Spiritual Growth

1. The New Birth Is the Start of the Christian Life.

Regeneration is the end of the old life, but the beginning of the new life. It is the door out of one and the door into another. I Pet. 2:2 says we are like "newborn babes" who need to be fed and grow. A baby needs feeding, teaching, cleaning, exercise, love, etc. No one can live the Christian life until he first gets born again. Then he begins the wonderful lifelong adventure of following and serving Jesus Christ.

2. The Bible Feeds and Strengthens Us.

A baby needs food - milk. The Bible is that milk. It is the food and nourishment and refreshment that we need to grow as Christians. The more we eat, the more we grow (and the less we eat, the less we grow). It is the means of grace - the way in which God continues to supply us with grace. It is compared to milk, bread, meat, honey. It is sometimes hard to digest, other times very sweet. Feeding on the Word takes the same stages as physical eating. We bite into it by reading it. We chew it by studying it. We swallow it by believing it. We digest it by understanding it. We incorporate it by obeying it.

3. We Follow Christ by Faith.

We were saved by faith; we continue to follow by faith (Col.2:6-7). We continue in the way we started. We walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). We believe the promises of God, not trust our own feelings. It is as simple as, "Trust and obey, for there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus, than to trust and obey." We follow as His disciples, which means students, learners, pupils. We ought to sit at His feet and learn from Him. That takes faith. It does not happen overnight. It is a school of discipleship from which no one ever graduates until death. Faith is the primary means by which we follow, so we need to exercise our faith, strengthen it, pray for more.

4. We Are Saved to Serve.

We were once slaves of sin and Satan; now we are slaves of righteousness. We are slaves of Christ. Not slaves who wish to be free, but willing slaves. We serve Christ as our Master. He purchased us, and we belong to Him and not to ourselves. Therefore, we ought to serve Him and not ourselves. He wants us to serve Him by serving other people, too. All this involves sacrifice - putting Christ first, others second, ourselves last. It is also a duty. A slave has the duty to serve his Master. We have the duty of serving our Lord Jesus Christ. It is not always easy, but it is always right.

5. We Serve Christ Out of Gratitude.

God wants us to obey Him. The Christian is like the Israelites after God delivered them from Egypt. They were grateful and wanted to express it. It was as if God said, "If you want to show how grateful you are, then here's how you can show it. Don't have any other gods, don't take my name in vain, etc." We ought to be grateful for all the great blessings, which God has given to us for free. With this in mind, the Christian life should be one of joyful gratitude, not dour drudgery. This gives vitality to duty. It is a privilege to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. We sometimes forget and thus become ungrateful. That's why God told us to celebrate the Lord's Supper regularly, to remember His great love at the cross, lest we forget and be ungrateful. When we remember, our faith is renewed and our gratitude increased.

6. God Equips Each of Us with a Spiritual Gift.

The members of the Body build each other up (I Cor. 12). This is done by the spiritual gifts which God gives to all Christians (I Cor. 12, Rom. 12). These are not natural talents, which all have, though God uses those also. Spiritual gifts are the special abilities God gives us to serve Him and other Christians. They are tools, not toys. We need to discover what our own gift is by checking the lists and examples in the Bible, discerning if we have one of them, then study how to use it properly - and then use it!

7. We Fight Against Satan.

The warfare with God is over when we are reconciled to Him, but this begins the warfare with Satan. Better to have God with us against Satan than Satan with us against God. The Christian life is not one of ease and fun, but of struggle against temptation and fighting with Satan. Eph. 6 is the classic chapter on spiritual warfare. God supplies the armor to defend against Satan's attacks. We are not alone in this fight; every Christian is in the war. And God fights for us, too.

8. Christians Face Trials.

Christians struggle against temptation, and also against trials and tribulations. We suffer persecution from friends and family. We suffer afflictions of all sorts. This comes with being a Christian, and only makes us stronger. It is a sure sign that we are on the right side. It purifies us and tests our faith. There is also a great blessing in the midst of persecution, if we stand for Christ against all odds. Though we sometimes fail the tests and trials, God does not forsake us. We are down, but not out. God picks us up and keeps us going. The Christians life is not a bed of roses, but of thorns and tears. But it is worth it all. There is an exquisite joy of being in the fire.

9. The Christian Life is a Lifelong Walk.

The Bible frequently compares the Christian life with a walk. It is not a stroll, but a march. It is a hike, the long walk of a pilgrim (we are pilgrims with a destination, not hobos without a home). It is a step-by-step walk, a daily life of obedience. We may stumble in this walk, but we get right back up and keep going. We are to run this race set before us. It is a long distance marathon, not a short sprint. One of the great Christian books on this theme is "Pilgrim's Progress" by John Bunyan. It begins in the City of Despair and ends in Heaven.

10. We Look Back at the Cross and Forward to the Crown.

It is good to look back and remember our former life, but not yearn for it. It is also important to look back in faith to the cross. This reminds us of why we are on this road to begin with, for sometimes we forget. And it is also important to look forward to the end of the trail. Backwards in faith, forward in hope. Our walk is not in vain. It has a goal, a destination. That is Heaven, where we will receive the crown. There are rewards for obedience, which serves as added incentive to obey and serve all the more. When we arrive at the end of the road, we will be met by our blessed Savior. In the meantime, Jesus walks with us every step of the way, strengthening and encouraging us and keeping us on the straight and narrow path.