Ephesians 4:15 Speaking the Truth in Love

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Where Are We Going? Ephesians 4:11-16

Speaking the Truth in Love

Introduction: Let’s remind ourselves of the importance of this text. Ephesians is foundational for our lives as disciples of Christ. Before time began, God determined that he would create a people who were holy and blameless, living for the primary purpose of showing the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places God’s manifold wisdom. Chapters 4-6 explain how we are live so that we are to the praise of his glory. And 4:1-16 details how we are to function together in a local church so that everyone comes to maturity and is equipped to live to God’s glory.

1. Speaking the Truth in Love – In Context
   1. First, saints are equipped to build up the body of Christ (12). Therefore, Paul is talking about all of us, each one here, using your equipped talent to strengthen this body.
   2. Second, the specific goals and ways that each of us is to build the body is the help bring us all together in the unity of the faith and to maturity that is measured by the fullness of Christ. Of course, attaining this is a constant, ongoing effort and are facilitated by our Bible classes and other teaching efforts in the church. But not only these public efforts, but also the one on one efforts of each Christian.
   3. This pressing for the unity of the faith and maturity is to keep us from being children who are unstable and upset by every new fad-doctrine that comes along.
   4. In contrast to being and remaining children, we are to be able to “speak the truth in love.” Please consider that being able to speak the truth in love is a sign of maturity because it is the opposite of being children. If we are unable to speak the truth in love, then we have not reached the level of maturity that is expected of us.
   5. May I emphasize the three simple statements Paul includes in this admonition:
      1. “Speak”
      2. “The Truth”
      3. “In Love”
   6. Therefore, “speak” does not mean just knowing the difference between truth and error, but being able to actually express it.
   7. The “truth” certainly goes beyond just understanding what is morally right or wrong or knowing when someone isn’t teaching salvation correctly. It is truly knowing and abiding in God’s word. Jesus said, “If you abide in my word, then you shall know the truth and the truth will set you free” (Jn. 8:31-32).
   8. “In love” indicates that we have truly come to the level of being ambassadors of Christ. We can’t teach unless we first love. We have the character of love that Christ had when dealing with those who did not believe or did not understand.
      1. It is not characterized by a “winning-the-argument” attitude, but with compassion and desire help. Jesus saw the multitudes as sheep without a shepherd, and then prayed that God would send laborers into the harvest.
      2. Paul described it well in 2 Tim. 2:24-26 – “And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.” 
2. Speaking the Truth in Love in the Plan of God
   1. We typically do not give this command a lot of weight, especially in comparison to “not tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine.” We tend to be very concerned about he latter. But where has been our efforts in equipping the church to “speak the truth in love?” 
   2. It is not as if NT writers did not express this need repeatedly. Consider:
      1. Colossians 4:2-6 “Pray…walk in wisdom toward outsiders…Let you speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each one.” A lot of wisdom and experience goes into following this admonition!
      2. Hebrews 5:11-14 The fact that they Hebrew Christians were still not able to teach others was a sign of their immaturity. They enjoyed being taught, but did not move beyond simply being taught. Please note, that if you just keep getting taught, you will continue to need to be taught.
      3. 1 Peter 3:13-16 Peter is speaking to exiles who have been transplanted to a region where they are seen as “strange” and they are scorned for their beliefs and lifestyle. What are they to do? Get ready to give an answer [defense]. Consider the magnitude of what that takes!
      4. The point is, this principle has been stressed repeatedly, but we have generally not made it much of a priority. However, I can tell you that this has been a priority in the past (first part of the 20th century and before).
3. Speaking the Truth in Love in Practice
   1. Speaking the truth in love is a primary way that we reach maturity. It is a primary way we grow. We have already seen this in Hebrews 5. Therefore, we must start practicing actually explaining a text so that we will grow.
      1. First, it causes us to know the text exponentially more than we ordinarily would than if we just studied the text and kept it to ourselves. We pay more attention to details in the text because we know that everything needs an explanation (example of how we would teach Acts 2:38)
      2. Second, by speaking the word we are pressed to organize our thoughts in a way that is usable to someone else and clearer to us.
      3. Third, when we speak the word, we remember what we have learned to a far greater degree than we would have otherwise. 
      4. Fourth, by speaking the word we meet the prime directive of the text – saints creating the unity of the faith and doing the work of helping the rest of the body come to maturity so that we are part of the body “building itself up in love.” This is a life-long effort. We keep learning and we keep sharing.
   2. Consider how this would affect our preparation in our Bible classes. 
      1. How you prepare (better prep!). Now you have a goal beyond just gaining the knowledge of the text. A goal in Bible study is critical (Cf. Hebrews 5:11).
      2. How you use the class for your own growth. Since your goal is to share the word, causing growth in the body and salvation for those outside, you are taking notes and marking your text in a way that prepares you for when you need to share the text. I put extensive notes in my Bibles so I’m prepared.
   3. How can you practice explaining scripture other than in a Bible study at the building? Obviously, classes at the building do not give the amount of opportunities needed.
      1. This can be a project that husbands and wives and parents and children can work on. If you can learn to explain a text to a child, you will go a long way to learning to explain the text to an adult who doesn’t know the word.
      2. Pick a couple friends in the church and do practice sessions together. Similar to a “book club.”

Conclusion: We should be able to see how important this is to the growth of the church, but more importantly, to accomplishing what God has asked us to do to live to the praise of his glory.
Further, this isn’t intended to happen because we organize this. This happens best when it is done organically, though some will be done at the building.

Berry Kercheville