GROWING IN CHRIST: Christian Maturity

1 GROWING IN christ : Christian Maturity 1. Peter tells us, Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus christ . (2 Peter 3:18.) By urging us to grow, this verse reminds us that growth is both desirable and expected. 2. The author of Hebrews also writes pointedly about spiritual growth: There is much we have to say about this matter, but it is hard to explain to you, because you are so slow to understand. There has been enough time for you to be teachers yet you still need someone to teach you the first lessons of God's message. Instead of eating solid food, you still have to drink milk.

2 Anyone who has to drink milk is still a child, without any experience in the matter of right and wrong. Solid food, on the other hand, is for the adults (literally, mature ones ), who through practice are able to distinguish between good and evil. Let us go forward, then, to mature teaching and leave behind us the first lessons of the Christian message. (Hebrews 5:11 to 6:1, GNT ). 3. This article will help you plan for intentional growth. It is essential to remember that it is not growth that makes us into a Christian . We are saved by grace through faith. By having christ we already possess forgiveness and eternal life.

3 We have been made spiritually alive in christ , and it is natural for living things to grow. Since christ has already taken care of our needs, we can direct our energies outwards toward living for God and serving others. These are areas in which we can grow. 4. The article is titled GROWING in christ because Paul wrote, We are to grow up in every way unto Him who is the head, even christ (Ephesians 4:15). GROWING up unto him means both that Jesus is the model, and that Jesus is the undergirding strength. 5. This article will present spiritual growth not as something to achieve by depending on our own strength, but by depending on God.

4 In the verse where Jesus refers to the vine and the branches, He says, He who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from me, you can do nothing (John 15:5). Growth is God s gift to us. Yet we also have a role to play, which this article will explain. 6. This article will first describe the desired result of growth, which is Maturity . Then passages about the process of GROWING will be provided. There is a special section on Bible reading, followed by a list of common misunderstandings. At the end, the terms discipleship, sanctification, and grace are looked at in some detail. II.

5 Maturity . 1. In Colossians 1:28, Paul says the purpose of his ministry is to present people as mature in christ . A similar thought is in Galatians 4:19, where he says he feels like one going through the pangs of childbirth until christ be formed in you. 2. The Greek word translated Maturity (telos) has the sense of something coming to the point of completion, something turning out to be the thing that it was meant to be. Think of an acorn finally becoming a mature oak tree. A mature tree bears fruit. The Bible speaks of believers GROWING toward Maturity , and bearing fruit, as something that is both expected of us and possible for us, as in the following verses: 3.

6 Hebrews 6:1 urges us to press on to Maturity , and defines Maturity in Hebrews 5:14 as someone who has been trained to discern good from evil, and as someone who can receive the solid food of deeper Christian insight, having mastered the elementary teachings, which are milk for babes. 4. Ephesians 4:13 describes a mature person as measured by the fullness of christ , It lists some results of Maturity : no longer being deceived by false teaching, as children would be; speaking truth in love; a similarity to christ that in turn causes the entire fellowship to grow together in love. We could then understand Maturity partly in terms of christ -likeness.

7 5. ! Corinthians 2:6 speaks about the mature person as spiritual , in contrast with the natural man, who cannot understand the things of God. In verse 3, Maturity is contrasted with being fleshly or carnal, which is characterized by jealousy and strife, unlike the GROWING together in love of the Ephesians verse above. 6. James 1:4 explains that the end result of trial and tribulation is that it leads toward Maturity . Knowing that God is at work can give us comfort when we face difficulties. III. OTHER TERMS THAT INDICATE Maturity 1. Bible verses about learning shed light on maturing. In Philippians 4:11 Paul tells us that he learned to be content.

8 That means there was a time when he hadn t yet learned it, and it also means that it was possible to learn it. He learned it by actually living through the difficult times and discovering that God gave him the strength to face the difficulties as he went through them. God did the teaching. We also can expect that God will teach us to cope and to endure in our circumstances. 2. Bible verses about bearing fruit also give us insight into maturing, since it is a mature tree that bears fruit. Fruit can mean growth in character. It can also mean that the gospel is spreading, more people are becoming Christians, and are themselves maturing.

9 3. For example, the purpose for our belonging to christ is so that we might bear fruit to God, contrasted with when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. (Romans 7:4-5). Having become a Christian , we daily repress the sinful nature and grow toward bearing fruit. 4. christ promised to send the Holy Spirit, and it is that Spirit who not only brought you originally to say "Jesus is Lord," (1 Corinthians 12:3), but is the one who produces the "fruit of the Spirit," (Galatians 5:22): love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control.

10 You probably recognize that these are the very qualities that Jesus has, so as the Spirit works in you, the Spirit is fulfilling God s plan to conform you to the image of His Son. (Romans 8:29). 5. Bible verses about our purpose or goal are relevant to maturing, since a purpose is achieved as the result of a process. Paul sums it up this way: the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith (1 Timothy 1:5). Many verses include a so that, describing the intended results of the process of growth. Paul writes that Jesus gave himself for us that he might redeem us from every lawless deed, and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good deeds.