God’s Program for Maturity

In God’s program, there are two main requirements for coming to maturity. First, we must come under the discipline of the God-given ministries Paul listed in Ephesians 4:11:

• Apostles,
• Prophets,
• Evangelists,
• Pastors, and,
• Teachers.

Without their discipline, oversight, and instruction, I do not see how God’s people can ever attain to maturity. Jesus Christ never made a provision that was not important, and this one is no exception. I believe it is essential. The second condition is that we must not remain isolated individuals; rather, we must be part of a growing body of believers.

Then, in that same passage, Paul stated a sobering alternative. If we do not follow God’s program for maturity, this will be the consequence:

“Then we will… be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming” (Ephesians 4:14, NIV)

If we do not come under this fivefold ministry — if we do not become part of a body and accept this scriptural discipline — then, according to Paul, we will remain infants. We will be “tossed back and forth…, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.” I know many, many believers who match this description. Every year, they have a new fad, a new doctrine, and often a new teacher to provide and perpetuate the fad. We must come under the discipline of godly, Scripture-based ministries. We also must be part of a body of believers. That is the only way to maturity.

How about you? Are you under discipline? Are you part of a body? Are you advancing to maturity?