TRUTH IN LOVE
Ephesians 4:17-32
“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Paul tells us that the Lord intends the church to nurture Christians to maturity and the fullness of Christ. He has given us resources to equip us “so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Paul now calls us to “truth in love” as we “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”
Christ commands all who enter to love one another. God, as the focus of our worship, draws us into the truth of his being: holiness, righteousness, compassion and mercy. The Holy Spirit dwells in each of us to lead and guide us through his Word and to empower us as we embrace this new life. What we need to do is to practise truth in love with one another.
Truth and love is the power of God to transform us to maturity in Christ.
The challenges to this community are the world and its view of life, self-righteousness and judgement, bitterness, anger and malice, laziness, the cunning and deceit of the agents of the devil, the power of greed and sensuality, and the devil himself. What these seek to do is destroy the unity of the Spirit, grieve the Holy Spirit, corrupt the soul, and give the devil footholds into both the Christian as well as the church.
Truth keeps us from the deception of the world and love heals us from the wounds that open up as we obey the truth, putting off our old self and putting on the new, so we do not give the devil a foothold. The healing medication available to us is God’s kindness, compassion and forgiveness, that we can receive and apply to one another.
The theory sounds good but looking at it all, growing to maturity would seem an impossible mission practically. Churches are full of problems and unity rarely goes beyond the superficial. So many things can go wrong in so many places and we are all sin-ridden and imperfect—even leaders may fail. But we need to trust the process and obey our Lord: Keep the unity of the Spirit and maintain truth and love with one another.Jesus says, with all confidence, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” (Mark 10:27)