“… and not holding firmly to the Head, from whom all the body, being supplied and knit together through the joints and ligaments, grows with God’s growth.”

These falsely humble and superstitious teachers and their followers do not hold to Christ and easily slip away into fleshly and ungodly living. Because they do not hold firmly to Christ and His Word, they fall away, showing themselves not to be of the body of Christ. Christians must hold to Christ or we will fail and fall…

This body of Christ is so precious, for it is the whole church of God, the full remnant of the people of God who are kept faithful and true by the power of their living and glorious Head – Jesus Christ the righteous one. It is knit together by His power alone and all the parts of it grow to God. Christ supplies the strength to the joints and ligaments that hold the whole body together and facilitate the movement to grow in grace and knowledge of the Word of God. Every part is crucial, for if one part fails, it affects all the others. We are not an unable body, but living stones being built as a strong body of the Lord. As we depend on each other, so we encourage each other in all truth and godliness. 

The body of Christ is knit together in fellowship of the sharing of the holy Scripture and in suffering. Every Christian suffers and the power of encouragement is mighty in the Lord. There is no lording it over one another, but heartfelt humility as we experience hardship and serve the Lord our God with full hearts. 

Our growth will be exponential in the body of Christ if we follow the lead of our head.  The closer the Christian walks with God, the greater the inner spiritual growth. The more time we spend with God in His Word, the wiser we will be and the more strength we will have. The growth is from the Lord and not a worldly knowledge. It comes from the Word of God and not impressions we might have about our circumstances. The healthy Christian walk with God, sticks close to the commands of God and exercises the disciple of obedience and self-denial. This is not popular with our fallen human psyche, but is the pathway to life and peace. It is the only way for the body of Christ to survive, as we need the constant spiritual nourishment from the Lord that we will not fall to pieces and the body fail, just like the human body would do.

If our flesh gets puffed up in self-importance and pride we will fall. We will lose our grip on Christ our head and Master of our souls, and we will stray into all kinds of wayward roads. This will affect us personally and also the whole body of Christ. There is much lack of devotion in our hearts, so we watch ourselves and tutor ourselves with the wisdom of the Spirit to stay close to our Lord and Saviour.