I love it when Paul gets to meddling in the way we live our lives. He was great at outlining the Christian faith, and much of what he wrote is used to formulate Christian doctrine. But Paul never left us wondering how to apply doctrine to practical living, he told us how it applies. He does that in his letter to the Ephesians. He says we are to “grow up into [Christ] … as each part does its work.” [4:15-16]
In other words, spiritual growth is a deliberate work. We know we do not work for salvation; Christ took care of that on the cross, but we must work to grow spiritually. It does not just happen without effort on our part.
So where do we start? Paul started by reminding us that we are no longer to live as we used to live. “I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.” [Eph 4:17 NIV]
The King James translates that word “futility” as “vanity.” It is vane, futile to think as the world thinks. The world ignores sin, refutes even the concept of it. If the world thinks at all of God, it designs a god who is docile, without fire or judgment, one made to its own liking. The world thinks one need only die to gain heaven, that faith is for the weak, and that right or wrong is an individual determination.
One of the first things we must do as believers is to reject the world’s view of spirituality. We can no longer live that way. We must live now in the light of God’s Word, in the love of the Father and in the counsel of the Holy Spirit.
That is an intentional choice if we want to grow and mature spiritually.