That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive. Ephesians 4:14
A two-week training course sponsored by the American Banking Association was designed to help bank tellers to detect counterfeit bills. Not once during the two-week period were the tellers shown any counterfeit bills. And they received no lessons on the characteristics of fake bills, or on the differences between counterfeit and genuine bills. Instead, the trainers had the tellers spend hour after hour handling genuine currency, sorting and arranging the bills, and becoming familiar with the feel of the paper and the look of its markings. After spending the entire two weeks doing nothing but handling the genuine bills, the tellers were so familiar with them that it was impossible for them to be fooled by a fake bill. That is the approach that the apostle Paul wants the Christians in Ephesus to take when handling the doctrines of Scripture.
Make no mistake, there are plenty of fakes out there when it comes to doctrine. The false doctrines of the destructive cults such as the Jehovahs Witnesses (my mother always called them de hopeless witnesses) and the Mormons are easier to detect because of their blatant twisting of the truths concerning the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. Others are more sinister and subtle, pretending to hold to truths that they actually deny. And some of the denominations are so wishy-washy that it is difficult to tell what they actually believe. All manner of fake and misleading doctrine is out there, pretending to be the truth or at least part of the truth. And Paul warns us that we need to develop a maturity that will protect us from the influence of such lies. He urges the saints to grow up, to leave their spiritual childhood behind, to become firmly anchored on the truth of the Word of God.
Young’s Literal translation of this verse is enlightening: So we shall no longer be babes nor shall we resemble mariners tossed on the waves and carried about with every changing wind of doctrine according to men’s cleverness and unscrupulous cunning, making use of every shifting device to mislead. Enemies of God and His Word are doing all they can to trip us up, and many Christians who once appeared to have a good understanding of the truth have fallen victim to their wiles. But many other Christians, who have come under attack from false teachers have stood firm, with no shaking of their confidence in the truths that they have learned. What makes the difference? The difference, as our text declares, is maturity in the things of God. Those who are new in the faith, or who have received little teaching regarding the truths of Scripture, need to be taught and to be protected. Those with a good grounding in the Word of God need to help those who are less mature. In this way, everybody grows in their knowledge of the truth.
If we constantly reinforce the truth, the errors will be easily spotted and rejected. -Jim MacIntosh