Lesson for November 26, 2023
The Battle for Your Soul
Lesson 8
Ephesians 4:14-19
Verses 14-16
“As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”
The Greek word for children is “nepois” and refers to a person who is childish in his thinking, no matter what his chronological age may be. It is used for spiritual immaturity. To be childish means to be influenced by the human viewpoint thinking of the world. It means lack of interest in the teaching of the Word of God and spiritual growth. It means that a believer in this state of spiritual childishness can easily be led astray by false doctrinal teaching.
The Greek word for tossed is “kludonizomai,” which is used for a ship out of control at the mercy of the wind and the waves. It refers to succumbing to the false teachings of Satan’s world system of human viewpoint thinking. This is illustrated by the Greek word “periphero,” meaning to lift and be carried away. Paul was warning the Ephesians not to be carried away into some system of false doctrine.
Paul’s warning is further illustrated by the phrases the trickery of men and craftiness in deceitful scheming. The Greek word for trickery is “kubeia,” which means gambling with dice. The Greek word for craftiness is “panourgia” which means to cheat. Neglect of Bible doctrine is cheating yourself by allowing Satan to trick you into believing false doctrine. Deceitful scheming illustrates the character and cunning of Satan and his “ministers of righteousness.” The Greek word for deceitful is “planeao,” meaning to lead one into error or seduce someone. All believers are susceptible to Satan’s deceitful tricks. Without accurate Bible doctrine in our souls, we cannot stand up to the influences of Satan and his ministers of false doctrine.
But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ. There is a contrast in this chapter between spiritually immature believers, who are retreating in their spiritual lives, and believers who are advancing in their spiritual lives. Remember, if you are not advancing in the Christian Way of Life, you are by default retreating into reversionism.
Speaking the truth is addressed to the pastor and means to teach accurate doctrine. It is by accurate doctrine that we all grow up spiritually. The pastor is to speak the truth of Bible doctrine with a mental attitude of love toward everyone he teaches, whether they are positive or negative. The Greek word for love is “agape,” which means unconditional or impersonal love for all.
The Greek word for growth is “auxano,” which means to cause to increase or to grow. Spiritual growth occurs only by means of study and application of accurate Bible doctrine. Spiritual growth is the natural result when believers consistently listen, understand, believe, and apply the truth from God’s Word.
In all aspects refers to all the doctrine that goes into our souls and causes us to grow spiritually. Spiritual growth in the Church Age requires the function of a pastor-teacher whose objective is to study and teach so that believers will be able to grow to spiritual maturity. Into Him Who is the head, even Christ refers also to Jesus Christ as the absolute head and final authority of the Church.
From whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. The whole body refers to the body of Christ which is made up of all believers in the Church Age. It refers to the Royal Family of God as one cohesive unit. The Greek word for fitted is “sunarmologeo,” which means to frame together as you would a building. Spiritually it refers to the building of the body of Christ, which will become the bride of Christ in Heaven.
Verses 17-19
“So, this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.”
When Paul said that he affirms together with the Lord, it is a very strong statement as to what was going to follow in the next several verses. We know that Paul did not hesitate to admonish believers when it was necessary. Affirming together with the Lord means every time Paul taught, he was obligated to teach accurate Bible doctrine under the filling of the Holy Spirit.
The Greek word for walk is “peripateo,” which means to have a pattern, a way of life, a thought pattern, or a behavior pattern. This was an admonition to get on to the road to spiritual maturity. No longer means that they had been walking just like unbelievers. They were walking in the futility of their mind. The Greek word for futility is “mataiotes,” which means emptiness or vanity. It has the concept of a vacuum in the soul. False doctrines had infiltrated the vacuum in the souls of some of these believers, and they were succumbing to false doctrine.
Being darkened in their understanding refers to the spiritual darkness of rejecting accurate Bible doctrine. Being darked in their understanding is the Greek word “dianoia,” which means thinking which is related to the opening of a vacuum into the mind for believing Satan’s lies. (II Corinthians 2:11, 3:14, 4:4, 11:3; Galatians 3:1-3; I Timothy 2:4; Titus 2:3)
Excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them because of the hardness of their heart. This condition of the soul is the direct result of spiritual ignorance. When a believer fails to avail themselves of the accurate teaching of God’s Word or rejects it, they end up having “blackout of the soul,” which manifests itself as apathy toward God and His Word. The Greek word for hardness is “porosis,” which means blindness. The Greek word for callous is “apalgeo,” which means to cease to feel pain. The definition of hardness of their heart is the scar tissue of the mind leading to the blackout in the soul from rejecting accurate doctrine.
And they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. Hardness of heart, scar tissue of the soul, and emotional revolt of the soul result in a frantic search for happiness from means contrary to the truth of God’s Word. Once you have blackout of the soul and hardness of the heart, you just keep trying to be happy any way you can, and nothing works.
Sensuality is the Greek word “aselgeia,” which means absence of restraint or indecency. The Greek word for impurity is “akatharsia,” which means moral uncleanness or defilement. The Greek word for greediness is “pleonexia,” which means a desire to have more and can’t get enough. Putting these words together we have a picture of the result of blackout of the soul and scar tissue on the soul resulting in your sin nature winning the battle for your soul.