[U]ntil all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love. Ephesians 4: 13-16, NRSV.
Gracious God, we thank You so much for the hope that You have given us in Your Word. We can grow up in You! We can become spiritual adults. We long for this to happen. Now we ask You to show us, how adults, in Jesus Christ, behave. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
During the past three days our study has been on the subject of, Growing Up in Christ. I am convinced that if we are to finish the work of God in our world, we need the Holy Spirit in our lives! Yesterday, we rejoiced in the knowledge that, as we allow the Holy Spirit to have complete freedom in our lives, by God’s grace, we will no longer be children, but will become men and women, in Christ Jesus! Today, we will endeavor to look at how, grown-ups in Christ, behave.
Our Scripture gives us an idea of what characterizes a spiritual child. They are “tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming.” In other words, they seem to be pretty “unstable.” This being the case, if we are spiritual adults, then our behavior, should be the exact opposite. To help someone to overcome an unhealthy behavior, we usually go to the root of the problem, to find out what caused it. The apostle James makes a very weighty comment about people who are unstable. He also talks about what makes them unstable. Let us listen to what he has to say, “If any of you lacks wisdom, [you] should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to [you]. But when [you] ask, [you] must believe and not doubt, because [you] who doubt is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That [person] should not think he [she] will receive anything from the Lord; he [she] is a double-minded [person], unstable in all he [she] does” (James 1: 5, emphasis provided).
There are several items of interest in this verse. There is the Source of wisdom; there is the need to believe; and there is the consequence of instability, caused by unbelief. Some questions are in order at this time. Could it be that we are going to the wrong source for the wisdom that we need? Because our source of wisdom is faulty, has that impaired our ability to believe? Are we not receiving more answer to prayers because we have become unstable, as a result of our lack of ability to believe? If there is even a remote possibility that these problems could hamper our growth, then we need to look at them more closely.
The Source of Wisdom. We read, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Proverbs 9: 10, NIV). The wisdom that comes from God is sufficient for all our needs. God gives His wisdom, unto men and women in every field of study. These individuals, from every walk of life, have been used by God to bring about healing; and to cause breakthrough in some difficult areas of research. They have made discoveries in numerous fields. For this reason, a person who has reached spiritual maturity, knows where to go in time of indecision, and insecurity. When any doctrine is presented, they do not compare God’s Word to the theories and hypotheses of humans. They take the theories, and hypotheses, of human beings, and submit them to the scrutiny of the Word of God! God’s Word further reminds us, ” ‘My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken [Me], the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns that cannot hold water” (Jeremiah 2: 13, emphasis provided). God gives to men and women of His wisdom, freely. If we go to Him He will not only provide us with wisdom. He will also enable us to believe. Then we will become stable in all our ways!