“But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:” (Ephesians 4:15)
This verse is part of a six-verse sentence. These types of sentences are common with Paul. In order to understand the word “but” in this verse, it’s important to know what Paul was talking about. “And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Eph 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Eph 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
Eph 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
Eph 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.” (Ephesians 4:11-16)
Speaking the truth in love is far from being children or like new or baby Christians who don’t know all the precepts of the Bible. They are vulnerable to any doctrine that sounds good, but may not be the whole truth. They are vulnerable to the doctrine of the Jehovah Witness or of the Mormons. These two denominations are not considered Christian by the Christian community because although they say they believe in Jesus, they do not believe He is God, but one of many gods. Here is a summary by Alpha and Omega Ministries.
The Mormon Jesus –
-is God the Father’s firstborn spirit-child in heaven. Since, according to the
LDS Church, each one of us was begotten in the same manner, the difference
between us and Jesus is simply one of degree.1
-is the spirit brother of Lucifer, also known as Satan.2
was begotten here on earth by God the Father by natural means
– just like any other man – and not by the Holy Ghost.3
- “sweat” his blood for our sins in the Garden of Gethsemane,4 and his blood
cannot cleanse from all sin.5
-is now one amongst many millions of other gods.6
Many are carried away by this denomination, not knowing the lies they teach. The Jehovah Witnesses also have a non-biblical perspective of Jesus.
Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jesus was created by Jehovah as the
archangel Michael before the physical world existed, and is a lesser, though
mighty, god.
Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that when Jesus was born on earth, he was a
mere human and not God in human flesh.
Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jesus was resurrected spiritually from the
dead, but not physically.
Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that the second coming was an invisible, spiritual
event that occurred in the year 1914.
This was taken from Justin Taylor’s blog from The Gospel Coalition. The members of these two groups live impeccable lives, but it’s not by the spirit but by works. They earn their salvation and place in heaven. But if we were able to live perfect good lives to be accepted in the beloved, why did Jesus have to be born human and take our sin away? We could have just been able by doing good things entered heaven. Can you see the lie these people have accepted? They leave salvation all in man’s hands. It’s human to want to do something. It’s hard to accept that we just have to believe in Jesus and accept God’s gift of mercy and love. We want to do something; works, sacrifice, payment. But God does not accept anything that He hasn’t initiated. And He has poured His Love and Mercy through Jesus Who took the punishment for sin for us and took death for us. So now there is no punishment for sin, and we don’t have to suffer death. This eternal life that Jesus offers is through Him and no other. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6) and Paul writes to Timothy along the same lines. “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, Who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” (1 Timothy 2:5,6)
Biblical knowledge will keep us from being taken in by the devil’s lies and keep us from being deceived. This comes with reading the Bible. How will we know what is deception and what is truth? A banker knows a counterfeit because he has handled thousands of bills. A counterfeit will feel different. It’s the same with the Word of God. When we have read it every day, we will recognize a lie.
In Paul’s long sentence he is saying that God has given us the gifts of the five-fold ministry, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers to perfect and build us up. (Ephesians 4:11) These people are gifts to us and dispel the lies that would deceive us. They help us “grow up” in Jesus.
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