but, holding the truth in love, we may grow up to him in all things, who is the head, the Christ
Ephesians 4 has just described believers in danger of being blown about by every new teaching. Against that danger stands one short answer: hold the truth in love, and grow up into Christ.
Truth held, not just spoken
The phrase covers more than accurate words. One commentator says it goes deeper than speech:
It is "being truthful in love," not just "speaking the truth in love." Speaking the truth is a very important part of being truthful, but it is not everything. We all know it is quite possible to be untruthful in thought and feeling while the words are perfectly correct. "Being truthful in love" implies truth in the inward parts.
That inward reality is why holding the truth cannot stop at the mind:
Knowing the truth in your head is not enough. You must hold it in your affections and show it in your life. Only then can we grow up to Christ, the Head, in whom every feature of the truth exists.
Two things perfectly seen in Christ
Truth and love are not a balance we invent. We take both from the One we grow toward.
The Christian is to grow up in line with all that Christ reveals, and to keep growing more like his Head. He uses love and truth for his own soul — the two things Christ expresses perfectly. Christ is our pattern, and our pattern as One who has overcome and gone up to heaven. He is our Head, and we are members of His body, joined to Him. From this Head, through its members, flows the grace we need to do the work of becoming like Him.
God's provision against being tossed about
This verse answers the drifting described just before it. How we hold the truth matters as much as how firmly we hold it.
There are plenty of people ready to do Satan's deceptive work. They scheme, manipulate and make excuses, always on the watch to trap others and undermine any honest faith in the living God. But God has made provision to keep us safe from this, in the positive instructions of verse 15... Such growth needs a settled decision to hold the truth God has given us securely, in mind and in practice — not in a harsh, legal way, but in genuine love.
The measure of the growth
Growing up "in every way into him" sets no ceiling short of Christ Himself. So what is the measure of a mature believer?
The measure of the stature of a full-grown man in Christ is Christ Himself. It is all the fullness that is in Him worked into the soul. The soul is then shaped by that fullness, made like Him, and filled with Christ in all its thoughts. Its inner state is measured and formed by the fullness that really is in Christ, so that there is no gap and no separation from Him. The saint has grown up to Him in everything.
"In all things" — and together
Two limits are removed by the wording. The growth covers every part of life, and it is not measured one believer at a time.
As I understand it, this is a growing together; the "all" of verse 13 growing up to Christ as one. How harmonious! If a man grows on one side only, we call him a hideous sight, a monstrosity... But holding the truth in love we are to grow up to Him in all things, until we come under the influence of the Head in every direction. Private life with God, service in the church, family life, business life — in every circle we learn to own the Lord Jesus Christ as the mind that directs us.
Everyone has a part
The work is shared out, and no part is too small.
Everybody has his or her part in God's Assembly, the ministry of each member in its place tending to the building up of the body in love... Perhaps you will say, My part is a very small one. Never mind. Do the thing the Lord gives you; it might be only to give a cup of cold water — that would be a very useful thing to a thirsty soul.
Summary
- Held — we do not just speak the truth; we hold it inside. Correct words can still hide untruthful thought and feeling.
- In love — truth and love belong together, because Christ expresses both perfectly, and He is our pattern.
- Against drift — God gave this to guard believers from schemers who trap and unsettle them.
- Toward Him — the goal is Christ Himself, not a level of knowledge. He works His fullness into the soul until nothing in us is out of step with Him.
- In every way — the growth is even and shared: every area of life, every member with a part, or the body grows lopsided.