GROWING TO SPIRITUAL MATURITY
By W. G. Guy
As I traveled in many foreign lands ministering the Word of God I noticed that there was a tremendous lack of spiritual maturity in those professing to be Christians. This was especially true in the United States of America. I decided to research why and recorded the results of that research for my doctoral dissertation which I later simplified and published as a book entitled, Awakening the Slumbering Saints, published by Fairway Press. The following is a brief summary of what is necessary for believers to grow up into true spiritual maturity.
The writer of the Book of Hebrews, (presumably the apostle Paul), addressed the same issues regarding the lack of spiritual maturity:
Hebrews 5:12-14 – For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
The problem with lacking spiritual maturity is that such believers are not fully equipped to recognize what is of God and what is evil, or not of God. This is a major problem among Christians today, especially in America.
In order to build oneself to spiritual maturity one must first have a solid foundation to build on. If you plan to build, what kind of a foundation do you build upon, rock or sand?
Matthew 7:24-25 – Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
The starting place is obviously using rock as a solid and unmovable foundation. Jesus Christ is that foundation.
1 Corinthians 3:10-11 – According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Laying a foundation on sand means that what is built will not stand against the storms of life.
Matthew 7:26-27 – And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
Once a solid foundation is laid you can begin to build on it. With Jesus Christ as savior and Lord as the foundation, you build by taking the foundational doctrines of the gospel to heart so that they become part of you. Those foundational doctrines or elements are listed in the Book of Hebrews right after the author chided them about being unskilled in the Word and knowledge of God’s will in righteousness. These elements are called the “First Principles”.
Hebrews 6:1&2 – Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection (completion); not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
What I discovered in my research is that the average Christian believer does not have a sound knowledge of these “first principles”. As a result there is not a good base to build upon, thereby many such Christians are lacking in spiritual maturity and cannot discern what is truly of God and what is evil and not of God.
I am not going to take the time and space to elaborate on each of these first principles in this article. If you desire to learn more about them they are covered in Lessons 101 to 105, the first five lessons plans above.
Once a believer has a sound base layer in the doctrines of first principles, then the process of building spiritual maturity can begin. This building process requires adhering to qualified instructors or builders who are ordained of God who are careful in how they teach and build you up in the knowledge of the Lord, (see 1 Corinthians 3:10-11 above). This process is not accomplished by just one minister, that of a pastor; it requires what God has ordained as the five-fold gifts of ministry.
Ephesians 4:11-13 – And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting (completion) of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
The main reason why there is a lack of spiritual maturity in the church today is because the church has rejected the functions of the apostle, prophet, and teacher, while accepting the ministry of an evangelist, although he is on his own and not considered as a ministry staff of the church. Today’s churches depend solely on the function of a pastor for spiritual development. Teachers are accepted but they are relegated to Sunday Schools and are not considered essential ministers in churches.
Again, there is not time or space to explain the vital role of each of the five gift ministries in this article, but you can find out more in the Lesson above.
Now let’s look at the steps to maturity as these steps are listed in a progressive order by the apostle Peter. First we need to understand that the goal of spiritual maturity is to reproduce Christ likeness in every believer. This Christ likeness is known as the divine nature – the character and nature of God as it was manifested in Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1:4 – whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
Next the apostle lists in progressive order the steps to spiritual maturity.
2 Peter 1:5-7 – And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
Notice that these steps begin with faith which is the means upon which we receive salvation, and then we walk in faithfulness as we progress to each successive level. Next is virtue which is a disciplined life as a disciple living faithful to God, Christ and His Word. If you are truly faithful then your virtue will become obvious. The next step is to grow in knowledge of His Word which is His Will for you, and this will equip you to be able to show others the way of truth and righteousness. This is followed by temperance, which is self-control or restraint in conflicting and trying circumstances. Patience, which includes endurance is next in line; then comes godliness which is devout, moral and righteous behavior. Brotherly kindness follows which is being sympathetic and merciful toward others. And the final step to reach spiritual maturity is charity, the God kind of love that is compassion, caring and giving.
Peter then goes on to list the outcome or result of spiritual maturity:
2 Peter 1:8-9 – For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
Peter verifies what Paul stated in Hebrews 5:14 that if you lack this spiritual maturity you will not be sufficiently equipped to recognize or discern what is evil or not of God.
Now look at a similar list of spiritually mature qualities as mentioned by the apostle Paul. He lists similar steps but in reverse order as if God is looking down the staircase from the top down toward us while Peter was taking us up the staircase to full maturity. These elements are known as the “Fruit of the Spirit” which is actually the divine character and nature of God. (Remember what Peter stated above in 1 Peter 1:4.)
Galatians 5:22 – But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Peter’s steps take us up to the God kind of Love while Paul’s list starts with love with each fruit being an element of God’s divine nature. Now notice Paul’s conclusion of the matter in how growing up into spiritual maturity takes us far away from the carnal distractions of human lusts.
Galatians 5:16-17 – This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
Galatians 5:24-25 – And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
The goal is for us to become Christ-like and be manifested as the sons of God as His own beloved children. This will enable each of us to say as did the apostle Paul:
Galatians 2:20 – I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Even all of creation is waiting for believers to mature into the fullness of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 8:18-19 – For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Please remember that the pure work of those in the ministry is to bring believers to full spiritual maturity.
Ephesians 4:12-13 – for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: Think on that!
By W. G. Guy
As I traveled in many foreign lands ministering the Word of God I noticed that there was a tremendous lack of spiritual maturity in those professing to be Christians. This was especially true in the United States of America. I decided to research why and recorded the results of that research for my doctoral dissertation which I later simplified and published as a book entitled, Awakening the Slumbering Saints, published by Fairway Press. The following is a brief summary of what is necessary for believers to grow up into true spiritual maturity.
The writer of the Book of Hebrews, (presumably the apostle Paul), addressed the same issues regarding the lack of spiritual maturity:
Hebrews 5:12-14 – For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
The problem with lacking spiritual maturity is that such believers are not fully equipped to recognize what is of God and what is evil, or not of God. This is a major problem among Christians today, especially in America.
In order to build oneself to spiritual maturity one must first have a solid foundation to build on. If you plan to build, what kind of a foundation do you build upon, rock or sand?
Matthew 7:24-25 – Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
The starting place is obviously using rock as a solid and unmovable foundation. Jesus Christ is that foundation.
1 Corinthians 3:10-11 – According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Laying a foundation on sand means that what is built will not stand against the storms of life.
Matthew 7:26-27 – And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
Once a solid foundation is laid you can begin to build on it. With Jesus Christ as savior and Lord as the foundation, you build by taking the foundational doctrines of the gospel to heart so that they become part of you. Those foundational doctrines or elements are listed in the Book of Hebrews right after the author chided them about being unskilled in the Word and knowledge of God’s will in righteousness. These elements are called the “First Principles”.
Hebrews 6:1&2 – Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection (completion); not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
What I discovered in my research is that the average Christian believer does not have a sound knowledge of these “first principles”. As a result there is not a good base to build upon, thereby many such Christians are lacking in spiritual maturity and cannot discern what is truly of God and what is evil and not of God.
I am not going to take the time and space to elaborate on each of these first principles in this article. If you desire to learn more about them they are covered in Lessons 101 to 105, the first five lessons plans above.
Once a believer has a sound base layer in the doctrines of first principles, then the process of building spiritual maturity can begin. This building process requires adhering to qualified instructors or builders who are ordained of God who are careful in how they teach and build you up in the knowledge of the Lord, (see 1 Corinthians 3:10-11 above). This process is not accomplished by just one minister, that of a pastor; it requires what God has ordained as the five-fold gifts of ministry.
Ephesians 4:11-13 – And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting (completion) of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
The main reason why there is a lack of spiritual maturity in the church today is because the church has rejected the functions of the apostle, prophet, and teacher, while accepting the ministry of an evangelist, although he is on his own and not considered as a ministry staff of the church. Today’s churches depend solely on the function of a pastor for spiritual development. Teachers are accepted but they are relegated to Sunday Schools and are not considered essential ministers in churches.
Again, there is not time or space to explain the vital role of each of the five gift ministries in this article, but you can find out more in the Lesson above.
Now let’s look at the steps to maturity as these steps are listed in a progressive order by the apostle Peter. First we need to understand that the goal of spiritual maturity is to reproduce Christ likeness in every believer. This Christ likeness is known as the divine nature – the character and nature of God as it was manifested in Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1:4 – whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
Next the apostle lists in progressive order the steps to spiritual maturity.
2 Peter 1:5-7 – And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
Notice that these steps begin with faith which is the means upon which we receive salvation, and then we walk in faithfulness as we progress to each successive level. Next is virtue which is a disciplined life as a disciple living faithful to God, Christ and His Word. If you are truly faithful then your virtue will become obvious. The next step is to grow in knowledge of His Word which is His Will for you, and this will equip you to be able to show others the way of truth and righteousness. This is followed by temperance, which is self-control or restraint in conflicting and trying circumstances. Patience, which includes endurance is next in line; then comes godliness which is devout, moral and righteous behavior. Brotherly kindness follows which is being sympathetic and merciful toward others. And the final step to reach spiritual maturity is charity, the God kind of love that is compassion, caring and giving.
Peter then goes on to list the outcome or result of spiritual maturity:
2 Peter 1:8-9 – For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
Peter verifies what Paul stated in Hebrews 5:14 that if you lack this spiritual maturity you will not be sufficiently equipped to recognize or discern what is evil or not of God.
Now look at a similar list of spiritually mature qualities as mentioned by the apostle Paul. He lists similar steps but in reverse order as if God is looking down the staircase from the top down toward us while Peter was taking us up the staircase to full maturity. These elements are known as the “Fruit of the Spirit” which is actually the divine character and nature of God. (Remember what Peter stated above in 1 Peter 1:4.)
Galatians 5:22 – But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Peter’s steps take us up to the God kind of Love while Paul’s list starts with love with each fruit being an element of God’s divine nature. Now notice Paul’s conclusion of the matter in how growing up into spiritual maturity takes us far away from the carnal distractions of human lusts.
Galatians 5:16-17 – This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
Galatians 5:24-25 – And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
The goal is for us to become Christ-like and be manifested as the sons of God as His own beloved children. This will enable each of us to say as did the apostle Paul:
Galatians 2:20 – I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Even all of creation is waiting for believers to mature into the fullness of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 8:18-19 – For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Please remember that the pure work of those in the ministry is to bring believers to full spiritual maturity.
Ephesians 4:12-13 – for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: Think on that!
