Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ Himself, who is the head.
Parallel translations
- WEB but speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him, who is the head, Christ;
- KJV But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
- NKJV but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—
- NASB but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, that is, Christ,
- NLT Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Instead of being deceived, believers are to speak truth in love and so grow up into Christ, the head. Truth and love together produce genuine maturity.
Overview
Over against the deceit of false teachers, Paul calls the church to truthfulness joined with love. This combination, neither truth without love nor love without truth, is the means of healthy growth 'into him, who is the head, Christ.' All Christian maturity is movement toward greater conformity to Christ, the church's head and life.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- 1 Jn 3:18Little children, let us love not in word and speech, but in action and truth.
- Eph 4:25Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one another.
- Zech 8:16These are the things you must do: Speak truth to one another, render true and sound judgments in your gates,
- 1 Pet 1:22Since you have purified your souls by obedience to the truth so that you have a genuine love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from a pure heart.
- 2 Pet 3:18But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
- 1 Pet 2:2Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,
- Eph 1:22And God put everything under His feet and made Him head over everything for the church,
- Rom 12:9Love must be sincere. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good.
- Eph 2:21In Him the whole building is fitted together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
- Ps 32:2Blessed is the man whose iniquity the LORD does not count against him, in whose spirit there is no deceit.
- John 1:47When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, He said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is no deceit.”
- 2 Cor 4:2Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful ways. We do not practice deceit, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by open proclamation of the truth, we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
- Eph 5:23For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, His body, of which He is the Savior.
- Col 1:18–19And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things He may have preeminence.
- Judg 16:15“How can you say, ‘I love you,’” she asked, “when your heart is not with me? This is the third time you have mocked me and failed to reveal to me the source of your great strength!”
- Mal 4:2“But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and leap like calves from the stall.
- 2 Cor 8:8I am not making a demand, but I am testing the sincerity of your love in comparison to the earnestness of others.
- Hos 14:5–7I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like the lily and take root like the cedars of Lebanon.
- Jas 2:15–16Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.
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Christ at the center
Every spiritual blessing is 'in Christ,' the head over all things for the church, in whom Jew and Gentile are made one new man by his blood.
How Ephesians 4:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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