Spiritual Growth-Eph.4:11-16
As said before, Two more agents are needed for Spiritual Growth- 1.The Holy Spirit and 2.a Suitable Environment.
The Holy Spirit is the Agent for life and works in us not only to keep that life but also to develop it towards perfection. The goal of the Holy Spirit working in us is to bring us to full maturity in Christ.. God will give us Grace and all the encouragement we need to grow as Christians. We must also be aware of our own responsibility in this. We must ensure that the Holy Spirit is free to indwell us and that He can work freely in our lives.
When we are saved, the Holy Spirit comes into our lives to stay with us and lead us in the path of God by revealing the truths of His Word. However, this is not sufficient. The Holy Spirit not only comes to live with us but He also wants to indwell us and fill us. Why? So that we become the sole possession of God and receive power to be effective witnesses to the person of Christ. It is up to us to let the Holy Spirit take control of our being. He will not do so by force but as we surrender our will to His and yield our members as instruments of holiness.
The Lord Jesus, before leaving this earth, promised His followers to send another Comforter who would remind them of all that He said and taught. The same promise holds true for us also and for every believer who belongs to God by Faith in Jesus Christ-Acts 2:37-39.
The followers of Jesus were people taught by Him for approx. three years yet lacked the full maturity and power of God in their lives. However, after Pentecost we see different people. They came to maturity and power overnight. Why? The infilling of the Holy Spirit who revolutionized their lives. It will do the same for us. We must not be satisfied with what we received from God at Salvation and stay at that. We need to claim all the fullness of God for our lives.
Paul, the Apostle, met some believers at Ephesus, Acts 19:1-7, one day and put this question to them: "Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?"
There is no excuse for such ignorance. God commands us to be filled-Eph.5:18, ALWAYS.
The other Agent for Spiritual Growth is a Suitable Environment.
When Saved; God, by an act of Grace, transplants us into His Kingdom and Family from the Kingdom of darkness ruled by Satan. We thus join God's Family, the Church. The Holy Spirit will then lead us to join a local Church or Fellowship. As far as the individual believer is concerned it is the Local Church or Fellowship that is of vital importance to him.
The role of the Local Church or Fellowship is to care, instruct and help believers to grow in the Faith. For his part the believer must see to it that he functions as part of this spiritual community according to the Word of God. It is in the local Church or Fellowship that the individual believer will identify with the Body of Christ and will channel all his christian activities. How well a believer will function and progress in the Faith depends on his ability to receive proper sustenance from that spiritual body he is in and how well his christian activities will fit into that body - Col.2:18-19.
Most believers are happy to identify with the Universal Church of God or Body of Christ but often find it difficult to identify with a Local Church or Fellowship. Though they find fault with most local bodies they fail to find fault with themselves. They look for a perfect body to join but will admit at heart that they are not suitable to fit into a perfect Church or Fellowship.
The Holy Spirit will place us where He thinks best for us to be and function as believers. We, unfortunately, think we know better. Just like a plant that flourishes well when placed in a suitable soil so will a believers flourish when placed in a proper Christian environment.
What are the criteria for such growth?
Simply what a plant needs for growth-Is.53:2. The Lord Jesus Christ as a tender plant grew before His Heavenly Father while on this earth and we too have to grow likewise.
A plant has three basic needs:
Good soil
Water
Good care
A Christian has to be planted in the good soil of spirituality where he will enjoy fellowship and be watered by the Word of our God. He will also need the loving care of a body which the family of God can provide. When all these things work together then God's Grace will work for real growth in the individual life.
As said before, Two more agents are needed for Spiritual Growth- 1.The Holy Spirit and 2.a Suitable Environment.
The Holy Spirit is the Agent for life and works in us not only to keep that life but also to develop it towards perfection. The goal of the Holy Spirit working in us is to bring us to full maturity in Christ.. God will give us Grace and all the encouragement we need to grow as Christians. We must also be aware of our own responsibility in this. We must ensure that the Holy Spirit is free to indwell us and that He can work freely in our lives.
When we are saved, the Holy Spirit comes into our lives to stay with us and lead us in the path of God by revealing the truths of His Word. However, this is not sufficient. The Holy Spirit not only comes to live with us but He also wants to indwell us and fill us. Why? So that we become the sole possession of God and receive power to be effective witnesses to the person of Christ. It is up to us to let the Holy Spirit take control of our being. He will not do so by force but as we surrender our will to His and yield our members as instruments of holiness.
The Lord Jesus, before leaving this earth, promised His followers to send another Comforter who would remind them of all that He said and taught. The same promise holds true for us also and for every believer who belongs to God by Faith in Jesus Christ-Acts 2:37-39.
The followers of Jesus were people taught by Him for approx. three years yet lacked the full maturity and power of God in their lives. However, after Pentecost we see different people. They came to maturity and power overnight. Why? The infilling of the Holy Spirit who revolutionized their lives. It will do the same for us. We must not be satisfied with what we received from God at Salvation and stay at that. We need to claim all the fullness of God for our lives.
Paul, the Apostle, met some believers at Ephesus, Acts 19:1-7, one day and put this question to them: "Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?"
There is no excuse for such ignorance. God commands us to be filled-Eph.5:18, ALWAYS.
The other Agent for Spiritual Growth is a Suitable Environment.
When Saved; God, by an act of Grace, transplants us into His Kingdom and Family from the Kingdom of darkness ruled by Satan. We thus join God's Family, the Church. The Holy Spirit will then lead us to join a local Church or Fellowship. As far as the individual believer is concerned it is the Local Church or Fellowship that is of vital importance to him.
The role of the Local Church or Fellowship is to care, instruct and help believers to grow in the Faith. For his part the believer must see to it that he functions as part of this spiritual community according to the Word of God. It is in the local Church or Fellowship that the individual believer will identify with the Body of Christ and will channel all his christian activities. How well a believer will function and progress in the Faith depends on his ability to receive proper sustenance from that spiritual body he is in and how well his christian activities will fit into that body - Col.2:18-19.
Most believers are happy to identify with the Universal Church of God or Body of Christ but often find it difficult to identify with a Local Church or Fellowship. Though they find fault with most local bodies they fail to find fault with themselves. They look for a perfect body to join but will admit at heart that they are not suitable to fit into a perfect Church or Fellowship.
The Holy Spirit will place us where He thinks best for us to be and function as believers. We, unfortunately, think we know better. Just like a plant that flourishes well when placed in a suitable soil so will a believers flourish when placed in a proper Christian environment.
What are the criteria for such growth?
Simply what a plant needs for growth-Is.53:2. The Lord Jesus Christ as a tender plant grew before His Heavenly Father while on this earth and we too have to grow likewise.
A plant has three basic needs:
Good soil
Water
Good care
A Christian has to be planted in the good soil of spirituality where he will enjoy fellowship and be watered by the Word of our God. He will also need the loving care of a body which the family of God can provide. When all these things work together then God's Grace will work for real growth in the individual life.
