¹⁴ Then we will no longer be infants,^(A) tossed back and forth by the waves,^(B) and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.^(C)

⁹ Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings.^(A) It is good for our hearts to be strengthened^(B) by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods,^(C) which is of no benefit to those who do so.^(D)

¹⁷ I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned.^(A) Keep away from them.^{(B) 18} For such people are not serving our Lord Christ,^(C) but their own appetites.^(D) By smooth talk and flattery they deceive^(E) the minds of naive people.

²⁰ Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children.^(A) In regard to evil be infants,^(B) but in your thinking be adults.

On Denying the Incarnation

4 Dear friends,^(A) do not believe every spirit,^(B) but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.^(C)

¹² In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths^(A) of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!^{(B) 13} Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant,^(C) is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. ¹⁴ But solid food is for the mature,^(D) who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.^(E)

¹⁷ Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit.^(A) On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity,^(B) as those sent from God.^(C)

⁶ But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt,^(A) because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

⁴ I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.^{(A) 5} For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit^(B) and delight to see how disciplined^(C) you are and how firm^(D) your faith in Christ^(E) is.

Spiritual Fullness in Christ

⁶ So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord,^(F) continue to live your lives in him, ⁷ rooted^(G) and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught,^(H) and overflowing with thankfulness.

⁸ See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy,^(I) which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces^[a] of this world^(J) rather than on Christ.