You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.
15 But[de] speaking the truth[aletheuo] in[en] love,[agape] may grow up[auxano] into[eis] him[autos] in all things,[pas] which[hos] is[esti] the head,[kephale] even
Christ:[Christos] KJV-Interlinear
15 but
speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is
the head, even Christ, NASB
Instead of being fooled by slick and smooth or enticing rhetoric or ideas, the individual believer needs to be able to think, to communicate, to utilize truth in all of its accuracy instead of thinking in terms of advantage, in terms of compromise, in terms of selfish motives and so forth.
Love, 'agape,' represents the content of doctrine, its principles, mandates, precepts, and so forth. Doctrine may be the written word in the scriptures, but doctrine is far more, in that as it fills up the soul, it becomes the gateway to see the realities of life as in the sciences of physics, geology, medicine, anatomy, economics, and on and on.
All of the establishment principals are incorporated in the scriptures, and even though many topics are never spelled out per se, their principles are made clear through the understanding and application of doctrine.
The Bible is like a tiny little doorway, that when you walk through it by means of your studies, you enter into a whole new universe of knowledge so vast that you could not possibly learn it all in an infinite number of lifetimes.
But here is our mandate. We are to grow up, 'auxano,' meaning to enlarge, to increase, to grow, or the process of growing.
In Him, is the reference to the person of Christ, in the written form. Bible doctrine is the written Christ.
Therefore, growing up in Christ is the process of learning and assimilating Bible doctrine, and therefore the transformation of oneself into the knowledge and understanding of Bible doctrine, which is the gateway to truth and far more.
The head, is the driving force of the whole body. Without the head, the body has no function, no life, no purpose.
Jesus Christ is the Head of all things. He is doctrine, or truth, and therefore the access and means to understanding of all things that are knowable by man, and far more.
To know, means to have doctrine in your soul. To have doctrine in your soul, means that you must submit yourself to the instruction of Bible doctrine and then stick with your daily studies throughout your life. Your daily studies are the consumption of spiritual meals necessary for the health and growth of your soul. Thus daily meals lead to a healthy soul and knowledge and understanding.
Therefore, your objective in life, is to learn and then to understand and use truth, and there is only one way to accomplish that, and you cannot do it on your own.
