3 - Signs of Spiritual Maturity

Article Index 3 - Signs of Spiritual Maturity Page 2 Page 2 of 2 The apostle Paul declared that bringing men to maturity in Christ was of the highest importance in his estimation. "We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labour, struggling with all His energy, which so powerfully works in me" (Colossians 1:28-29). To Paul, life with Christ was one of continual growth and progress into greater understanding of the revelation of Christ, and union with Him through a life of obedient discipleship. In fact, Paul stated that to see things in this way was in itself a sign of maturity (Philippians 3:7-16). In these days when there is a great deal of activity but little actual spiritual growth, it would be wise for us to examine some of the things that the New Testament considers to be indicators of full growth in Christ. Regardless of what the religious world around us may be lauding and applauding, we should always make the teaching of Christ and the apostles our standard for truth and Christlikeness. Following Men and Sectarian Movements In Paul's first letter to the church in Corinth, he addresses a major problem almost immediately. "One of you says, ‘I follow Paul'; another, ‘I follow Apollos'; another, ‘I follow Cephas'; still another, ‘I follow Christ"' (1:12). This insistence upon following one man over the other, and the claim to superiority by the different groups, was bringing jealousy and division. We have a similar situation in our day. It seems that we are encountering an increasing number of speakers (or often these days it seems to be a place) that claim to be the only channel through whom the Holy Spirit is moving. These leaders or groups eventually begin to call upon everyone to make a decision: "Either you are with us or against us." The implication of the previous claim with this mandate for decision is that if a person chooses not to join with this reputed "sole channel" of God's blessing, then they are rebellious and warring against God. They are seen to have missed the move of the Spirit and God's blessing. The people who set themselves forward as being God's sole voice often imply in their message that unless you come to them, or a meeting where they are present, you will not experience the "new thing" that God is doing. Obviously, many view these people as great men of God and receive all that they say without question. But I believe Paul himself would take a slightly different view. Later in 1 Corinthians, Paul tells the Corinthians that he could not speak to them as spiritual men, using the wisdom that comes from God (see 2:6-16), but he had to speak to them as carnal men. Even though they had the gifts of the Spirit and were actively exercising them, Paul said that they were still living as mere worldly men. "For when one says, ‘I follow Paul,' and another, ‘I follow Apollos,' are you not mere men?" (1 Corinthians 3:4). The Swiss commentator, Frederick Godet, says this about these "carnal" men: "The Spirit is there, but He has not yet taken a decided preponderance over the in-stincts of the flesh, the unregenerate nature. Consequently those who have found in the different forms in which the preaching of the gospel has appeared in Corinth an occasion for inflating themselves or disparaging others - and thereby tearing the Church into factions while satisfying their personal vanity - have shown how the flesh and self-complacency still ruled the new life and the action of the Spirit in them." Paul goes on to explain that there is only one foundation upon which true spiri-tual ministry can be built, and that foundation is Jesus Christ (3:11). Those who are mature recognise that everything must be leading us deeper into Christ and confor-mity to His nature and ways. As individuals experience this reality, it will become evident in a corporate way, and the life of Christ will be displayed. Followers of Christ who are growing in grace and life have come to realise that not everybody is at the same place in their walk with Christ. They are aware, as Paul has said, that "we who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves" (Romans 15:1). We learn to walk with one another as the Lord has patiently walked with us on our spiritual journey. Maturity means to encourage and support one another as we draw closer to Christ, rather than to mar-shal the troops to support us and our particular view. I am not advocating an ecumenical attitude of "unity at any cost," but I am simply stating that anything that becomes a basis of superiority, or the start of a "new movement," is an indication of a carnal, or fleshly, attitude to the ways of God. People who create such divisions do not have a clear understanding of God's eter-nal purposes in Christ Jesus, and they have fallen prey to fads and fancies that will actually lead away from Christ and His glorious life. Paul calls such actions worldly, motivated by the flesh. These teachings and works will be tested by fire on the day that the Lord judges every man's work. Only that which is of the character and nature of Christ will stand; everything else will be burned up (1 Cor. 3:10-15). Those who are walking with the Lord will allow Him to do whatever is necessary so that they may be conformed to the image of His Son. They will also view others in the Church in this same light. Distinguishing Good From Evil In speaking to the church in Corinth, Paul told them that he could not give them solid food but had to stick to milk. They simply were not ready for anything more (3:2). There was another group of believers who were also revealing their spiritual infancy by being able to handle only milk. The writer to the Hebrews addresses them: "Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature (or ‘full-grown men' RY.), who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil" (Hebrews 5:13-14). Here is another significant indicator as to how we are to recognise true spiritual maturity. The example is of a small child that has not learned to eat properly. The child is still drinking milk and not able to eat solid food (5:12). A child in this con-dition is prone to put all kinds of things in its mouth; it has not learned to distin-guish between what is nourishing and what could be harmful. The problem is that these spiritual infants have not made good use of the "pure spiritual milk" that Peter encourages us to eagerly desire (1 Peter 2:2). In the spiritual realm, milk is symbolic of the first principles of Christ. These principles must be lived out in a life of obedience before they begin to take real hold in our spirit. Mental understanding is not sufficient; in fact, mere mental awareness can be a grave danger if it fools us into thinking we have progressed farther than we actually have. If we are not applying the milk of the Word all the time, we will not grow and we will not be ready for the meat of God's word. Many use this idea of "meat" in the context of a new and extraordinary "deep teaching" that only some sort of spiritual elite can understand, but Hebrews says that this solid food refers to "the teaching about righteousness." As we continue to walk with the Lord in a life of holiness, and as we allow the work of the cross to be active in every area of our lives, we grow in wisdom and understanding in regard to the Lord's principles of righteousness. This active life of obedience trains us to de-termine what is good and what is evil so that we know what spiritual food is going to be nourishing and what food is going to be poisonous or harmful. This whole idea looks back to God's mandate to Israel concerning food that is unclean and clean. After giving many different regulations concerning different animals, birds, and living creatures in the water and on the ground, the Lord con-cluded: "You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between living creatures that may be eaten and those that may not be eaten" (Leviticus 11:47). The basis for all of this was the absolute holiness of Jehovah God. "I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy" (11:44). This was clearly part of Israel's objective if they were to be a "kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Exodus 19:6). Today the church has been separated unto the Lord as "a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God" (1 Peter 2:9). Part of our mandate is to know and understand the character of our holy God in such a way that we are able to discern between good and evil, to separate the holy from the profane. This relates first of all to our practical lives, and this will carry on to our ability to recognise what will be helpful for life and godliness and what will feed the flesh and be detrimental to our spiritual growth in Christ. Growing Up Into Christ As we continue to follow only Christ and train ourselves to distinguish between good and evil, there is a natural progress in our spiritual life. We "become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fulness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13). This is the ultimate goal, and sign, of spiritual maturity - to be like Christ. It seems that many have forgotten this ultimate objective of the Christian life and have, instead, gone here and there seeking all kinds of teachings and experiences. Again, this is merely an indication that they are still infants in spiritual things. Paul continues on in Ephesians 4 to say that once we come to this full stature of Christ, we will no longer be infants. And how does he characterise these "infants"? They are "tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming" (4:14). If we have no goal in our sights, we are vulnerable and liable to be led astray by every new teaching or "movement" that comes along. Paul described such a man as one "running aimlessly" (1 Corinthians 9:26). We may grow very proficient in seemingly "spiritual things," but we may not be growing up into Christ, the Head. Believers in this state of spiritual infancy are also easy prey for "wolves in sheep's clothing" who try to lead them from the narrow way of the kingdom of God (see Matthew 7:13-23). As we have said before, Paul warned that such false teach-ers would try to "draw disciples after them" rather than lead them to Christ (Acts 20:30). As Robert Govett has commented, "Error drags down, to men and to earth. The truth lifts up,to the Son of God and to heaven." Those who are growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ will jealously guard against anything that might interfere with their abiding union with Him. That is why they are eager to "test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1). Anything that does not bring them into greater conformity to the image of Christ is not to be entertained or followed, even if an angel should declare it (Galatians 1:8-9;2 Corinthians 11:13-15). "Speaking the truth in love" will be the hallmark of those who are progressing in their life with Christ. Like Paul, they are anxious to see all believers come to a life of fulness in Christ. They are not anxious to lead the next "move." Neither are they likely to ingest every spiritual teaching that they hear. They are no longer being blown about here and there, because they have seen a revelation of Christ and His desire for His body. Therefore they all learn to walk together in humility and patience as "in all things [we] grow up into Him who is the Head, that is, Christ" (Ephesians 4:15). May it be so with us today. Let us press on toward the prize for which God has called us heavenwards in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14). "Let us look away to Je-sus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross" (Hebrews l2:2), seeking nothing but Him and His glory. Let us make every effort to fulfill the Father's eternal purpose - that we would be "conformed to the image of His Son" (Romans 8:29). Bruce Garrison (1999) Comments Only registered users can write comments. Please login or register. << Prev - Next