October 18, 2024

Passage Read: Ephesians 3-4
Meditation Verses: 4:13-15

Thought

Jesus Christ Himself is the goal and the likeness into which we all should be growing. And there is only one Jesus, so there cannot be multiple likenesses to which men attain. Yet Paul makes clear here that there are winds of doctrine and deceitful men who use trickery and deceitful scheming to lead believers astray, who confuse the picture. How prevalent are these things? Is it just false teachers or are there earnest seekers who have been caught up with extraneous doctrines that do not truly conform to Christ and sound biblical doctrine? Paul's words suggest that there is a deliberateness to the deceitful scheming. How many of us have been caught up in these deceitful schemes and don't know it?

Application

We're supposed to have apostles and prophets and evangelists and pastors and teachers who lead us into the true likeness of Jesus, but there are also those who desire to lead us astray. The only way to discern who is true and who is false is to trust and know the Scriptures as the only reliable source of truth, and to judge every man by them. We're all supposed to do our part to raise up each other into the true likeness of Jesus Christ by speaking the truth in love. That presupposes a single, reliable standard of truth and requires holding to that standard of truth, as well as speaking it in love. I don't want to become paranoid in thinking that all men are liars, even in the Church, but there has been a shockingly sad history of wickedness even in the Church. Should I really be so naive as to think such days are past? I cannot blindly rely on any teacher to show me the way, but must trust fully and take pains to know the Scriptures as diligently as possible.