<html><head></head><body><div><div><div><div></div><div><div>Ephesians 4;13-16</div></div><div><br></div><div><b>13. &nbsp;until we&nbsp;</b><b>&nbsp;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;</b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div><span>Note Paul’s words carefully, <i>“knowledge <u>of</u>&nbsp;the Son of God”. &nbsp;</i>Paul does <u>not</u>&nbsp;say knowledge ‘about’ the Son of God, (objective knowledge). &nbsp;Paul teaches that the public Ministry of the Church exists to bring the Church into intimate, personal, subjective knowledge <i>“<u>of</u>&nbsp;the Son of God”</i>.<b><i><u></u></i></b></span></div><div><span>Christ himself is truly present in the formal public Ministry of the Church, in Word and Sacraments.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Such <i>“knowledge <u>of</u>&nbsp;the Son of God” </i>is transformational, it matures us to become as Christ is, totally, contentedly, joyfully&nbsp;devoted to the will of the Father, loving the Father,&nbsp;his will, and our neighbor&nbsp;with all our heart, mind, and strength.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span><b>14. &nbsp;so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine</b>&nbsp;(teachings not from God), <b>by the cunning of men, by their craftiness in deceitful wiles.</b></span></div><div><span><b>15. &nbsp;Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way <u>into him</u>&nbsp;who is the head, <u>into Christ,</u></b></span></div><div><span><b>16. &nbsp;from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every joint with which it is supplied, when each part is working properly, makes bodily growth and upbuilds itself in love.</b></span></div><div><span><b><br></b></span></div><div><span>Paul is describing a maturing into Christ which is beyond intellectual knowledge, but becomes a kind of spiritually organic union and oneness and divine communion with our Lord Jesus. &nbsp;His will, his love, his sacrificial devotion to the Father and to us, actually becomes our own. &nbsp;This is not a spiritual maturity which is&nbsp;separated or independently our own, but rather a <i>“participation in the divine nature” &nbsp;</i>(2 Peter 1;4).</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>This kind of spiritual maturity into Christ gives the Church wisdom and discernment to identify false doctrine, which attacks the faith of the Church. &nbsp;(This is&nbsp;spiritual warfare.) This of course&nbsp;involves our intellectual knowledge of the scriptures, but is also (and even more dominantly) &nbsp;an operation of the Holy Spirit within us, leading us into all truth, guarding our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, so as to not be led astray.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Notice how important it is&nbsp;for the entire Church, each member, to be functioning <i>“properly”. &nbsp;</i>None of us can be fully mature in Christ unless we all are loving and caring for&nbsp;one another’s welfare, even as we love ourselves. &nbsp;We <u>are</u>&nbsp;members, one of another, such <i>“unity of the faith”</i>&nbsp;requires our&nbsp;caring to be&nbsp;both physical and spiritual.<i></i></span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Prayer: &nbsp;Merciful Father, grant us such hunger and thirst for righteousness that we treasure and faithfully partake of the public Ministry of the Church, attending Divine Service, being <i>“transformed by the renewing of our minds.” &nbsp;</i>(Roman’s 12;1&amp;2). In Jesus we pray, Amen.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Love,</span></div><div><span>Dad/Baba/Eric</span></div><div><span>Grandpa Pickle Pastor</span></div><div><span>“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word. &nbsp;God’s Word is our habitation, and we are His.”</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><b><br></b></div><div><br></div></div></div></div></body></html>

Ephesians 4;13-16
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;
Note Paul’s words carefully, “knowledge of the Son of God”.  Paul does not say knowledge ‘about’ the Son of God, (objective knowledge).  Paul teaches that the public Ministry of the Church exists to bring the Church into intimate, personal, subjective knowledge “of the Son of God”.Christ himself is truly present in the formal public Ministry of the Church, in Word and Sacraments.
Such “knowledge of the Son of God” is transformational, it matures us to become as Christ is, totally, contentedly, joyfully devoted to the will of the Father, loving the Father, his will, and our neighbor with all our heart, mind, and strength.
14.  so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine (teachings not from God), by the cunning of men, by their craftiness in deceitful wiles.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 knit together by every joint with which it is supplied, when each part is working properly, makes bodily growth and upbuilds itself in love.
Paul is describing a maturing into Christ which is beyond intellectual knowledge, but becomes a kind of spiritually organic union and oneness and divine communion with our Lord Jesus.  His will, his love, his sacrificial devotion to the Father and to us, actually becomes our own.  This is not a spiritual maturity which is separated or independently our own, but rather a “participation in the divine nature”  (2 Peter 1;4).
This kind of spiritual maturity into Christ gives the Church wisdom and discernment to identify false doctrine, which attacks the faith of the Church.  (This is spiritual warfare.) This of course involves our intellectual knowledge of the scriptures, but is also (and even more dominantly)  an operation of the Holy Spirit within us, leading us into all truth, guarding our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, so as to not be led astray.
Notice how important it is for the entire Church, each member, to be functioning “properly”.  None of us can be fully mature in Christ unless we all are loving and caring for one another’s welfare, even as we love ourselves.  We are members, one of another, such “unity of the faith” requires our caring to be both physical and spiritual.
Prayer:  Merciful Father, grant us such hunger and thirst for righteousness that we treasure and faithfully partake of the public Ministry of the Church, attending Divine Service, being “transformed by the renewing of our minds.”  (Roman’s 12;1&2). In Jesus we pray, Amen.
Love,Dad/Baba/EricGrandpa Pickle Pastor“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word.  God’s Word is our habitation, and we are His.”


