Spiritual Growth 101

Recently I have run into several references to the concept of Spiritual Formation. In concept this seems like a good idea, but some of the ideas and practices promoted by those in the Spiritual Formation movement are counter to the Biblical examples and commandments. I may address some of the other practices promoted by the Spiritual Formation movement, but first let me address the core of spiritual growth from a Biblical perspective.

What are the basics of growing as a Christian?
This is an important question, and every Christian needs growth whether they are a new Christian, a mature Christian, or a struggling Christian. Maybe you've grown and are experiencing a spiritual plateau or a dry spell. Maybe you just don’t know where or how to start.

One of my hobbies is playing table tennis. Just as in table tennis and any other pursuit you may be involved in, if you want to improve you need to practice. You also need to learn and add disciplines to your practice. At first, you may just spend time playing. Then start practicing your serve, or your spin, or ball placement. Later you add to your growth by learning and practicing new techniques for different aspects of your game.

Likewise, to grow spiritually, spend time practicing. As you want to take that next step, refocus, or learn new techniques. Avoid learning some of those bad habits or techniques that could slow or limit your growth.

What are the core practices for spiritual growth?
There are three core practices of the Christian faith. They are to:

1. read God’s Word


2. pray, and


3. worship God

All three of these are required, none are optional. It is important for each of these, as you are beginning, and growing, to keep each of these pure. In other words, don’t add to them with other aids or props. Adding to them may get you into harmful or limiting techniques. I’ll go into more on each of these, but this is important to keep it simple to start with, and to keep it free from pollution as you mature.

Each of these practices should be done individually, as a family, and as the body in church. Each of these contexts is important, for they are all commanded in God’s Word. These three core practices should all be done every day (not necessarily corporately, but at least individually.

I make a distinction between these practices and the sacraments. The sacraments are signs and seals to remind us of God’s love and covenant with us. The sacraments can be classified in the context of corporate worship and faithful administration of the sacraments is one of the signs of a true church.

What are the goals of spiritual growth?
As you faithfully practice these with discipline, you will grow in maturity, and knowledge of the Lord. Through these you will get spiritual food, to sustain you. In John 15, Jesus reminds us,

”I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit;”

We will bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

As we bear fruit and grow, we must not forget that we may get pruned (disciplined). When we are disciplined, it may feel like we've been cut off, but God will not cut off those that are His.

Conclusion
As you grow, you will see your growth, you will see more and more of God’s hand in your life and in the history of the world, and you will sense God’s leading through His promised Holy Spirit.

Here are a few closing scriptures of encouragement:
1 Corinthians 9:24b,

“Run in such a way as to get the prize.”

Galatians 5:7,

“You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?”

Hebrews 12:1b,

“let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

Spiritual growth is important; it takes discipline, and yields its fruit. A fruit does not grow to maturity in a day, but grows as it gets the nourishment that it needs. Don’t get discouraged, keep running and you will finish the race well, God is faithful!

The Ten Commandments and sin

I heard someone say recently that the 10 commandments are divided into two parts. The first half lists sins against God; the second half lists sins against your neighbor, thus corresponding to the two greatest commandments.

There is some helpfulness in dividing the commandments this way. But this isn’t quite an accurate picture of God and his relationship with man. David wrote Psalm 51 when the prophet Nathan confronted him about his adultery with Bathsheba.

In verse 4, David writes, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.” So, even with a sin that appears to man to be a sin against another man, it is a sin against God alone!

Maybe we should consider these two categories of the 10 commandments as direct sins against God, and indirect sins against God through others.

Do Aliens Exist? Biblical indicators

In our culture, many people talk about aliens. Both from scientific investigation such as SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence), and from a social or experience perspective with reports of UFO sightings, crop circles, and abductions.

If you are interested in a more detailed treatment of this subject, I recommend a book by Dr. Gary Bates called Alien Intrusion. This book was a good eye-opener for looking at this topic, both in terms of the evidence, the symptoms, and their message and purpose.

I would not do true justice to this topic if I tried to treat it in-depth, you are better off reading his book. What I’d like to do is look at the question, “Do aliens exist?” from the Biblical evidence.

First, let’s look at Genesis where we find the foundation for nearly all doctrines in the Bible.

The Earth and other Heavenly Bodies

The first two verses in the Bible show how the earth is treated differently than the rest of the other heavenly bodies by mentioning the earth separately and by creating it before the rest.

Genesis 1:1-2, “¹In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ²Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”

Then later, on day four, God creates the other heavenly bodies, and mentioning that “He also made the stars”. But he made them for a purpose that he mentions, to give light and to mark seasons and days and year. When mentioning the purpose of giving light, it is to give light to the earth, not to other planets.

Genesis 1:14-19, “¹⁴And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, ¹⁵and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. ¹⁶God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. ¹⁷God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, ¹⁸to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

Mankind

Second, let’s look at another concept in Genesis, the creation of mankind.

Genesis 1 shows that God made mankind, male and female, in his image and did not create others (fish, birds, animals, plants) in his image. Other extra-terrestrial intelligence is eerily missing.

Genesis 1:27, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

In the second account of God’s creation in Genesis 2 we see some other clues about man’s purpose. In verse 18 we read, “The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." This doesn’t mean that it’s not good for man to be alone in the universe, thus supporting other life forms out there. If this were so, why have we not found them yet, since God didn’t want us to be alone? But, if we look at the text, it points to a helper suitable for him, which we find out later is his wife Eve. Verse 22 says, “Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib ^[j] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.”

Then after the fall and the curse we see Adam name his wife Eve recognizing both biology and the curse.

Genesis 3:20, “²⁰ Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.”

Paul reinforces that as he talks about death coming to all mankind through Adam, and life and redemption through Christ.

Romans 5:12,14, “¹²Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned— … ¹⁴Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.”

Eve was the mother of all the living, the gift of life comes through Jesus Christ, only to those who are made in God’s image and are under the curse of the first man.

Final, Conclusion

Further support comes in various places, one unique scripture dealing with this supports the idea that the earth is unique among God’s creation, limiting the argument for intelligent life on other planets.

Isaiah 45:12 and 18, “¹² It is I who made the earth and created mankind upon it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshaled their starry hosts. … ¹⁸ For this is what the LORD says— he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited— he says: "I am the LORD, and there is no other.”

God here is affirming that He is sovereign and everything is done for his purpose, he is putting King Cyrus in his place and reminding him that God did all this, and God put King Cyrus in authority for His purposes. Here God reminds us that the earth is special and he put man on it, “he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited”. He does not say this anywhere about any other planet or heavenly body.

In the end, this is an argument from silence, which has some weakness built in. However, we can conclude with some confidence that God made the earth special, God made man in his own image, the “mother of all living”, and he made the earth to be inhabited. Thus, we should not expect to find intelligent life in outer space.

They will know we are Christians by our love

I don’t mean to pick on song lyrics. If I did, I would pick on some other ones.

As I was reading the Bible recently I ran across a passage that reminded me of this old song, “They’ll Know We Are Christians”. It must have been the passage where they got the inspiration for the lyrics, for it says “…we know who the children of God are… nor is anyone who does not love his brother.” –parts of 1 John 3:10. Yes, you got the picture, it’s only part of the story, and it’s a negative instead of a positive. Let’s look at the whole passage in context.

1 John 3:7-10, “⁷Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. ⁸He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. ⁹No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. ¹⁰This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.”

This passage points first to our actions, not that we can earn our own salvation by our actions, but our actions can be evidence of our adoptions as children of God. This is along the same lines of reasoning as James 2:18, “But someone will say, ‘You have faith; I have deeds’ Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.” Likewise, this also does not mean that we act perfectly, for we see Paul’s famous phrase in Romans 7:15, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” And in verse 21, “When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.”

As far as love in the first passage, we look forward in the same chapter to see how John defines love. We need to love, not just with our words, but with action and sacrifice, as our savior did.

1 John 3:16-20, “¹⁶This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. ¹⁷If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? ¹⁸Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. ¹⁹This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence ²⁰whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.”

What shall we sing then? They will know we are Christians by our faith, evidenced by our actions, done in sacrificial love.

Our Father’s Unconditional Love

Many have a perception of Christianity that the Bible gives us a set of rules that we must follow in order to gain favor with God. If we fail to follow those rules we lose favor with God. Some would have a similar view of Islam, weighing their good deeds against their bad deeds, in order for Allah to allow them into paradise. Christians who fall into this way of thinking about their own salvation are anxious about failing to confess, repent, and receive forgiveness after each sin. If Christ were to return, or they were to die, between their sin and confession, they wonder if they would they go to heaven or not? When I was younger, I thought this way. Today, I’d like to challenge that way of thinking.

Let’s start with a foundation of how the Bible shows how our Christian life is like a family. Ephesians 5:29-32 shows how a husband and wife is an illustration of Christ and the church.

Ephesians 5:29-32, ²⁹After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— ³⁰for we are members of his body. ³¹"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."^{[c] 32}This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.

Romans 8 also affirms that we are children of God, and brothers in Christ.

Romans 8: 12-17, ¹²Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it.¹³For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, ¹⁴because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.¹⁵For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." ¹⁶The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. ¹⁷Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Ephesians 1 reinforces that we are adopted as children of God.

Ephesians 1:4-6, ⁴For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— ⁶to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

This passage also challenges the idea of loosing one’s salvation by sinning. He chose us, it is not us who chose Him. He chose us to be holy and blameless in his sight, for His glory. Not for our glory, or our boasting that we made the choice.

The Lord’s prayer also affirms our family relationship as adopted sons and daughters of God, in Matthew 6:9, it starts, “Our Father in heaven”. Our father-child relationship is an illustration of our heavenly father’s relation to us.

Our Father gives us his unconditional love, he has given us his free gift of eternal life. He will not take it away when we sin, then give it back when we repent. What kind of earthly father would that be? (See Matthew 7:11)

Let us rest assured tonight that the gift that God has given us will not be taken away, no matter what mistake or backsliding we may do. God loves us and will restore us, but he will not take away his gift of eternal life.