Spiritual Young Men (Eight Steps – Part 2)

In my early years of ministry, I served as a counsellor in a church.  One of the things I discovered in that role was that the problems people presented for advice were mostly symptoms of a deeper problem or problems.  My task as a counsellor was to discern the root problem and then help them with the presenting problem, while also cutting away at the root problem.  A desire to help these people led me to seek a greater understanding of the root causes of the problems people encounter.  Someone has said that it is not what has happened to us that is our problem, but how we reacted to what happened.  I have found this to be true, but knowing this does not in itself bring about our healing.  The process that brings about change is one of repentance and faith.

In Part 1 of this series, I listed eight steps to spiritual maturity.  The last of these is love, which according to the Apostle Paul, should be our goal (1Tim 1:5).  To reach this goal, we especially need self- control, which is the fourth quality.  Essential to obtaining self-control is the first quality, faith.  Without faith, it is not possible to please God (Heb. 11:6).  Although all eight qualities are required for our spiritual growth, the first four are what I consider the foundation steps.  They are faith, virtue, knowledge, and self-control.

Now the Bible also compares spiritual growth to the natural stages of growth. These would be childhood, young adults, and mature adults.  Infancy and the teenage years would fall within the childhood stage.  The apostle John refers to these stages in his second epistle (see 1Jn. 2:12-14).  Young men are those who are strong and have overcome the evil one.  They are strong because the word of God abides in them. 

How do we attain to the “young man” stage of growth?  We have to go through childhood.  We have to learn what spiritual children need to learn.  If you have been a Christian for a while and still struggle with some sinful habit or attitude, then you need to look at your foundation.  Spiritual children must first learn that God loves them and their sins are forgiven.  This may seem obvious and there should not be any need to discuss it, but what we know with our mind is not always established in our heart.  In counselling I would give people scriptural passages to meditate on as a prescription for healing.  One of those key words is: “And we have known and believed the love that God has for us.” (1Jn. 4:16)  With our salvation experience, we have come to know that God loves us.  As we walk through life and encounter challenges, we must believe in this love.  Our hearts must become totally convinced that regardless of what we face, God loves us.  We cannot grow into manhood unless we truly believe this.  Combining this with the fact that God is Almighty, we can boldly say:  “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear.  What can man do to me?” (Heb. 13:6)

What else must spiritual children learn before they become young men?  They must learn that their sins are forgiven.  Again, this may seem obvious to any Christian but it takes a while for this truth to actually change how we respond to our own failures.  Our natural tendency is to punish ourselves because we think that this will change our behaviour.  Depression, for example, is often a result of anger turned inward.    But can we change ourselves, or should we trust in God to change us?  When we truly believe that God changes us, we choose to come boldly to His throne of grace and ask for mercy and help (Heb. 4:16).  We put faith in His willingness to forgive us.  Forgiveness does not mean that there are no consequences to our actions.  God disciplines those whom He loves.  As we grow in Christ, we learn to release ourselves from self-punishment as we accept His forgiveness and submit to His correction.  Because we believe in His love, we know that His discipline will not be excessive, and although it may be painful, it will yield the fruit of righteousness (see Heb. 12:5-11). 

Another way we can tell if we need to establish a stronger foundation of faith in God’s love and forgiveness is to examine how we respond to correction.  Do we blame ourselves, people or circumstances for the difficulties in our life, or do we acknowledge that God is in control and all those things are working together for our good (Ro. 8:28)?  It is never easy to rejoice when we encounter trials as James exhorts us to do (Jas. 1:2-4) but, as he says, the testing of our faith produces patience (perseverance), which is the next quality after self-control.  We have to stop blaming and start being thankful in all circumstances (1Thess. 5:18).  We need to go through the process of repentance and faith in order to grow, but how can we do that unless we recognize the areas in our lives that need to change.  We learn to discern through instruction and correction.  As we read in Hebrews, “solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” (Heb. 5:14). 

One more thing that spiritual young men have obtained through childhood is strength.  They have become strong in grace through faith in God and His word.  We go from faith to faith by increasing our knowledge of God’s word.  The word, when it comes with understanding, is a seed planted in us which will bear the fruit of righteousness.  We will continue to grow in knowledge throughout our spiritual life, but in order to lay a proper foundation that will allow us to overcome the evil one, we must obtain a knowledge of some basic truths.  In my next article I will expound on the main one which is the message of the cross.  I will share some insights that will bring your understanding closer to what the early Christians understood about the message of the cross.

Eight Steps to Maturity Part 1

If the foundation is weak, the whole structure will be weak.  Where would today’s Christian be compared to the Christians the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews was addressing?  In order to move on to maturity, they had to move past foundational teachings.  This was a New Testament church, in the days of the early apostles.  Certainly they would have had the correct foundational teachings.   Today’s Church does not witness the same results that the New Testament Church experienced.  They had a sustained outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  We experience outpourings, but they are never sustained.  I believe this has much to do with the foundational teachings that today’s Christians receive.  There is an abundance of knowledge today, but is that what a spiritual foundation is comprised of?  The Bible speaks of a latter day outpouring, similar to that of the New Testament Church.  In preparation for this, we need to ensure that today’s Christians have a proper spiritual foundation. In this article, I want to discuss eight essential qualities for spiritual fruitfulness.  Not only is it essential to have them, but there is a distinct order in which they are to be obtained.

We find these eight steps to maturity listed in 2 Peter Chapter 1.  Note their order as you read the following passage:

“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.  For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2Pe. 1:5-8 NKJV)

The first essential quality is faith and the last one is love.  Is it possible to have love in its fullness without these other seven qualities?  Surely you have realized that there is a vast difference between a desire and its fulfillment.  Love, like faith, must grow in us; it must be perfected, as the Apostle John tells us in his first epistle, “No one has seen God at any time.  If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.” (1Jn. 4:12).  Paul also exhorts us to “Let love be without hypocrisy” (Ro. 12:9).  Our love must be sincere, genuine, without pretending.  It must have substance.  That only happens if it includes all the qualities that Peter lists.  We must have all these qualities and we must have them in an increasing measure (i.e. they must abound).

We discover as we read the passage above that we must add these qualities in a particular order.  We begin with faith, then comes moral excellence (virtue).  Obedience to what we already know is necessary before we gain more knowledge, since faith without corresponding works is dead (unfruitful) (See Jas. 2:14-26).  We must begin with faith because we need grace (the help of God) in us to enable us to obey.  This grace is obtained by faith (see Rom. 5:2).  Adding knowledge will increase faith which will in turn allow for more obedience.  These qualities are added to each other in sequence, but the cycle repeats itself as we grow.  Are you beginning to see the spiral pattern?  The qualities that follow assist in acquiring more of the qualities that preceded them.  The more we lay as a base, the more we can support above it. 

Self-control is a fruit of the Holy Spirit.  It is the ability to do what you know to be right.  It is an essential characteristic for victory over sin.  Children have very little self-control, but spiritual young men have overcome the evil one (see 1Jn. 2:15-17).  Too many Christians struggle with sin in their lives, but to walk in victory is only the beginning of spiritual manhood.  We must obtain this victory and then we must go on to maturity.

Patient endurance, or perseverance, is also required to reach maturity.  We hear a promise from God and the devil tries to steal the word with lies.  If that does not work, he tries to distract us with sin, and when that does not work, he tries to stop us with persecutions.  As perseverance grows in us, we are better able to stay the course.

The next quality we require is godliness.  This is not the same as virtue.  Another word for godliness is piety, which is devotion to God.  I am reminded of the night in the Garden of Gethsemane when the Lord asked His disciples to “Watch and pray lest you enter into temptation.  The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”(Matt. 26:41)  A strong devotional life helps us to be spiritually alert, as Peter said:  “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”(1Pe. 5:8)  Jude also told us that prayer is essential for our growth: “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”(Ju. 20-21)

From the beginning of our Christian walk we have heard the commandment to love one another, so we try hard to love those around us.  It is much easier to love those who love us than to love those who oppose us; but when we get close to people, we see not only their kindness, but also their imperfections.  Grace is needed to consistently demonstrate brotherly kindness.  We succeed in this if we have overcome the evil one, and if we keep our eyes on the Lord.

The highest quality is love.  For love to be genuine, it must not fail under stress.  There is such a need in us for self-control and perseverance.  There is also a great need for purity of heart.  The Lord told Jeremiah that the heart is deceitful above all things (Jer. 17:9).  It takes humility to recognize that the motives of our heart may not always be pure, even when we believe we are acting in love.  One of the greatest weapons of the enemy is deception (Rev. 12:9).   To overcome him, we must allow the Holy Spirit to search us and give us discernment.  Then, with the obedience of faith, self-control, perseverance and a strong devotional life, love will be perfected (matured) in us.

In future articles, I will expound on these eight qualities, focussing especially on the first four foundational ones.  Having these qualities in abundance will ensure our spiritual success, which is walking consistently in a manner pleasing to God.

Gifts of Grace

At Christmas time we give and receive gifts.  Do you know that the One who received gifts as a child also gave gifts when He came to maturity?  When he ascended, He gave gifts to men (Eph. 4:8).  The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit each have gifts for us.  There are spiritual gifts, which are manifestations of the Spirit working through us for the good of others.  There are ministry gifts which are expressions of the ministry of the Word of God.  And there are function gifts from the Father who makes us members of the Body of His Son.  The gifts of the Spirit are listed in 1Corinthinans 12, the ministry gifts in Ephesians 4, and the function gifts in Romans 12.  All of these are gifts of grace.  They are all expressions of God through His people.  It is He that has placed you in the Body and given you a special function.  If you are a believer, God has anointed you for service.  He has appointed you to bear fruit.

I still remember the first Sunday after I had been placed on staff in the church where I attended Bible College.  After the service, I was aware of the presence of God with me as I greeted people.  I had not preached or ministered in that service in any way, but I was aware of a special grace or anointing.  It was like a special ability had been placed on me to be a minister to the congregation.  I was aware that this ability was not my own; it was a gift.  I understood in that moment what Paul meant when he advised Timothy that a bishop (elder) should not be a novice (new believer), lest he get puffed up (1Tim. 3:6).  A ministry anointing would accompany the appointment, which a novice could misinterpret as having earned.  All anointings are gifts of grace.  They are not merited; they are received.  Many a minister has tried to copy someone else’s anointing, but that is the flesh.  We can flow under someone else’s anointing, and this will help to develop our own anointing, but it is important to realize the difference. 

The first time I preached in the church I mentioned above was a midweek service.  I had never preached to a congregation that size.  The congregation was accustomed to hearing sermons from a much anointed pastor.  It was somewhat intimidating.  In prayer before the service, I became quite aware of the prayers that were being made on my behalf by the team of intercessors.  Offering up my concerns to the Lord, I was impresses with thoughts that encouraged me to be myself; I did not have to be like the pastor.  The anointing would flow through me according to how I was made; the congregation would receive the anointing.  It was liberating for me to realize that I only needed to serve Him with the gift I had received; I did not have to imitate anyone else.  When I preached that evening, it was the first time that I walked out from behind the pulpit.  There was a freedom that I had never know before and I was able to deliver the message in peace, without striving.

Just like a preacher receives an anointing to minister, every believer also receives a gift.  It is the believer’s function gift as a member of the Body of Christ.  This function gift is different than the gifts of the Spirit, or ministry gifts, but it works with them.  Your particular gift of grace determines how you tend to hear from God, which in turn affects what you are motivated to pray about and do.  God works in us differently “both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” (Phil. 1:13).  Romans 12:6-8 lists these gifts as:  prophecy, serving, teaching, exhorting, leading, giving, and showing mercy.  As the body is made up of many different parts, there are multiple combinations of these basic gifts.  Although we operate to some degree in all of these functions, we are dominant in just a few of them.  Much has been written about these motivational gifts, but most of it focusses on our natural inclinations which reflect our individual talents and personalities.  Although these are good indications of our function gift, they are not our gift.  Natural abilities are part of the vessel which contains the gift.  The gift itself is the expression of the life of God through us.  I have tried different “tests” for motivational gift and all of them reveal that I have a “teaching/leading” type of gift.  I can function with the natural side of this gift but that will not cause me to receive eternal rewards.  In 1Corinthians chapter 3, Paul exhorts us to be careful how we work for God.  Each man’s work will be tested as through fire.  Like Paul, I want to be a skilled workman according to the grace of God.  Only what I do through grace, by the Spirit, will abide.  Natural talents used in the flesh may bring natural rewards, but they will not survive the test of fire. 

As we grow in the Lord, both individually and corporately, we need to become strong in the grace of our Lord.  As Peter said, “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.  If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God.  If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies…” (1Pe. 4:10-11)

Created for a Purpose

What is your purpose in life?  Does it line up with the one you were created for?  Each person is created with a set of talents and a personality to fit those talents.  We can use these talents for the goals we choose, or we can seek to know the goals God has purposed for us.  When you come to know the love that God has for you, your purpose in life changes.  You are drawn to that love, and to the purpose God has for you.  Succeeding in that purpose requires a devotion and a transformation. 

The apostle Paul refers to this Process of Transformation in Romans Chapter 12 when he mentions the gifts we have as members of the Body of Christ.  He describes them as gifts of grace.  The apostle Peter says that we should use these gifts as stewards of the manifold grace of God (1Pe. 4:10).  We are to administer God’s grace to others according to the gifts we have received.  Each person has a special function in the Body of Christ.  As vessels in God’s House, we are to serve God’s grace to others.  This grace is God’s unmerited favor, which is His mercy and His help (see Heb. 4:16).  Our talents and personality are the vessel; the contents are the various forms of God’s grace.  The vessel is natural, but the contents are spiritual.  The shape and size of the vessel fits the contents we are meant to deliver.  You don’t have to have someone else’s talents to serve God.  You have been created with your own special purpose.  Even before you were reconciled to God, He was working in your life to develop your talents and personality.  It is very important to realize that it is how you use your talents and personality that determines if you are fulfilling your God-given purpose.  If you want to use them for God’s intended purpose, then you must offer yourself to Him, and submit to His Process of Transformation.  We are to be clean yielded vessels, “prepared for every good work” (2Tim. 2:21).

How then are we to accomplish our God-given purpose?  In Paul’s first letter to Timothy, he makes a statement that is full of insight.  “The purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith” (1Tim. 1:5).  Regardless what our talents are, the central purpose of each believer is to walk in love.  Our goal is to please God.  With love as our motive, we can succeed with our purpose if we have a pure heart.  The greatest assignment of the devil in these last days is deception.   It is not enough for us to want to please God, we must pursue that goal with a pure heart.  We obtain a pure heart through repentance and faith.  It is essential that we humble ourselves before God and allow Him to search our hearts.

Next, Paul says we need a “good conscience”.  To have a “clear” conscience is to be forgiven of all our sins.  To have a “good” conscience is to have one that is very sensitive.  This sensitivity is developed by quick obedience to the convictions of the Holy Spirit.  We will develop a dull conscience if we harden our hearts to His promptings and His words of correction.  It is not enough to ask God to search our hearts, we must respond quickly and truthfully to what He reveals.

Then Paul says that this love must issue from a sincere faith.  Without faith, it is impossible to please God.  A sincere faith would indicate a faith that is not hypocritical, it is genuine.  Paul listed it as one of three qualities that abide forever: faith, hope, and love.  But faith by itself is not enough.  It must be used with the right motives.  James said that even the demons have faith, but they have not love.  The illustration Paul gave to Timothy about having faith and conscience is like a ship at sea.  Our spiritual lives are propelled by faith, but we navigate by setting our course on love and by watching the heavens to maintain our bearings.  Without love as our motive, we will not reach the right port, and without a good conscience, we may suffer shipwreck.

I would like to close this blog by referring again to Romans Chapter 12.  We each have a purpose in God and we can accomplish this purpose if we offer our lives to God and submit to transformation through the renewing of our minds.  I will speak more about this Process of Transformation in another message.