Stages of Spiritual Growth in Christ
- Biblical Spiritual growth is intentional and maturity is a choice to continually progress in our character, responsibility and our productivity. 2 Peter 3:18, “but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 5:11 Concerning [g]him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though [h]by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the [i]elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.
- Listed below are some categories of maturity:
- Infants(brephos, unborn or newborn) 1 Peter 2:1-3; Heb.5:11-14
- Issue: Hunger for the word of God, the milk. Some Christians never go beyond receiving/demanding God’s word from others. As we grow we should be finding opportunities to preach,teach,exhort, convince, correct, rebuke from God’s word.
- Children (gk.,tekton) Romans 8:16-17
- Issue: The Search for Identity and Belonging. Jesus taught we must become as children to enter the kingdom of God (John 1:12; Matt.18:3). On the other hand, Paul, taught us to put away “childish” ways and “become a man” who displays the core qualities of love (1 Cor.13)
- Son/daughter (Huios) Romans 8:14
- Issue: The Quest for Leadership, Intimacy and Purpose. This is when we learn to follow the Holy Spirit, seek the will of the Father and launch into Divine Mission. Jesus Himself, as the Son of God, perfectly modeled this pattern of “sonship”.
- Carnal (1 Cor.2:1-5)
- Issue: Learning the Danger of lusts of the flesh, anger, strife, pride, envy and worldliness (James 4:1-7; 2 Tim.2:22).
- Spiritual/Mature (1 Cor.2:6f)
- Issue: The Discovery of Gifting and Serving the Will of God through the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation into the true knowledge of Jesus Christ (Eph.1:17) . Hunting down the word of God and eating meat of God’s word through obedience. Teaching & mentoring others to study, practice and teach the word like Ezra (Ezra 7:10) to facilitate the restoration work of the Father.
- fathers/mothers (1 John 2:13-14; 1 Cor.4:15; 1 Thess.2:7)
- Issue: Multiplication, the Full-time Drive to Mentor, Increase Influence and Care for all God’s people to mature and for the Unbeliever to be born into the kingdom of God. A triunity of seeking God, fellowship and the lost. Abraham’s seed of faith in God multiplied like the stars of heaven and the sand of the seashore. Faith, hope and love are the heartbeat of fatherhood. Spiritual fathers have a capacity developed over seasons of hardship, change, transition, success and failure that releases a supernatural ability to believe, to hope and love when others may not see the possibilities for good in all things.(Isa.51:1-2;ROM.4)
- Infants(brephos, unborn or newborn) 1 Peter 2:1-3; Heb.5:11-14
