Verses 11 through 16 deal with our growth in life. The growth in life is the increase of Christ in us. Christ is already in us, but He needs to grow in us. Christ in Himself does not need to grow, for He is perfect and complete. In Himself Christ is fully mature, but in us Christ may still be very small. We need to gain more of Christ.
When Christ increases in us, we grow in Him. According to verse 15, we may grow up into Christ in all things. In our thinking, our loving and hating, our likes and dislikes, and all our decisions, we may grow up into Christ. Even when we get a haircut, buy a pair of shoes, study, or work, we may grow up into Christ. Most brothers and sisters are in Christ in some things but not in all things. In everything and at every moment, we need to grow up into Christ by having Christ increase within us.
The Body is built up by the growth in life of all the members. The church is not like a physical building, which is built by pieces being fixed together. The building up of the Body of Christ is like the grafting of branches to a tree. The grafting together of two living things involves growth. Two pieces of stone that are fixed together do not grow together. As living members of the Body of Christ, we are built together by growing together. The church as the Body of Christ is built up by the growth in life of all the members.
Once we are built into the Body, it is difficult to leave, because we are joined to the Body by life. If a member of our physical body is offended or unhappy with another member, it cannot leave the body. Wherever one member goes, the other members follow. It is difficult for anyone to leave the real church, because we are not stones placed upon one another but living members growing together. For a member of a body to become separated or divided from the other members results in death. Spiritually speaking, anyone who leaves the church brings death to himself.
The way to help people grow is to feed them. No one can grow without eating. All the gifts to the Body—the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers—do one work, that is, to feed the believers. The co-workers who care for the churches and speak in conferences should be like waiters in a restaurant, ministering food to all the saints, feeding them with Christ. Real ministry is to feed the saints. Even proper teaching is a feeding. After hearing a message, the saints should be satisfied and nourished.
We grow by eating, drinking, and breathing. For this reason, we need to call on the name of the Lord, read the Bible, and pray with the words of the Bible. To read the Bible with prayer is to eat, to pray with the words of the Bible is to drink, and to call on the name of the Lord is to breathe. Eating, drinking, and breathing are crucial for our growing. When we grow, we are built up together.
Ephesians 4 first reveals the Triune God mingling Himself with us. Next we see the Body growing with Christ and growing into Christ. Lastly, in verses 17 through 24, we see the matter of renewing. The church needs mingling, growing, and renewing.
Renewing comes from growing. Two trees of the same age may be completely different. If one tree is growing, it will be new and fresh every day. However, if the other tree is dying, it will become older all the time. Thus, when we are growing, we are being renewed.
To be renewed means to discharge the old things and to replace them with the new things. Our old man was crucified with Christ (Rom. 6:6) and buried in baptism (v. 4a), but we may still have many of the old things—old thinking, old emotions, old decisions, old ways of doing things, old ways of speaking, and old habits and customs. All these old things need to be discharged and replaced. For this, we need the supply of the new element.
The metabolism in our physical body comes mainly from eating. We eat new food, which is our supply of a new element. This new supply discharges all the old things and replaces them with a new element. In this way our bodies are renewed every day. If we do not eat for one week, we will quickly become old because there will be no discharge of the old things and no supply of the new material. The principle is the same with the Body of Christ.
We need to be renewed by putting off the old man and putting on the new man. The new man is Christ applied to and experienced and enjoyed by the believers. As the fullness of God, the church is the expression of God. As the Body of Christ, the church is the organism of Christ, growing with Christ. As the new man, the church is one with Christ, having Christ as its person. The Body of Christ is a matter of life, and the new man is a matter of a person. The Body of Christ needs Christ as its life, and the new man needs Christ as its person.
The church should be not only the fullness of God and the Body of Christ with Christ as its life but also the new man with Christ as its person. As the Body of Christ, the church lives Christ and expresses Christ, but as the new man, the church is Christ. The Body and the new man are produced by mingling, growing, and renewing. By daily growing and being renewed, we will become the Body and the new man. As we are being renewed, we put off the old person, our old man, and we take the new person, Christ. As our new person, Christ makes us the new man.