paul encouraging Gentiles to express their Gentileness and Jews to express their Jewishness.

He's encouraging them to express their oneness. In Christ, you don't have to pretend like you weren't a Gentile. You don't have to pretend like you weren't a Jew. You don't have to pretend like you weren't a male. You don't have to pretend like you weren't a female. You do have to understand that we are one in Christ.

And that is our primary identity. And that is our new identity that we should all embrace. It isn't really interesting. [00:05:00] I think it's really important for the world we live in today. Well, the world we live in really pushes the total opposite. And like, yes, I get it. But at the same time, How cool is it to come together as a people following after God and that be the unifier, that be the thing that we're so excited about.

Um, Yeah. I don't know. I think that's just really cool because it sheds down all the other external stuff that doesn't matter anyway. Um, because what we are actually unified in is something so far beyond just like, Hey, I'm a Christian. Like, no, that same spirit that resides in me resides in you too. And what's interesting is I, I believe there will be a ton of diversity.

In heaven, um, in the kingdom of God, but the one thing we will all have in common is that we are all in Christ, which is that important line that Paul's going to continue to use, uh, in Ephesians in Christ, in Christ, in Christ, because our primary, most important identity as believers is in Christ. We all look different.

We all [00:06:00] come from different backgrounds. We all speak different languages, but we're all in Christ first. And then all those other things. Well, it's so silly too, like if you think about the two things that diversified people the most was like Jewish and non Jewish Believers and like that's just one area and how much division that brought For the time that Paul is talking about and today like there are so many dividers so many things that we can And you can actually point to like a lot of problems that exist in churches because we elevate one kind of identity over our Christian identity.

And a lot of times what false teachers will do is encourage you to be like, Hey, we're all Christians, but over here we have this kind of Christian and we need to make sure that they're elevated. No, no, no, no, no. Like we're all Christians, we're all approaching Christ together and we all want to strive to be mature Christians, which probably can segue us into the next thing.

Yeah. So I really appreciated this next part. It essentially caught my [00:07:00] attention in verse 14. Um, but it is saying that in verse 11, apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers, um, He gave those to equip the saints for the work of the ministry to build up the body of Christ and down in verse 14 Is kind of where I went?

Afterwards, like that's what really stuck out to me. Um, essentially it's saying that all of those things will help attain unity. But in verse 14, it says, so that, so because of this unity, um, we may no longer be children of, or excuse me, children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness and dis In deceitful schemes.

I did that earlier too. Um, so I think that part was really critical for me. Um, there is this idea of time being a Christian, uh, or being a Christ follower equates to maturity. And that is not [00:08:00] necessarily always the thing like this. Oh yeah, that's true. This is pulling us into the idea of. Hey, if you're a Christ follower, you need to be growing in your faith, not just spending time calling yourself a follower of Christ.

Um, so really the idea of pulling yourself out of those early immature, I guess, or I don't know, not mature years to help you out. The words that Paul uses. Is to mature manhood to the measure, to the stature of the fullness of Christ. So no offense to the female listeners. We know there are some of you, um, he, he's just saying like, we want to strive to be, um, we, we want to strive to become the fullness of stature of Christ.

Well, and it says in our study Bible, it manhood. It's like humankind. Completely contrasts with children that follows. Yes. So I think it is so important to really hear those words and recognize like, I, I said this earlier. I was, as a child, I went [00:09:00] to church from probably like age seven or eight until now.

So all of that time, I would have definitely called myself a Christian. I would definitely say I believe in God. I believe in Jesus. I know like I, I know who he is. Um, I don't doubt that at all. Um, but there was not a lot of time spent in helping my, like helping myself to mature in my faith by seeking God's word, by seeking God's counsel, by praying, by, um, I don't know, just essentially growing in my faith.

It was just kind of this stagnant. Well, yeah, I'm a Christian. Yes. I do these things like, yes, I go to church. I know the Bible, all the things I go to, uh, Bible college, that kind of thing. But I was not necessarily spending the time. In God's word, and therefore, like, really just being stagnant and not maturing.

And I think this really hit home when I heard this, like, Oh, like I spent a couple decades stuck in this verse. So this is interesting because we have several [00:10:00] children and if any of them stayed babies for longer than five years, we would be like, okay, something is wrong. And I would encourage all of us to one, start with ourselves.

Like, How are you a baby Christian? If you are listening to this podcast, we hope that it is an excellent tool for you to come out of being a baby Christian. And, and actually I'm jumping ahead a little bit. I just want to draw attention to this and then come back to our point. Um, one of the benefits of no longer being a baby Christian is you are no longer susceptible to crazy.

Teachings that are out there. And one of the problems that we see in our world today is that many Christians are blown and tossed by the wind because they've never been raised up to be adults. I don't mean physical adults. I mean, spiritual adults, and it's a significant problem. So one of the things I like to point to, there's always, um, like, like I've been in the pastoral world for a long time.

I've done, you know, I was a pastor for a long time. I've done pastoral interviews, the whole thing. You, you always get asked something to the degree of [00:11:00] like, well, you know, How much evangelism should your church do? And how much discipleship should your church do? And the answer is right here in Ephesians four, Paul is very clear to the Ephesian church, um, that, that God has gifted the church to equip the saints for the work of the ministry.

Our churches do not exist to be entertainment centers for lost people. I'm not against seeking out and caring for lost people. What I'm saying is when we gather the body of believers together, we can We should be equipping them so that they are no longer baby Christians. And one of the things that happens is when we design our churches to care for, um, like to act as outreach centers, we just continually speak to baby Christians.

Over and over and over. And that's how you end up with people that like, I mean, Jenny, you're like self identifying, that's how you end up being a baby Christian for 40 years, um, because nobody has ever equipped you to do the work of the ministry. Um, like a healthy church should not [00:12:00] have one pastor. Like it should have many people who are well equipped to do the work of the ministry.

I understand there's semantics and stuff and people have different titles for different roles, but we shouldn't be looking to one person to handle. Discipleship, we should be constantly equipping many people to do discipleship because a mature Christian believer is able and equipped to do discipleship.

Yep, I would agree with that. So this section, I don't know how much more you want to pull from this. Uh, we are getting a little, I love this passage. I love this passage. It's, it's great. It's very important and you can look and you can see that it's God at work. God gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, teachers to equip the saints for the work of the ministry.

Like if, if every single church out there was utilizing these roles that God has gifted us to equip the saints, that's all believers to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. We would make a significant impact on our world and Christ would be exalted around the [00:13:00] world in a significant way. So I would be thrilled if we got past running Christian nursery time and got to raising up mature, well equipped believers.

That's what God has called us to do. I think we should be doing. And on that note, verse 15 is essential, I think, in this piece as well. So rather it says, rather speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way and to him who is the head and to Christ from whom the whole body joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped in Christ.

When each part is working properly, it makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. So I think what's really important is that when we're all in line and we are all following after what God's word says, and when we're all willing to like be held to that accountable nature spirit, when we're all into that, we can function and essentially, um, light the world in a different way.

And I think what's really important too, is that. It doesn't say [00:14:00] speak the truth or speak part of the truth to love like it says like speak the truth like the truth is what it is period. However, we're doing it in a way so that the body is equipped not in order to tear people down. So, I think they both have to go hand in hand.

But again, the truth is the truth. And do it in a way that is like helpful to the body. I also think when we do well at equipping the saints for the work of the ministry, we do experience growth and not all the time, but I think many times it is growth in maturity. Like you grow the individuals to be adult Christians, but also you grow in numbers because as those people.

Become passionate about the gospel, they naturally outpoured the gospel. You don't, you don't need to have parking lot parties and inflatables. Like you just have a church full of people who are on fire for the gospel and understand that their neighborhoods are full of lost people that need to know Christ and [00:15:00] follow him.

So let's like, I'm obviously very passionate about this topic and I'm sure you all can tell, um, I wish we would take this seriously because I think if we took this seriously, it would have a significant impact, um, on the Christian witness of Western churches today. I think it'd be a really big deal. So then we move on to essentially the next part of the chapter, uh, which I guess makes a little bit of a segue.

You were probably a little bit more excited about this part, maybe than I was. Well, I think this adds to it that part of growing in maturity is leaving our old ways behind and, and coming to newness of life in Christ. Like when you become more mature as a believer, which is what this whole chapter is about, you leave behind your childish ways and, and.

Paul actually lists out what the, the ways of our old self, our former self is. You can look at verse 22, um, being corrupt through deceitful desires. Uh, we're supposed to throw all that off. We're supposed to renew our minds and put on our new [00:16:00] self created after the likeness of God. Like, please keep in mind that he said that we need to grow in the fullness of Christ and become in the likeness of God.

Like we should be sanctified. That is, we should allow the Holy spirit to be working in our lives. We should become more and more like Christ as we live longer and we grow. Well, I think the end of the chapter kind of calls out certain things specifically of what is essentially holding each other back with speaking the truth and love to our neighbors.

Um, It gives tons of examples between verses 25 and, oh brother, probably like 30, I guess? Um, but it talks about like, having anger, but not letting anger cause you to sin. You're allowed to be angry, but you're not allowed to sin. Right, and it, I love verse 27 says, and give no opportunity to the devil. Um, no more like stealing, but let you do honest work with your hands.

Um, Share with everyone a need let corrupt talk not come out of your [00:17:00] mouths, but only what's good for building up So I think it's just it's really interesting They just like calling out all of these things that maybe we're I don't know. Maybe they were problems for the people In Ephesus, but I think even for us today This is just an encouragement to remember that speaking the truth in love Again, is what is going to be helpful in building up the body in any of those instances.

Uh, and then it kind of like continues to go out the rest of the chapter of like, do not grieve the Holy Spirit. Um, bitterness, wrath, slander, all of it put away. So I think the, your part, like, like, obviously there's plenty of your parts here. I believe that churches exist to equip the saints for the work of the ministry.

I love that. Um, I would say. Do everything you can to grow as a mature believer. Don't be a baby Christian for five, 10, 20, 30 years. Uh, one of the best ways to do that is to grow in your understanding of what God has revealed to us in his word. And, and one of the things we were reading [00:18:00] over commentaries in logos, getting ready for this episode.

One of the things that all cults have in common is they encourage people not to pay attention to their words. To God's word, because they are somehow more spiritual, somehow have new insight. Somehow, you know, like whatever it is, that is a red flag. And that is a red flag that, that you and I have bumped into like many times where it's like, ah, you just worship the Bible.

Like, no, we don't worship the Bible. We believe that the Bible reveals to us who God is. And you can't know God without understanding who he has been revealed to be. In his word, so there are obviously many other ways to mature as a believer. You need to have discernment for who the Holy spirit is, what he's leading you and how he's leading you.

Uh, you need to seek the Lord in prayer. There's spiritual disciplines you can incorporate into your life, but a great place to start is to understand what God has revealed in his word. He made sure that we have it, we have it so we can know who he is. And you know, in order to truly worship him, we have to know and [00:19:00] understand who he is.

And that's been revealed to us in his word in the Bible. So understand his word, either from this podcast or any other way. We do not mind. We do not mind if you turn us off, as long as you start to read the Bible for yourself, uh, or find another podcast that you like that will teach you what the Bible says.

We obviously went very long today, uh, Ephesians chapter four. Please read it for yourself. Um, all that being said. We'll be back again tomorrow with Ephesians chapter five. Maybe I'll rant less. We'll see you then. Thanks for joining us for another episode of God's plan. Your part. We wanted to remind you that reading God's word is so important and it will transform your life.

If you want a copy of the Bible that we use here on the podcast, just go ahead and send us an email at God's plan. Your part at gmail. com. With that being said, here is the reading for today. Ephesians chapter four. I, therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all [00:20:00] humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope that belongs to your call. One Lord, one faith, one God. 1. Baptism. 1. God and Father of all. 2. Who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore it says when he ascended on high he led a host of captives and he gave gifts to men.

In saying he ascended what does it mean but that he also descended into the lower regions of the earth? 4. He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens that he might fill all things. He And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of [00:21:00] the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of the doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.

They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality and lust. Greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ, [00:22:00] assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires.

And to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self created after the likeness of God, in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger and give no opportunity to the devil.

Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor doing honest work with his own hands so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, [00:23:00] along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Thank you so much for listening to today's episode of God's Plan, Your Part.

Don't forget, you can find us on just about every social media platform. Let us know what you thought of today's episode. And if you have any questions, go ahead and post them there. You can also reach out to us directly at godsplanyourpartatgmail. com. As always, if you don't have a Bible or if you'd like to use the one that we use, reach out to us via email and we'll be happy to send one to you.

Thanks again for listening. We'll see you again tomorrow.