As long as we are in these houses
of clay, even the sons of God will be prone to err, and the
Lord has provided His word for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness. The mercy of God is thus demonstrated
as He does not leave His sheep without pasture, nor does He
abandon them to the wolves. He does supply them with the
necessary food that they, by speaking the truth in love, may
grow up into Him in all things, which is the Head, even Christ.
All who enter His kingdom do so in and by His power and grace,
and not by any effort or worth of their own. As a child is powerless
to provide for himself, so too are awakened sinners taught their
complete need of the mercy of God. Even as they mature into
faith, they are still, in some things, counseled to be as children.
But the predominant message that comes through loud and clear
in Paul's and Peter's epistles is that it is necessary and desirable
for the sons of God to leave childhood and grow up into Christ
as mature men and women. To this end he has given gifts
to the church for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of
the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we
all come in the unity of the faith. and of the knowledge of
the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Christ, that we henceforth be no more
children. Thus Paul gives a contrast to
the ways of a child and the ways of man, and says that when he
became a man he put away childish things. In doing so he gives
a mild rebuke to the Corinthians. who were in many ways acting
childishly, rather than being the men which are described as
being the sons of God. Paul was forced to grow up rather
quickly and did not have time for the foolishness of religion,
nor the politics thereof, which are often such a stumbling block
for multitudes who would claim to be the followers of Christ. It is childish when men seek
to divide themselves over personalities and religious preferences. He
rebuked them for seeking distinctions among themselves. For some said,
I am of Paul, and I am of Apollos, and I am of Cephas, and I am
of Christ. Those who desire to promote denominations often act
childishly. Even those who are proud to be
non-denominational in reality act in the same childish manner
when they promote this division. What distinction should we have
among those who are bought with the blood of Christ? Is not Christ
all in all? It is childish when men divide
themselves from brethren over such issues as food and drink,
or days, times, and seasons. It is childish to have regard
unto days, times, and seasons to the extent that these matters
give us reason to promote schism. Let no man therefore judge you,
nor you him, in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holy day,
or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days. which are a shadow
of things to come, but the body is of Christ. Such things shall
pass away. It is childish to promote spiritual
gifts as an end in themselves. It is extremely childish to imagine
that men can gain such gifts or operate in the same through
their own effort. A gift is a gift. If the body
is not edified by a spiritual gift, then no case can be made
for its origin being the Spirit of God. This is why Paul, putting
away childish things, forbids speaking in tongues in the assembly
unless the companion gift of an interpreter is also present.
It is childish to disregard the ordained order of God insofar
as the roles of men and women in the Church and in life. Those
who would leave childhood must be students of the Word and be
as the noble Bereans who search the Scriptures daily. Pablum
is for babes, but strong meat belongeth to them that are of
full age. It is childish to wait upon direction only from specific
individuals, for the Lord has provided an array of helps for
the children of God, and each part of the body is to provide
that which is lacking in the body. It is childish to consider
that there is any higher calling given to the sons of God than
to love the brethren. And now by this faith, hope,
charity, these three, but the greatest of these is charity,
which is love. As He has loved us, so ought
we also to love one another.