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Unit 3

Lesson 4

The Climb -- Spiritual Growth

Psalm 27:1-14 2 Peter 1:2-7

The climb of the Christian life is growth from spiritual infancy to spiritual maturity. Spiritual growth, just like physical growth, does not happen overnight; it is a gradual process. But, unlike physical growth, spiritual growth is a matter of choice. We choose whether to be hungry for the Word; we choose whether to be motivated; we choose whether to advance in the Christian life.

In Psalm 27, David illustrates progression in spiritual growth through the seven circles of faith.

The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread? (Ps. 27:1)

Circle 1: Salvation. The foundation for all spiritual growth is salvation (1 Cor 3:11). "The Lord" in Hebrew is Jehovah; "salvation" is from Yeshuah, the Hebrew word for "Jesus." A thousand years after David wrote this psalm, Joseph was told by the angel, "You shall call his name Jesus for it is He who will save His people from their sins" (Matt. 1:21). The person who has believed in Jesus Christ for salvation begins to see that faith, which lays basic assurance in the plan and the person of God, can conquer fear.

One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to meditate in His temple. (Ps. 27:4)

Circle 2: Study. After salvation, growth can only come from study. We have to be positive to the Word. Baqash, " seek," means to diligently study. It is similar to the Greek spoudazo found in 2 Timothy 2:15, implying strong inner motivation. It is impossible to study so that we grow unless we have made a personal decision to be spiritually motivated. "To dwell in the house of the Lord" is analogous to living in the Word of God, learning to let the Word be the priority, more real and absolute than C anything else in life. The house of the Lord in David' s time was the tabernacle--the place of teaching. The New Testament equivalent would be the local church, to be there every time the C doors are open and the Word of God is taught.

For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me C up on a rock. (Ps. 27:5)

Circle 3: Faith-rest. David is saying that he knows that if he Commits himself to live in the tabernacle of God, to meditate, to study, to be strong in his motivation for growth, then in the day of trouble, God will spread His tent over him and he will receive divine protection from whatever may threaten him. Every time we hear the Word taught we choose whether to believe it or not. The only safe place in the universe is the place of faith, where we rest in the power of the Word. In this secret place we have an encapsulated environment that we carry with us. When we dedicate ourselves to living in the Word, then the Word of God will surround us wherever we go and we will have stability in life.

And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me; and I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord. (Ps. 27:6)

Circle 4: Spirituality. In Hebrews 13:15 we are exhorted to "continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name." The sacrifices of expressing joy which is gratitude to God, and of singing and praise, which declare the faithfulness of God, are expressions of the function of our priesthood in the filling of the Holy Spirit.

Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice, and be gracious to me and answer me. (Ps. 27:7)

Circle 5: Suffering. The Hebrew qara means "to call out loudly." Here it indicates intensive pressure which wrenches from the soul a cry for deliverance. Suffering is necessary for Spiritual growth. When we meet suffering with effective prayer, the process of growth is accelerated.

When Thou didst say, "Seek My face, " my heart said to Thee, "Thy face, O Lord, I shall seek. " (Ps. 27:8)

Circle 6: Occupation with Christ. The most extended part of this psalm deals with the sixth circle of faith because it is the most essential to the attaining of spiritual maturity. It is persevering through our sufferings to the point of occupation with Jesus Christ. David was able to persevere because when God said, "Seek Me," David said, "I will." He was motivated to know the Word of God and to understand the will of God. It is impossible to reach spiritual maturity unless we become occupied with the person of Christ. Christianity is not a religion; it is a relationship. The purpose of all our study is to go from the written Word to the living Word, to seek from the page the person of Jesus Christ.

I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord. (Ps. 27:13-14)

Circle 7: Waiting. David knew despair, discouragement, depression. He faced it all, but he came through it all because he knew that God would bring blessing if he persisted in spiritual advance. Qawah is the strongest Hebrew word for faith. To advance from the cross to the crown, each of us must master the degrees of faith: amen, leaning faith; batach, wrestling faith; chasah, refuge faith; yachal, healing faith; and qawah waiting faith. Isaiah tells us that those who wait for the Lord will exchange their human strength for His divine strength. Not until we reach the waiting stage will we have that overwhelming strength of God, and not until we have that, will we have true courage in the spiritual realm.

There is no way in our own strength that we can either Teach or imitate spiritual maturity. It is a gift from God, a gift that is given in increments and can be received only by faith. We have C to follow God's plan, do it God's way--a principle, a promise, a doctrine at a time. To reach maturity, we have to pass through each of the seven circles of faith. It takes tremendous spiritual motivation. We have to be motivated to attain spiritual maturity more than anything on earth. If we have any other priority in life, we will not reach it.

God has so designed the system that we either do it His way or we don't do it at all. His way is centered on the church. Apart from involvement in a local church and apart from the exercise of our spiritual gifts, we can’t reach maturity.

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pas tars and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ ... (Eph. 4:11-12)

Two of these--apostleship and prophecy--were temporary gifts. When the apostle John finished writing the last books of the Bible and died, both apostleship and prophecy Passed from the scene. The other teaching gifts are given for the purpose of ,quipping believers for service.

The Greek word katartizo, "equip," was used three ways in the ancient world: medically, it meant to set a broken bone; militarily, it meant to get supplies to an army on the front line; economically, it meant to provide needed funds. The word means to equip according to the need. In the spiritual sense in this passage, it means for the believer to find his spiritual gift and function in it.

After we have sat in Bible class and received the Word, the next step is to go out into the world and act on what we have heard. If we have no service, no function, no operation in the supernatural exercise of our spiritual gift, we will have no spiritual maturity.

The purpose of service is for the building up of the body of Christ. "Building up" is oikodomeo, from oikos, "house," and domeo, "to build." The word means "edification" The pastor teaches the congregation; the members of the congregation, having been equipped by the pastor, now all function in their spiritual gifts. Because the spiritual gifts are all functioning, the believers are edifying each other and strengthening each other so they can do what the Church is supposed to do: evangelize, tell the world about Jesus Christ. This is what makes for a dynamic local church.

... until We all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. (Eph. 4:13)

The ultimate objective is expressed in four pictures of what we want to attain:

1. The unity of the faith. "Faith" here is not subjective but objective, referring to that which we believe. "The unity of the faith" means that because the Word of God is taught in its entirety, we have a systematic development of our understanding of the Word of God.

2. The knowledge of the Son of God. This is functional, experiential knowledge. We know Jesus Christ not because we have heard or studied about Him, but because we have experienced Him. We see His power in our lives, His confidence, His boldness, His courage, His humility. And we see these things in the live of others in the local church, and we come to a practical, experiential knowledge of the person of Jesus Christ. He is not someone who is absent; He is someone who is present. He is not someone who is weak; He is someone who is powerful. He is someone who lives and breathes within individuals and within a local church.

How will we ever come to the experiential knowledge of the Son of God? Only one way, we have to come to systematic unity in our understanding of Bible doctrine. If we do not accept the full counsel of God, we will never see the full glory Christ.

3. A mature man. Mature, from teleios, can also be translated "complete. This means that we have put all the pieces of the puzzle together. We have a dear understanding of the full scope of doctrine and have applied it to life. We have been taught and because we have the unity of the faith and because we have the experiential knowledge of the person of Jesus Christ, we are mature.

4. The fullness of Christ. To reach this point means that we are filled with quality, controlled by our occupation with Christ and influenced by Him in everything we do. We start out in the Christian life just working toward Christ and in time begin to be occupied with Him. But then what happens? As we develop a systematic understanding of the written Word, Jesus Christ the Living Word becomes alive to us. He becomes real, more real than anything else. He becomes important to us. As He does, we begin to have epignosis, experiential knowledge of the Son of God. We reach spiritual maturity and then He fills our life, controls our thinking, influences our actions. Jesus Christ has become the most important thing in life.

As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ. (Eph. 4:14-15)

If we persist in the teaching and application of the Word, we will not have to be children all our lives. The Greek meketi, "no longer," says, "It is time to move on." The writer of Hebrews admonishes his readers by telling them that by now they ought to be teaching others, they ought to be functioning in their spiritual gifts, but they are not. Why? Because they have become dull of hearing, reversionistic (Heb. 5:11-14).

The word Paul uses here for "children" is nepios. The word refers to an adult who is childish. In the spiritual realm this is someone who has been a believer for a long time, but who is still trying to make Christianity an outward thing instead of an human production, human effort, human good, instead of the inward thing. He still doesn't understand that Christianity is supernatural and invisible; he is still trying to make an issue of invisible divine production.

"Tossed" and "carried about" are both in the present tense, indicating Persistent action. This is the childish believer's lifestyle--constantly shifting, constantly unstable, constantly affected by external shifts in the wind, living a life built on circumstances. No believer can attain maturity if his life is built !! on conditions around him.

But instead of remaining children, we may grow. "Speaking the truth in love" means communicating Bible doctrine in the power of the Holy Spirit. The phrase takes us back to where Paul began in verse 11 with the communication of the Word by gifted teachers in the filling of the Holy Spirit. When doctrine is taught this way, we will grow up in all aspects. Auzano refers to natural, normal growth. This is the normal Christian life-spiritual advance from the cross to the crown.

Seven Steps of Spiritual Advance

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true know!. edge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge; and in your knowledge, self-control, and In your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness; and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. (2 Pet. 1:2-7)

The goal that God sets before every one of His children is conformity to Jesus Christ. The godliness that Peter refers to in verse 3 is the function of spirituality; it is Christ living in and through us (Col. 1:27), it is the most awesome potential in the universe, and yet we can either be hungry for it or apathetic and indifferent to it.

Before spiritual growth can become a reality, there has to be inner motivation. We have to want to grow, and that is a choice -each of us has to make for ourselves. Once we have made the decision to grow, we have to stick to it; we have to, as Peter says, apply every ounce of diligence we have.

Pareisphero, "apply," is a word that means "to bring in besides, to contribute, to bring something in on your own." Spoude, translated "diligence," means "earnestness, zeal."

Pareisphero is an aorist active participle here; the aorist participle in Greek always precedes the action of the main verb, and the active voice always implies personal choice. The main verb, "supply," relates to each of seven steps of growth. Peter is saying here that until we choose to bring in our own motivation, until we decide we want to get with God s plan we will not grow. But if we will decide to get and stay motivated we can expect to move through seven steps of spiritual advance.

1. Excellence. The word moral used in the New American Standard translation does not occur in the Greek The word arete which can be translated "virtue" refers to the demonstration of power In this case to the filling of the Holy Spirit This is the same word used in verse 3 for the function of divine excellence To the faith with which we begin the Christian life, we have to supply the power of the Spirit of God that means we have to know how to be—and stay—filled with the Holy Spirit.

2. Knowledge. Once we understand how to be filled with the Spirit then we have to study we have to "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 3:18) It will take diligence, spiritual hunger and a humility that is willing to admit we do not know everything there is to know Only the tilling of the Spirit makes the perception of the Word of God possible (1 Cor. 2:12-14).

3. Self-control. This is from en, "in," and kratos, "authority." The filling of the Holy Spirit plus the continued perception of the Word of God sets up a system of inner authority in the soul. We begin to control ourselves not just because some other person is watching, but because we are servants of God. We know how to act under the authority of the Word in our souls, and so we can be confident in life.

4. Perseverance. This is from hupo, "under," and meno, "abide." It beautifully illustrates the faith-rest life. It is persistence, stamina, the ability to abide under pressure, to stand no matter how much we are suffering. If we are filled with the Spirit, if we are dedicated to the study of the Word of God, and if we have a system of inner authority that gives us confidence, then we will exercise persistence and stamina in the faith-rest life. We will endure; we will stick with the plan. We know that every advance in knowledge and self-control will be tested to prove its genuineness (James 1:2-3, 12; 1 Pet. 1:6-8), so we will need perseverance.

5. Godliness. Conformity to Christ is godliness. In 1 Timothy 3:16, Paul talks about the great mystery of godliness, "God was manifest in the flesh" (KJV). If God manifest in the flesh is the mystery of godliness, then godliness in the Christian life means conformity to the person of Christ.

6. Brotherly kindness. This is philadelphia, "the love of brothers." It is royal family love, and we will never love the royal family of God until we have really begun to be conformed to Christ. When we have, we will be able to look at every other believer and say, "That person’s life and growth are important to me." And we will begin to go out of our way for other believers because we see the eternal significance of their lives.

7. Love. This is agape, the love that only God can produce. It is not an emotion or a feeling; it is a passion for man’s ultimate good. It is never casual; it is always sacrificial (John 3:16; Rom. 5:8). Agape is not based on anything inherently lovable in the object, and it does not demand to be loved in return. Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:5 that the goal of alt our instruction—the telos, the objective, the end of the race, the destination of the life of faith—is agape. Not just to receive, but to manifest, the love of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world. Love is the greatest commandment (Matt. 22:37-40; Rom. 13:9-10), the greatest motivator (2 Cor. 5:14-1 5), and the most enduring power in the universe—everything else in life will fail, but love never will (1 Cor. 13:8).

MEMORY VERSE: Psalm 27:1

The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

REVIEW

Unit 3, Lesson 4