On spiritual growth and its impact.
The desire and need to grow spiritually is clearly spelled out in the scriptures. God's first words to humanity were >commandments to grow and to multiply. The desire to grow is, therefore, an integral part of man. Whoever speaks against growth is simply not being true to himself for it is part and parcel of his DNA.
Genesis 1:27-28 (NIV)
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
Peter in speaking about the reason to feed on the word emphasized growth, he said "desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby" Paul buttressing this said in Colossians 2:19 "And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God."
True spiritual nourishment always brings about an increase (growth) in God. What will we define as this growth? It is the progressive development of the condition of a man's life to fully reflect his new position in Christ. Growth occurs when we begin to experience the benefits of all that we have in Christ.
This development begins within our souls but this must of necessity become visible to others. We cannot profit from the word (spiritual nourishment) and it doesn't appear unto all.
1 Timothy 4:15Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.
It is true that not everything that has a visible increase came as a result of the growth in the word of God. Ishmaels can be born as a result of the work of the flesh but the truth also cannot be denied that where there is spiritual growth in the word of God there will be visible increase. The New Testament supports this conclusion.
Acts 6:7 And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
Scripture makes it clear that where there is spiritual nourishment to the souls of His people there will be visible increase. God started this numerical increase and not us. He mentioned 3000 were added to a Church in one day.
Jeremiah 3:15 - 16 (KJV)
15 And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
16 And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the Lord: neither shall it come to mind:
The desire to grow is not driven by anything outward. The HolySpirit who lives within us and who is active instills in our being a determination that will not be denied, a hunger that must be satisfied. He knows the unsearchable riches made available to us in Christ and He will not allow us to be comfortable with anything less.
To understand spiritual growth, there are two words we must define, condition and position. Our position is where we have been placed by reason of the work of Christ and our accepting Him as our Lord. Our position is not by our attainment but by His atonement. We had nothing to do with this it was given to us as an inheritance in Christ, it has become the source of our Christian experience.
Our condition, however, is who we are in our daily walk which develops from infancy to maturity. Our position is secured for us in Christ and that remains immutable, our condition is variable.
Through the exercise of faith, our position in Christ begins to affect our condition i.e our daily walk. When we concentrate on our condition, we are not living by faith but by appearances. We talk about things as they are. In most cases believers are more aware of their condition rather than their position. This is the reason for failure and stagnancy.
The first step to spiritual growth, therefore, is that the believer must be made aware of his positional truths, he must know about the unsearchable riches available to him in Christ and most importantly the present work of the HolySpirit within him.
Feeding people spiritually goes beyond just giving knowledge about the scriptures, it gives a workable understanding of spiritual things such that a person receives light and he meditates on it gives himself wholly unto it where he is wholly occupied with positional truth rather than conditional appearances.
The effect of this is that his present condition no longer affects his emotional state. He is always full of praises with a heart of gratitude because of the unchanging nature of his new position in Christ and what has been made available to him by way of his inheritance in Christ. He takes this joyful authoritative attitude into prayer that causes much fruit to be evident in his life.
Gracia!!!
