One of the grand purposes of the church is to help people grow up spiritually. We are called to help unstable people become stable. To help weak and flighty people become strong and unwavering. To help deceived people walk in freedom through the truth of the gospel.

Think about those three miracles of transformation for a minute. Unstable people becoming stable. Weak and flighty people becoming strong and unwavering. Deceived people becoming truth-filled people who walk in the light of the gospel. This is the miracle of the gospel at work in a church that helps people to grow up spiritually.

In Ephesians 4:7 – 16 Paul says…

7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” 9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? 10 He who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and the teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

How would you characterize your walk with Jesus right now? Is it stable or unstable? Is it weak and flighty or strong and unwavering? Is it deceived and deceptive or filled with and set free by the truth of the gospel?

As we’ve examined this passage over the last few weeks I’ve been increasingly challenged and convicted with the Biblical purpose of the church and its role in the spiritual growth of its members. We know that the three major themes of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians can be summed up with these three words: sit, walk and stand.

God desires for us to be firmly seated in the reality of who and whose we are. He desires for us to walk in obedience to the gospel. And he desires for us to stand, firmly rooted and immoveable against the onslaughts of Satan, sin and the world. In short, God wants us to walk like spiritual adults not spiritual infants.

Chapter four is where Paul makes his transition away from the theme of sit into the theme of walk. He urges us to “walk in a manner that is worthy of the calling to which you have been called” (Eph. 4:1) Our calling is two-fold. We are called to follow Christ as we grow up into him in every way. And we are called to serve Christ by serving people as we labor to equip each other for the work of ministry that builds up the body of Christ. And this two-fold calling (vertical – God-focused – and horizontal – people-focused) is to be taken seriously because our ability to be called by God is a matter of serious business that cost Jesus his life at the cross.

So when Jesus instructs us to be his disciples who pick up our crosses and carry them forward we get the same serious tone that Paul has when he says, “walk in a manner that is worthy of your calling.” We have a cross carrying Savior walking the path in front of us as he calls out to us to become just like him in the way that we walk.

When I stop for a minute and I survey the landscape of the Western church I can become spiritually depressed. In our western culture we have turned the body of Christ into a spectator sport where people expect to be entertained. And we have turned the bride of Christ into a spiritual prostitute where we pay our time, our talent and our treasure for cheap thrills and membership in a social club. And sin seems to run unchecked in God’s people and Godly repentance is a topic that seems antiquated.

This was not God’s original design for the church. Where are the cross-carrying Christians today? Where can you find disciples who are so crushed by the love and mercy and grace of God that they’ve toughened up and grown up under the privilege of carrying a cross like Jesus did? Where can you find godly spiritual adults who’ve left their childish ways behind for the sake of knowing Christ and making him known?

Martyn Lloyd Jones commenting on verse 14 says, “Two things are essential (for spiritual children to grow into spiritual adults). The child must realize that he is a child; and he must also realize that because he is a child he is in an extremely dangerous position.” We need to grow in self-awareness and we also need to grow in a healthy sense of fear. A child, who lacks the self-awareness to know that he or she is a child, does not have a healthy sense of fear and will inevitably try to do things that only an adult is able to do safely.

The problem that I think we can see in the Western church is that we have far too many spiritual children trying to walk the walk of a spiritual adult and trying to do the work of spiritual adults. What we need is to do the hard and oftentimes painful work of becoming spiritual adults who are helping other people become spiritual adults too. We need grown-ups doing the work of helping children become grown-ups who help other children become grown-ups too. This is really a great summary of what discipleship in the local church is about. This is what Paul is talking about when he tells Timothy to take “what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses (and) entrust (it) to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Tim. 2:2)

So what are some of the marks of spiritual infancy? What does Paul mean when he says that the church is designed to be a place where spiritually gifted people equip and build one another up until we all attain to perfect faith, perfect knowledge and mature manhood so that we may no longer be children? (Eph. 4:14) What does it look like to no longer be a spiritual child? What does it look like to become a spiritual adult?

  1. Spiritual adults are stable…

One characteristic of children is that they are unstable. One moment they are happy and content and the next moment they are a screaming mess. They can easily jump from one extreme to the next and they need constant care and nurturing because they are fragile and unstable. When a young child begins to learn how to walk they need someone to hold them steady and teach them how to balance on their own two feet and to comfort them and to encourage them when they take a spill.

It really isn’t any different with us when we are spiritual children. We become brand new spiritual babies the day we begin to follow Jesus and we don’t become spiritually stable adults overnight. Depending on a person’s upbringing and life experience it can take quite a while before a spiritual child becomes somewhat stable and able to walk on his or her own two feet. Nevertheless we must pursue spiritual adulthood that is characterized by stability. We must not live perpetually in cycles of instable spiritual infancy.

I remember the first few years of following Jesus. I was young (even humanly speaking) and I was passionate and impatient. I’m still learning to temper my passion and practice patience. But I also had years of sinful thinking and sinful desires and sinful living that had taken root in my heart. I had to learn to walk and I needed people to help me grow up.

I haven’t arrived yet. Like we discussed last week, I’m still living in the already complete, not yet completed reality of the Christian life. But by God’s grace, “he who began a good work in me will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Phil. 1:6) God is still maturing me and he is still helping me to walk more faithfully each and every day. I’m learning to no longer be a spiritual infant who is tossed to and fro by the waves (Eph. 4:14) like a little toy boat without a Captain on the Ocean.

One of the things that has helped me to no longer be a spiritual infant that is tossed to and fro by the waves is to pursue wisdom instead of foolishness. James says “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:5-8) One of the defining marks of a person who is becoming a spiritually stable adult is a consistent pattern of growing in wisdom. Wisdom is knowledge in action so we must actively put what we know into action in our lives.

This doesn’t mean that you know everything or that you don’t trip and fall. On the contrary, a wise person knows when to ask for help, when to receive the help, when to get up from the fall and when to begin walking less foolishly than they did before. It means that we don’t live in our ruts or graves with the ends kicked out. And it also means that we don’t continue living in foolish, unstable childish patterns. It means that we can say with the Apostle Paul that, “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man I gave up childish ways.” (1 Cor. 13:11) This means we are becoming stable spiritual adults in our words, our thoughts and our reasoning.

It means that we actually get down on our knees like children and ask our Father in Heaven for the wisdom that we need so we can walk like adults when we stand back up. You and I will either be tossed to and fro like a child who never realizes he is a child and tries to do things without the help of his parents. Or we will become stable in our humbled, surrendered posture of prayer as we trust, believe and obey our Father’s Word.

That reminds me, that one of the other things that has helped me to no longer be a spiritual infant that is tossed to and fro by the waves is to study the Bible and regularly apply it to my life. The Bible isn’t just an instruction manual. It’s one of the primary ways that we encounter the presence of God. And in the presence of God there is stability.

Peter says that, “ignorant and unstable people twist (the Scriptures) to their own destruction… you therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 3:16-18) It is vital to our growth to believe and trust and obey God’s Word. We become more and more stable as we put the saving knowledge of God’s Word into wise action.

Peter connects the inability to become stable with the practice of twisting God’s Word to justify or to allow for some sinful behaviors that ultimately are destructive to us. And he warns us to be careful not to get caught up with someone who does this consistently. I actually get the sense that we are to distance ourselves from someone who perpetually distorts the truth of God’s Word otherwise we might get carried away and become unstable too.

So practically speaking, we are called to no longer walk like spiritual children who are being tossed to and fro by the waves. And the way we do this is by pursuing wisdom (knowledge in action) through consistent prayer and the regular study and application of the truth of God’s Word. So spiritual adults are stable.

  1. Spiritual adults are strong and unwavering…

Children are impressionable and weak or flighty. They are easily sidetracked and they need to be taught the difference between what’s right and wrong and what’s true and false. It’s no different with spiritual growth. We all start out in our Christian walk with a limited knowledge of the gospel and we can easily become distracted by all of the varying winds of doctrine that blow through.

Paul, writing to the church in Galatia, says “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel – not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.” (Gal. 1:6-9)

It’s mind-boggling to observe how weak and flighty a young child can be. One moment everything is fine and the next moment their whole world can be in a tale spin over spilled milk. But truth-be-told I’ve observed the same thing in my own life. One moment I am praising the Lord and trusting in him and the next moment I am full of fear and worry and I begin to believe the gospel of self-reliance instead of Christ-submission.

It’s hard to know what to accept as doctrinally true. There are many competing doctrines coming out of so-called churches today. Some people preach that if you trust in Christ then you will be healthy, wealthy and wise. Sounds like the opposite of picking up your cross and dying to yourself. Other people preach that everyone will ultimately be saved someday. Not sure why Jesus preached on the eternal nature of hell then.

Some people preach that Jesus wasn’t the Savior but was merely a good social example. They strip Jesus of the greatest social investment ever made. Namely the investment of his spilled blood and broken body so that people in society could be saved from eternal destruction. Some people even preach that it’s sinful to celebrate holidays or worship on Sundays. Not sure why they ignore the practice of the early church or the plain teachings of Jesus on the Sabbath.

There are others who preach that only 144,000 people will go to Heaven while others are preaching that it’s Biblical to take multiple wives. All of this false doctrine and more are coming out of so-called Christian churches today. So how do we no longer be children who are tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine?

How do we know what to cling to as true and what to reject as false? The answer is simple. Cling to the Biblical gospel and reject any message that says Jesus plus this or that is what you need. Jesus plus something equals nothing and Jesus plus nothing equals everything. You need to familiarize yourself with the truth and when a counterfeit looms on the horizon you will know it instantaneously and be able to reject it.

This is why Paul reminded the Corinthians that he delivered to them “as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.” (1 Cor. 15:3-5) The Biblical gospel was of first importance to Paul. We need to keep the main thing the main thing. The Biblical gospel is the main thing. The gospel is simple and when we cling to it tightly nothing of lesser value will get into our hearts and minds.

Gospel centrality isn’t just a cool slogan on a banner for the church. It’s not just the entry-point message for Christianity either. The gospel is the message that is central to all of the Christian life whereby the Christian becomes strong and unwavering instead of being carried about by every wind of doctrine. So spiritual adults are stable and strong and unwavering.

  1. Spiritual adults walk in the light…

Children are prone to walk in the darkness of deception. We’ve all heard the cookie jar illustration that reminds us of a young child’s propensity towards lying and deception. It’s the same with spiritual children because even though they are now children of God, they used be children of Satan, sin and the world. They used to be dead in the trespasses and sins in which they once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience – among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. (Eph. 2:1-3)

Newly adopted kids come with baggage. Every one of us brings spiritual baggage to the family. But the purpose of the church family (just like any adoptive family) is to remind one another that we’ve been adopted by a new Father. We’ve been given new clothing. We’ve been given a new heart. And we’ve been given a new name. And we’ve been given a new destiny. We are children of the King and our eternal destiny is Heaven. So we no longer need to walk like children who are caught up by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

We need to leave our childishly deceptive ways behind and walk in the light of the gospel like spiritual adults. Proverbs says that, “Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment. Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but those who plan peace have joy.” (Prov. 12:19-20) If your lips are drenched in the truth and if your tongue is full of the truth then your heart will be full of truth-filled plans (or schemes) that lead to eternal peace and joy.

But if you find yourself scheming and planning and justifying your sin then your heart is full of deceit, your tongue is full of lies and there is no truth on your lips. If this describes you then the clear warning here is that you will not endure till the end. You will continue to walk like a child who thinks that he or she is an adult. And if this is you then you are in danger of running off a cliff. You need to be set free by the truth of the gospel. You need to walk in the light instead of walking in the darkness of deception.

Jesus has a dialogue with the religious leaders of his day that is very similar to what we are discussing here. The religious leaders thought they were spiritual adults because they were descendants of Abraham. In other words, they grew up in a religious family and they had all the certificates to prove it.

They knew the words of their Bibles inside and out. Their attendance in church gatherings was perfect. They tithed more than was required. They could talk all day long about God but they didn’t know God nor did they have any interest in actually knowing God. They were impressed with themselves and they were upset that people were becoming more impressed with Jesus. And so they were secretly and deceptively plotting or scheming to kill him.

And listen, you don’t have to secretly scheme to kill Jesus to be guilty of what these guys were guilty of. All you have to do is deceptively scheme to sin against Jesus since it is our sin that ultimately placed him on that cross. Jesus says a number of things to these guys that are important for us to consider. Look at John 8:31 – 47…

  • 31-32: Jesus says, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Spiritual adults live by every word that comes from the mouth of God. They walk in the light of the Word of God. They live in the freedom that the Word of God and the presence of God brings.
  • 34-38: Jesus says, “Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.” Spiritual adults are not enslaved to patterns of sin. Struggle with sin, yes. Not enslaved. They walk in the freedom of the light of the gospel. They speak of what they have seen when they have been with their father. See the relational language here? I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father. Does your tongue speak from the experience of being with your Heavenly Father? Or do you behave and obey what you’ve heard from Satan?
  • 42-43: Jesus says, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word.” Spiritual adults love Jesus and the proof of their love for Jesus is that they understand the truth, they love the truth and they desire to hear more of the truth. Can you bear to hear the truth of God’s Word? Or do you reject the truth of God’s Word?
  • 44-45: Jesus says, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.” Spiritual adults do not have wills that are dead-set on doing what Satan, sin and the world tells them to do. Spiritual adults stand in and on the truth of the gospel. Their character is shaped and molded continuously by the gospel. And they have an insatiable hunger for more and more of the truth of the gospel.

So how do we become spiritual adults who walk in the light of the gospel? How do we protect ourselves from becoming like the religious leaders in Jesus’ day? How do we guard our hearts from being deceived and living in deception?

I think Paul’s words to Timothy are helpful here. Paul tells Timothy that; “evil people and imposters will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (2 Tim. 3:13-15)

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want my life to be characterized by childish deception. I don’t want to live in the darkness. I want to live in the light of the gospel. And Paul encourages us to grow up and become spiritual adults who are living in the light of the gospel. He calls us to continue growing, continue learning, continue believing, continue trusting and continue running with people that will help us become spiritual grown ups.

As soon as we begin to run away from people that can help us become spiritual grown ups we become worse than spiritual babies. We become evil people who go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But that’s not what God calls us to. God calls us to “no longer be children… who are carried about by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” God is calling us to become spiritual adults who are stable, strong and unwavering as we walk in the light of the truth of the gospel.

In Conclusion…

I’ve thought long and hard about the growth rate of the children that Christy and I have raised. I’ve contemplated the years of my own spiritual growth. I’ve also thought about some of the Biblical heroes like Moses and Abraham and David and Joseph. All of these Biblical heroes were sometimes unstable, weak, flighty and they spent periods of time walking in the darkness of deception. My story is the same. My kids’ stories are the same. Your story is the same.

The timeline of growth for these men is astounding to think about. 40 years of wandering for Moses. Roughly 48 years of trials and hardship for Abraham between the time of the promise for Isaac and the command to trust God and sacrifice his only son. David spent years waiting to become a king while hiding in caves from his enemies to totally biff it one night on a rooftop with a woman in a bathtub. Joseph spent a good portion of his life in prisons even though he was called to rule and lead the nation.

So if you are feeling unstable, weak and flighty and if you’ve been caught up in the darkness of deception, trust in the finished work of Christ at the cross and repent. Jesus spent 33 years walking the face of this earth perfectly to die for you on a cross so that you could have the opportunity to become stable, strong and unwavering as you walk in the light of the gospel. He gave his life up so that you could grow up and repent.

This is what it means to no longer be spiritual children but to instead become spiritual adults. This what it means to no longer be children who are tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. God is calling us to become spiritual adults who are stable, strong and unwavering as we walk in the light of the gospel. Amen??!!