Building spiritual maturity
Posted by: forthrightmag <forthrightmag@...>
forthright.net/
Straight to the Cross
Richard Mansel goes to the Bible to answer ... "The
Most Important Question." Great for classes, groups,
evangelistic studies and individuals.
richardmansel.com/most-important-question/
COLUMN: LIVING THE FAITH
Building spiritual maturity
by Richard Mansel, managing editor
tinyurl.com/cjt5tyo
The pursuit of spiritual maturity should be the goal of
all Christians. We must be transformed as we learn to
walk in Christ (Romans 12:1-2; Ephesians 4:1).
As preachers and teachers, we must help our fellow
Christians grow spiritually by guiding them through
God's Word and teaching them to learn on their own.
Spiritual growth is only possible through Christ. His
grace, mercy and longsuffering empower us to endure and
the Word guides us through the darkness (John 8:12).
Immersing ourselves in the power of Scripture, we learn
the dangerous methods of Satan and how to overcome them
(2 Timothy 2:15; 1 Peter 5:8; Ephesians 6:10-17).
Christianity is about learning to make sound decisions
as we apply God's Word in the small and large moments
of life.
The Holy Spirit lays out in the Bible the perpetual
conflict between the spiritual and the fleshly (1
Corinthians 2:13-16). For example, the spiritual will
have us love our enemies while the fleshly has us
pursuing vengeance (Matthew 5:44).
Jesus consistently exposed this dichotomy. While Jesus
taught spiritual lessons, the crowds heard only the
fleshly and misunderstood what he was saying (John
6:26-67). The apostles were not immune to this
weakness, either (Acts 1:6).
Will we do God's will or our own?
Will we follow the flesh or walk in the spirit?
Will we pursue the spiritual or the pleasurable?
Will we invest in the spiritual or the fleshly world?
Scripture is filled with teachings on how to discern
between the spiritual and the fleshly (John 13; Romans
7:11-25; 14:1-8; 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, et al). We
learn to place a greater emphasis on our soul and less
on our earthly possessions (Matthew 6:19-21).
"When He had called the people to Himself,
with His disciples also, He said to them,
'Whoever desires to come after Me, let him
deny himself, and take up his cross, and
follow Me'" (Mark 8:34, NKJV).
The Gospel of John is saturated with this teaching, and
we should do a diligent study of the text because our
soul is far more important than anything else we have
(Matthew 16:26).
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