the head (as the part most readily taken hold of) · noun — nominative singular feminine
Christ
ΧριστὸςChristos
G5547
anointed · noun — nominative singular masculine, a title
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
1 John 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
Ephesians 4:25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
Zechariah 8:16 These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:
1 Peter 1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another…
2 Peter 3:18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
1 Peter 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
Romans 12:9 Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
Ephesians 1:22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ephesians 4:2-16
Here the apostle proceeds to more particular exhortations. Two he enlarges upon in this chapter: - To unity an love, purity and holiness, which Christians should very much study. We do not walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called if we be not faithful friends to all Christians, and sworn enemies to all sin.
This section contains the exhortation to mutual love, unity, and concord, with the proper means and motives to promote them. Nothing is pressed upon us more earnestly in the scriptures than this. Love is the law of Christ's kingdom, the lesson of his school, the livery of his family. Observe,
I. The means of unity: Lowliness and meekness, long-suffering, and forbearing one anot…
speaking the truth--Translate, "holding the truth"; "following the truth"; opposed to "error" or "deceit" (Eph 4:14).
in love--"Truth" is never to be sacrificed to so-called "charity"; yet it is to be maintained in charity. Truth in word and act, love in manner and spirit, are the Christian's rule (compare Eph 4:21, Eph 4:24).
grow up--from the state of "children" to that of "full-grown men." There is growth only in the spiritually alive, not in the dead.
into him--so as to be more and more incorporated with Him, and become one with Him.
the head-- (Eph 1:22).
Adam Clarke on Ephesians 4:15
But, speaking the truth in love - The truth recommended by the apostle is the whole system of Gospel doctrine; this they are to teach and preach, and this is opposed to the deceit mentioned above. This truth, as it is the doctrine of God's eternal love to mankind, must be preached in love. Scolding and abuse from the pulpit or press, in matters of religion, are truly monstrous. He who has the truth of God has no need of any means to defend or propagate it, but those which love to God and man provides.
Grow up into him - This is a continuance of the metaphor taken from the members of a human body receiving nourishment equally and growing up, each in its due proportion to other parts, and to t…
This he also says in the letter to the Romans: "Let love be without pretense." In his letter to the Corinthians he speaks of "unpretending love." Here also he calls upon them to act with genuine love and through this to increase the riches of the excellence of their life in the Lord himself.
And again in another speech Paul condemneth the heretics and sheweth that all their doctrine standeth in cunning. "Let us not be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of the deceitful doctrines of the children of men, who in their cunning act craftily to lead astray; but let us be firm in our love that we may make to grow up everything of ours in Christ."
Considering the love of Christ by which he loved us and gave himself up for us, we should make everything subject to him, knowing that he is the author of life for all. This is the truth. We are to be subject to him as members of the body are to the head. Others, either through error or through malice, may not confess that Christ is the head of everything or that everything is created from him by the Father's will. But we who adhere to the wholeness of faith ought nonetheless to take pains with all care and devotion that we bring no harm to this faith but rather to uphold it. We do this by remaining steadfast in this affirmation, so as to constrain the talk of depraved minds armed against the truth.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Faith — Faith is in general the persuasion of the mind that a certain statement is true (Phil. 1:27; 2 Thess. 2:13). Its primary idea is trust. A thing is true, and therefore worthy of trust. It admits of…
Kingly office of Christ — One of the three special relations in which Christ stands to his people. Christ’s office as mediator comprehends three different functions, viz., those of a prophet, priest, and king. These are not…
Christ, The Head Of The Church · As his mystical body — As his mystical body
Church, The · Is edified by the word — Is edified by the word
Edification · Described — Described
Life, Spiritual · Seek to grow in — Seek to grow in
Sanctification · UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Union With Christ · As Head of the Church — As Head of the Church
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Gill on Ephesians 4:15
But speaking the truth in love,.... Either Christ himself, who is the truth, and is to be preached, and always spoken of with strong affection and love; or the Gospel, the word of truth, so called in opposition to that which is false and fictitious; and also to the law, which is shadowish; and on account of its author, the God of truth, and its subject matter, Christ, and the several doctrines of grace; and because the spirit of truth has dictated it, and does direct to it, and owns and blesses it: this, with respect to the ministers of the Gospel, should be spoken openly, honestly, and sincerely, and in love to the souls of men, and in a way consistent with love, in opposition to the secret…
Ephesians 4:15-16
15. But, speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
15. Veritatem autem sectantes in charitate, crescamus in eum per omnia, qui est caput, nempe Christum;
16. From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body, unto the edifying of itself in love.
16. Ex quo totum corpus compositum et compactum per omnem juncturam subministrationis, secundum efficaciam in mensura uniuscujusque partis, incrementum corporis facit in aedificationem sui, in charitate.
15. But, speaking the truth. Hav…
We won’t be tossed and blown about: Mature Christians, with a well-grounded knowledge of the Good News and of Christ himself, will be able to discern and resist false teaching (see Gal 1:6-7; 3:1; Col 2:8-23; 1 Tim 1:3-7; 4:1-3; 6:3-5, 20; 2 Tim 4:3-4; Titus 1:11).
