How can we not be tossed to and fro (Ephesians 4:14)?

The apostle then shows us the results of this maturity in Christ. The first is, that soundness of judgment in spiritual things which renders even the most unlearned believer proof against the subtleties of the human intellect, drawing away the heart from "the simplicity that is in Christ" into all sorts of false teaching — "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." (v. 14.) It is important to observe how this vantage-ground is gained. It is not by human learning, or by skill in controversy. This verse connects itself with the one immediately preceding it, showing that our stability in the midst of the shifting currents of human opinion and speculation is the result of our being full-grown in the faith, and the knowledge of the Son of God; that is, of our possessing an intelligent acquaintance with the word of God, and a heart acquaintance with the blessed Lord Himself. No safeguards against error and false doctrine are proposed by the Scriptures, or can be of the smallest avail if set up by man, except these two.

(Eph. 4:14-15). Having God's perfect standard before us, and thus established in the truth as set forth in Scripture, we shall no longer be in uncertainty as to the mind of God for His saints. We shall not be like babes tossed to and fro by a strong wind. There are, indeed, adverse influences at work, and men of unprincipled cunning who, with wrong doctrine, are forming systems of error. We have to beware of tampering with this evil. Nothing is more pernicious to believers than occupation with "every wind of doctrine" put forth with the subtlety of crafty men. Our business is to learn the mind of God and grow in the knowledge of the Son of God. We do not escape error by enquiring into all the details of the error, but by the knowledge of the truth. The Lord can say of His sheep, "A stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him; for they know not the voice of strangers" (John 10:5). Our safety then is found, not in investigation of evil, but in "holding the truth in love" (N. Tn.). Thus we come under the power of the truth and grow in spiritual intelligence according to the perfect mind of Christ Who is the Head — the One in Whom there is set forth all the mind and purpose of God.

Ministry promotes growth with full maturity in view that we may not remain spiritual infants and thereby threatened by prevailing influences in the world, or tossed around by every wind of doctrine, shifting from one direction to another. There are plenty of people ready to do Satan's deceptive work -- scheming, manipulating, rationalizing, always on the watch to entrap others and undermine any honest faith in the living God. But God has made provision to preserve us from this, in the positive instructions of verse 15, "holding the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the Head -- Christ." Such growth requires firm decision to hold securely the truth God has given us both in mind and in practice, although not in a harsh, legal way but in genuine love. The growth is "into Him" or "unto Him" who is our Head, and involves a growing conformity to His character.

Christ also, being the Head of the body, is the source of all its true supply -nourishment, wisdom and understanding. He is the source and center of the unity of the body, each member being "joined and knit together by what every joint supplies" and every part functioning in its measure, by His direction, to work for the gradual building up of the entire body (v.16). Love is the motivating power for this work -- love that considers every other member of the body with as genuine care as one cares for his own bodily needs. Thus, as each member functions the body grows, not only each member individually.

It is not only growth in the faith, however, or even in the knowledge of the Son of God, that is here spoken of. Besides this, we find that the "oneness" elsewhere insisted on is again introduced. The goal towards which the gifts should aid us is, "till we all come unto the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God." In this there should be progress; for thus only do we come "unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." We are to exhibit a perfect man - a man fully grown up in Christ. But where there are sects and divisions, believers, instead of being full-grown men in Christ, are only babes. They are carnal, not spiritual - walking as men instead of showing forth Christ. These divisions came in, as we have seen, through the eye being taken off Christ and occupied with men. If the eye is fixed on Christ, the maturity. - "the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" - here spoken of will practically display itself in our walk. Thus alone believers, "with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Cor. 3:18.)

The apostle then shows us the results of this maturity in Christ. The first is, that soundness of judgment in spiritual things which renders even the most unlearned believer proof against the subtleties of the human intellect, drawing away the heart from "the simplicity that is in Christ" into all sorts of false teaching - "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." (v. 14.) It is important to observe how this vantage-ground is gained. It is not by human learning, or by skill in controversy. This verse connects itself with the one immediately preceding it, showing that our stability in the midst of the shifting currents of human opinion and speculation is the result of our being full-grown in the faith, and the knowledge of the Son of God; that is, of our possessing an intelligent acquaintance with the word of God, and a heart acquaintance with the blessed Lord Himself. No safeguards against error and false doctrine are proposed by the Scriptures, or can be of the smallest avail if set up by man, except these two.

It is not only growth in the faith, however, or even in the knowledge of the Son of God, that is here spoken of. Besides this, we find that the "oneness" elsewhere insisted on is again introduced. The goal towards which the gifts should aid us is, "till we all come unto the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God." In this there should be progress; for thus only do we come "unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." We are to exhibit a perfect man — a man fully grown up in Christ. But where there are sects and divisions, believers, instead of being full‑grown men in Christ, are only babes. They are carnal, not spiritual — walking as men instead of showing forth Christ. These divisions came in, as we have seen, through the eye being taken off Christ and occupied with men. If the eye is fixed on Christ, the maturity — "the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" — here spoken of will practically display itself in our walk. Thus alone believers, "with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Cor. 3:18.)

The apostle then shows us the results of this maturity in Christ. The first is, that soundness of judgment in spiritual things which renders even the most unlearned believer proof against the subtleties of the human intellect, drawing away the heart from "the simplicity that is in Christ" into all sorts of false teaching — "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." (v. 14.) It is important to observe how this vantage‑ground is gained. It is not by human learning, or by skill in controversy. This verse connects itself with the one immediately preceding it, showing that our stability in the midst of the shifting currents of human opinion and speculation is the result of our being full‑grown in the faith, and the knowledge of the Son of God; that is, of our possessing an intelligent acquaintance with the word of God, and a heart acquaintance with the blessed Lord Himself. No safeguards against error and false doctrine are proposed by the Scriptures, or can be of the smallest avail if set up by man, except these two.

The faith of which the Apostle speaks is the whole system of Christian truth. The unity is not a unity of common agreement as in a creed, or an alliance formed by the expedients of men, but a unity of mind and heart produced by the apprehension of the truth as taught by God in His word. Connected with the faith is the knowledge of the Son of God, for in Him God is fully made known and the truth livingly set forth. Anything that touches the faith, or in any way belittles the glory of the Son of God, will hinder the perfecting of the saints. The knowledge of the faith as revealed in the word, and set forth in the Son of God, leads to the full-grown man as set forth in all fulness and perfection in Christ as Man. The figure sets forth the idea of Christians fully developed and in full vigour. The passage appears to have in view all saints, for it does not speak of full-grown men, but “the full-grown man”, conveying the thought of all Christians setting forth in unity an entirely new man. The measure of the stature of the full-grown man is nothing less than the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. “The fulness” presents the thought of completeness. “The full-grown man” is nothing less than the display in believers of all the moral excellencies of Christ. The whole passage contemplates believers as a corporate body to set forth the fulness of Christ. Moreover, the standard set before us is not only that every trait of Christ should be seen in the saints, but that they should be seen in perfection. It may be said that this will never be attained in the saints down here. Actually this is so, but God cannot set before us a standard that is short of the perfection seen in Christ. We do well to beware of seeking to evade what God sets before us, and excuse our shortcomings by saying that God's standard is impossible of attainment.

(V. 14). The effect of this full growth would be that we should no longer be babes in Christian knowledge, liable through ignorance to be “tossed and carried about by every wind of that teaching which is in the sleight of men, in unprincipled cunning with a view to systematized error.” Alas! there are those in the Christian profession who, with sleight and cunning craftiness, are ready to deceive the unestablished in the truth, and behind their wrong doctrine there is generally “systematised error”. Whenever in the history of God's people there is a definite denial of any great truth, or any special error put forth concerning the Person of Christ, it will generally be found that behind the particular wrong doctrine there is a whole system of error.

We now come to the duration of the gifts; "till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." The perfection spoken of here seems to be not in glory, where all will doubtless be according to Christ, but a state of full growth on earth in contrast with infancy and weakness as in verse 14.

Even in Paul's early day, corrupt men bearing the Lord's name were active in seeking to ensnare the unwary and the simple, and lead them astray from the faith. God would have His saints firmly established in His grace and truth, and in the knowledge of His Son, that they may be proof against the ever-changing wiles of the enemy. It is deplorable to observe saints tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, apparently at the mercy of the foe. Is this God's will? Nay, but their establishment and blessing. And inasmuch as the church of God will never be without souls needing to be helped on to full growth, the ever faithful Head will continue the gifts of His grace until the end: "till we all come." Note, gifts are not given to make the saints helplessly dependent on them, but the reverse; by means of the gifts the saints become firmly rooted and grow up into Him Who is the Head — Christ.

But the gifts are also given to bring the saints to the full-grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of the Christ. In Ephesians 1 the church is seen, according to Gods counsels, as the fulness of the Christ who fills all in all; here the gifts are given to bring the saints practically to what the church is in the counsels of God. Christ's rich and wise provision for our spiritual development and education is made that we might not remain immature and unskilled in His word, that we might not be affected by all the varied doctrines of religious leaders, whose diversity and contradiction manifest that they have no part in the unity of the faith. Craftily manipulating the Scriptures to give colour to their teachings, such men use every device, conceived by the cunning of man, to build up their evil systems, from which the true Christ is excluded. The divine safeguard against all this is to hold the truth in love. It is not enough to be mentally acquainted with the truth: the truth must be held in the affections and manifested in the life, as only then can we grow up to Christ, the Head, in whom every feature of the truth subsists. All our resources are in Christ, who can direct us aright, keeping us from all the evil teachings that abound, feeding the soul, sustaining and satisfying the heart; being withal the object upon which our eyes can rest with perfect delight, so that beholding in Him the truth in all its beauty and rich perfection we take character from Himself to answer to Him in His traits of heavenly grace. Thus it is that the church comes to the full-grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of the Christ.

Every member of the body stands related to Christ the Head, and also in relation to every other member of the body upon earth; and all the supply for the body comes from the Head, being communicated to the different members by the joints of supply. This is not a matter of formal ministry, for the gifts are not in the body as such. Gift is largely connected with the house: in the body all are members. But each member of the body has its place and function, that each saint might contribute, according to his measure, to the building up of the body. Administration has its place in the Christian economy, so has gift, as the earlier verses show; but we must not forget that there is a living organism here on earth, the production of God, maintained by the Head in heaven, yet self-edified by the effectual working of every part. Love, in which the truth is held for the pleasure of God, is that in which the body is built up for the well-being of the saints.

The effect will be that we shall be no longer babes; we shall not be "tossed and carried about by every wind of doctrine, in the sleight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive." Plenty of all that there is, and will be, and God would use it to exercise His people in the truth, that they may learn the value of that which they have, not that they may be carried away from it; and yet how apt apparently are we to be carried away! How we need to be warned with regard to this! How many systems of deception are there in the world, compared with that one truth which certainly must be somewhere, and which is the only thing that can be truth, for there is but one truth. If the babes are characterized by such instability, alas, how many remain babes, one would think, almost to the last! How common a thing it is to see those whom we thought well grounded in truth which they have enjoyed, delighted in, and yet who are carried off by the very first blast of error! How solemn a reminder it is of the need that we have to make progress in the truth that we have, if we are to hold it fast! We may learn it as a creed without ever having learned it really. We may rejoice in it in many respects and yet, for all that, without getting it so for our souls that it becomes a vital necessity for us. To lose it, is as it were to lose life itself; nay, it is to lose what is dearer than life; it is, at least in that measure, to lose Christ Himself. On the contrary, he says here "holding the truth in love," we are to "grow up to Him in all things who is the Head." How much, as already said, how much advance, then, have we all to make, how much have we to learn, how eager ought we to be over our lesson-book, how the gaps that are in God's word now for us ought to fill up! If all of it be just what God would have us acquainted with, if He has not given us too much, if the whole of it is necessary to form in us fully and properly the mind of Christ, what shall we do if we neglect the continually seeking to lay hold more of that which is indeed infinite in its character, but which God would have us in some sense embrace as a whole? If we are to be developed as a whole, developed harmoniously, we must go on to this. It is from Christ, then, that the whole body is to be built up, — every part helping in this, every part ministering to every other part, (how we suffer, therefore, from the dislocation of saints from one another which we find today) and each part needing to be developed according to its measure also. How much we need then to care for one another and to think of one another, even to think rightly concerning ourselves! If the whole body is to be built up, we need all, clearly, to work for this, and in the measure of every part the body builds itself up. Let us notice that. Gifts of every kind have their place, but then there are no giftless parts. The body as a whole builds itself up. The gifts exclude no action of any part of the body, but, on the contrary, are meant to induce the fullest activity on the part of every member. All that we have, we have to serve with; all that we have is responsibility as well as privilege. And let us notice that this building up can only be in love. That is the spirit of it all. That is the only possible spirit which will beget true ministry, and love always will. How is it possible, if we love others, to see them in the need in which they are and not seek to minister to that need? And how little shall we allow any thought of our insufficiency to prevent us realizing the sufficiency of Him who is fitting us all together to accomplish in us the true character of one who ministers, which is only His character who is the Minister to us all! How can we be in any right fellowship with Him without being ministers after the pattern of His gracious ministry?

There must be a fixity of purpose in our hearts. “For he that wavereth, is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed” (James 1:6). “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. 4:14). The more we are “rooted and grounded” in the Word of God the less vulnerable we shall be to deception. There is no excuse for ignorance of the Word. The Lord Jesus clearly said that we must “watch and pray” lest we be deceived. It is therefore the responsibility of every believer to read and study the Word, so that he might be well-grounded and well-established in the Word of God.