Spiritual Growth and Transformation
Spiritual growth and transformation represent the lifelong journey of becoming more like Christ through God's work in believers' lives. This process, known as sanctification, involves both God's sovereign action and our response through spiritual disciplines and obedience to His Word.
The Nature of Spiritual Growth
Fruit of the Spirit vs. Works of the Flesh
The Apostle Paul provides a clear contrast between spiritual maturity and spiritual immaturity in Galatians 5:19-24. (Born of the Spirit's Action, 4:04) The works of the flesh include "fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing."
By contrast, "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control" (Galatians 5:22-23). (Born of the Spirit's Action, 3:45)
Importantly, the fruit of the Spirit comes as a complete package - if you are a Christian, you have all the fruit, though they may manifest differently in various seasons of life. (Born of the Spirit's Action, 5:20) This fruit can be understood as love expressing itself in eight different ways, as Paul reminds us that the whole law is summed up in loving your neighbor as yourself (Galatians 5:14).
Joy as Gift, Not Achievement
One crucial aspect of spiritual growth is understanding that characteristics like joy are not something we manufacture through human effort. (Born of the Spirit's Action, 7:54) While self-help articles may list "20 different things you can do to bring joy into your life" - including eating breakfast, smiling, drinking water, and getting enough sleep - these approaches miss the fundamental truth that spiritual joy is "the fruit of the Holy Spirit." (Born of the Spirit's Action, 10:20)
We face two common temptations regarding spiritual fruit: 1. Thinking we must manufacture it ourselves through various techniques or efforts 2. Turning it into a command or accusation - demanding why someone isn't more joyful rather than recognizing it as God's gift
The danger in these approaches is that they can lead to acting joyful rather than experiencing genuine joy that flows from the Spirit. (Born of the Spirit's Action, 12:16)
God's Method: Death and Resurrection
Crucifixion with Christ
God's approach to spiritual transformation is not mere reformation or tweaking of our character. (Born of the Spirit's Action, 14:39) Rather, Scripture teaches that "those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires" (Galatians 5:24).
This "crucified" language, used primarily in connection with Jesus's atoning death, appears in four key passages describing the believer's experience: - Romans 6:6 - "our old self was crucified with him" - Galatians 2:19-20 - "I have been crucified with Christ" - Galatians 6:14 - "the world has been crucified to me" - Galatians 5:24 - believers "have crucified the flesh"
(Born of the Spirit's Action, 17:33)
Daily Dying and Rising
Luther captures this beautifully in his explanation of baptism's significance for daily living: "our sinful self with all of its evil deeds and desires should be drowned through daily repentance, so that a new self shall arise each and every day." (Born of the Spirit's Action, 21:09)
This is not a one-time event but a daily process where God "kills us with his kindness" and "kills us with his words of promise, putting to death that old Adam and that old Eve in us." The old nature, as one seminary professor noted, "is a really good swimmer," which is why we need daily return to our baptismal promises. (Born of the Spirit's Action, 21:43)
The Call to Spiritual Maturity
Moving from Milk to Solid Food
The author of Hebrews expresses frustration with believers who remained spiritually immature: "For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic elements of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food" (Hebrews 5:12). (Maturity, 1:27)
These foundational elements included: - Repentance from dead works and faith toward God - Instructions about baptisms - Laying on of hands - Resurrection of the dead - Eternal judgment
The call is clear: "Therefore let us go on toward maturity, leaving behind the basic teaching about Christ and not laying again the foundation" (Hebrews 6:1). (Maturity, 3:47)
Balancing Childlike Faith with Mature Thinking
Scripture calls believers to be both childlike and mature. Jesus said, "Unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3). This refers to childlike dependency upon God for salvation and all spiritual needs. (Maturity, 9:13)
However, Paul also instructs: "Do not be children in your thinking; rather, be infants in evil, but in thinking be adults" (1 Corinthians 14:20). (Maturity, 10:36)
The Role of Scripture in Growth
Word Immersion vs. Word Abandonment
There is a direct link between spiritual maturity and familiarity with God's Word. (Maturity, 13:58) Hebrews explains that "everyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is unskilled in the word of righteousness" (Hebrews 5:13). (Maturity, 14:19)
The problem with these early Christians was that they had "become dull in understanding" - the Greek word meaning "lazy" or "negligent" in their study of God's Word. (Maturity, 16:25)
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 provides the model for spiritual growth through Word immersion: keeping God's words in our hearts, reciting them to our children, talking about them at home and away, binding them as signs, and writing them on our doorposts. This represents complete saturation in God's truth. (Maturity, 14:54)
The Challenge of Biblical Illiteracy
Modern statistics reveal concerning levels of biblical illiteracy, even among Christians:
- 50% of Americans can't name the four Gospels
- 60% can't name five of the Ten Commandments
- 81% of Christians believe "God helps those who help themselves" is found in Scripture
- Many attribute the Sermon on the Mount to Billy Graham rather than Jesus
Overcoming Spiritual Laziness
Our sinful nature tempts us toward "word abandonment" rather than word immersion because Scripture challenges and exposes our need for growth. (Maturity, 17:41) We naturally prefer ignorance because "ignorance is bliss" - if we remain unaware of how much we need to grow, we aren't challenged to change.
However, as Scripture reveals our true condition, it also provides "fresh flows of grace" - reminding us that Jesus has taken all our sin upon Himself, including our spiritual immaturity. This grace then empowers us with "divine discontent" about who we are while enabling us to become who He makes us through His Word. (Maturity, 19:49)
The Goal of Spiritual Growth
The ultimate aim is to "come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13). (Maturity, 6:53)
Spiritual growth involves a daily process where we desire to be "more mature today than yesterday, and more mature tomorrow than today." (Maturity, 21:15) This growth comes not through our efforts alone, but through God's transforming work as He continually puts our old nature to death and raises up the new person who manifests the fruit of the Spirit.