Young People's Group

Having a Strong Understanding of Spiritual Direction

by Mitchell Tan
June 10, 2020

THE PROBLEM OF SPIRITUAL IMMATURITY

One of the problems that the Ephesians were facing was the issue of spiritual immaturity. Because they were not spiritually strong, they were unable to resist wrong teachings steadfastly.

“That we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine”
Ephesians 4:14

The word “children” can also be translated as “infants”. Some of the Ephesians were still babes spiritually. As such, they were undiscerning when it came to listening to false teachings. And because of this, they were being tossed to and fro, carried about by every wave and wind of doctrine. Paul had told Timothy to remain in Ephesus to charge some not to teach another doctrine nor to give heed to fables and endless genealogies (1 Timothy 1:3). Paul’s challenge to the Ephesians was to stop being spiritually immature so that they can be more discerning against falsehood.

THE STRONG SPIRITUAL DIRECTION THAT WE SHOULD GROW TOWARDS

“Till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ”
Ephesians 4:13

Equipping and edifying the Church helps build the church towards being spiritually strong.

1. SEEKING THE SAME KIND OF FAITH

Paul had written earlier of how the Church should have one Lord and one faith (Ephesians 4:5). She should strive towards this having the same core content of faith. Our faith should be located in the Lord Jesus as our Lord, God as our Father and the Scriptures as our foundation of life. We would also have the same expressions of faith. There would be faith and love for the Lord and for the saints. There would also be faith and hope in God that would not cause us to lose heart.

2. SEEKING THE SAME DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE OF THE SON OF GOD

The word “knowledge” in Greek has the idea of “deep knowledge”. The Lord Jesus is truly the divine Son of God. In the book of Ephesians, He is described as our beloved Saviour who died for us, was raised from the dead by great power and seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Ephesians 1). He is Lord over all things and the head over the Church. He is the triumphant King who gives us gifts and who loves us very much. We are all meant to know the Lord in a deep and personal way.

3. SEEKING SPIRITUAL MATURITY

Paul also challenged the Ephesians to strive to go beyond spiritual immaturity and to go towards maturity of faith and life. The idea of a “perfect man” in Greek has the idea of maturity. They were to perfect the things that were lacking in their life. When we have unity of faith and depth of knowledge of the Lord Jesus, we can mature in faith and life.

4. SEEKING TO REFLECT THE STATURE OF THE FULLNESS OF CHRIST IN OUR LIFE

The word “stature” was first used by Luke to refer to Jesus when He was growing in wisdom and stature and in favour with God and men (Luke 2:52). Paul now used the same word to refer to the fullness of who He is. Christ came to earth to be that perfect example for all to follow. He is the epitome of what a man and a servant of God should be. Furthermore, He should dwell in our hearts through faith and we can know even more the greatness of His love (Ephesians 3:17). Young people. Let’s increase our love for the Lord and pray that we can be more like Him. Let’s seek to reflect Christ in all we do and may His light shine through us to others.

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