Biblion Bible Commentary
Read the introduction to Ephesians · About this commentary
Speaking Truth in Love
Ephesians 4:14-16
14 that we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error; · WEB
Immaturity is described as being at the mercy of other people's cleverness, and the remedy pairs two things usually held apart.
Verse 14 names what maturity is the alternative to, and the images are nautical: tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine. A child in a boat goes wherever the weather takes it.
And the weather is not accidental. Three phrases attribute it to people: the trickery of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error. The first word belongs to loaded dice. What endangers an immature congregation is not bad luck but somebody's skill.
Then verse 15 gives the remedy in two words joined by nothing: speaking truth in love. The Greek is a single participle, something like truthing, and the letter offers no method for combining the two — only the requirement that both be present. Truth without love is one of the winds; love without truth is no anchor.
And the purpose is growth: we may grow up in all things into him who is the head, Christ. Growth toward maturity is growth toward a person, which is the standard verse 13 set.
Verse 16 completes the body metaphor with unusual mechanical detail. The body is fitted and knit together, supplied through that which every joint supplies, and works according to the working in measure of each individual part.
That last clause is the point of the whole passage. The body grows by the contribution of every part working to its own measure — which means the equipping of verse 12 is not optional and the maturity of verse 13 is not achievable by the gifted few. And the growth is in love, the same two words the chapter began and will end on.
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