Sunday, December 4, 2016 am
WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A CHRISTIAN
(4)
Growing as a Christian
Assuming one decides to become a Christian, one must realize that this
is just the beginning. As a
Christian you are expected to grow! In this lesson we want to talk about
growing as a Christian.
a.
1 Peter 2:1-2 – as
newborn babes we are to desire the sincere milk of the word that we may
grow thereby.
b.
Hebrews 5:12-6:1, issues
a rebuke because they had not matured as they ought to.
By this time you ought to be teachers, but you’re not.
In instead you are acting like spiritual babes and in need of
being grounded again in the first principles.
Your senses exercised to discern both good and evil – this is the clear
product of growth as a Christian.
In Hebrews 6:1 we because of this, “let us go on to perfection” a word
meaning maturity or completeness.
c.
2 Peter 3:18 – he will
conclude his 2nd letter by noting we are to grow in the grace
and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
d.
Acts 2:42 notes that on
the day of Pentecost when 3000 souls obeyed the gospel we then read, “And they continued steadfastly
in the apostles doctrine…”
Notice that immediately after obeying the gospel they began to
grow! Becoming a Christian
was NOT the end!
a.
Reverence
means to render proper respect to something or to someone to whom it is
due.
When we speak of reverence we are speaking of a proper or deep respect
toward God. This is with the
realization of who He is – our Creator. He created this universe and all
that is in it. He gives us
life and an eternal spirit.
He created this world and knows is best for it.
He commands and deserves our highest respect.
He deserves to be held in awe – Psalm 111:9, “Holy and awesome is
His name.” (Holy and reverend – KJV).
When we reverence God we will approach Him with that AWESOME
respect and with fear.
Hebrews 12:28-29 – we need to serve Him with reverence and goldy fear.
He is a consuming fire.
b.
IF we are
to grow as we ought as Christians, it will begin with seeking to
understand who God is and a desire to give him that place of honor and
respect He deserves in our lives.
IF we have this attitude it will impact every aspect of our lives
– our worship, our daily living – what we do, where we go, what we say,
who we associate with, etc., and it will affect how we approach His
word!
c.
2 Peter
1:7 as a Christian is growing, he will increase in
godliness.
The term used there is εὐσέβεια, (eusebeia) a word that means to
show piety and reverence. In
times past I have defined this word as godly conduct, and it is – BUT a
deeper understanding reveals the reverence that produces that godly
conduct.
d.
Think
briefly of these passages:
1.
1 Timothy
4:7-8 – exercise yourself toward godliness
The word exercise in the Greek is a word from which we get our
English word gymnasium. What do we do
in the gym? We exercise.
We WORK ourselves toward godliness!
2.
1 Timothy
6:11, he was told to pursue righteousness,
godliness, faith, love
patience and gentleness.
3.
2 Peter
3:11, realizing this world is going to be dissolved, “what manner of
persons ought you to be in holy conduct and
godliness…?”
e.
The more I
study about reverence, the more I am convinced it is FUNDAMENTAL to our
faith AND growth as Christians.
a.
What is
your mindset? Mindset – “an attitude, disposition or mood. 2. An intention or inclination” (www.dictionary.com).
The mindset of a person is his overall disposition that will
govern how he conducts himself, the direction he will go.
It is not just some superficial
thought, but deep seated conviction.
It is an indicator of who you really are.
b.
Consider
the mindset of a Christian – he makes up his mind that he is going to
follow Christ. That
mindset affects how we approach our study of scripture, how we process
instructions, how well we do what we do, how we deal with one another as
brethren and how we deal with those who are not believers (just to name
a few).
c.
Philippians 2:5, “let this mind be
in you which was also in Christ Jesus…”
d.
Colossians
3:1-2, we seek those things that are above and then we set our mind on
them – we are going to achieve them.
e.
If you
want to grow as a Christian you are going to have to DECIDE that you are
going to grow! Unless you do
this, all else will be superficial.
1 Peter 1:13,
Therefore gird up the loins of
your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to
be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
a.
Self-control describes one who is master over his emotions and conduct.
He rules them rather than letting them rule him.
It consists of restraining ourselves from doing what we should
not do (self-control) and doing what we need to do, even when difficult
or unpleasant (self-discipline).
b.
It is a
fruit (or product) of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).
It is also described in 2 Peter 1:6 as we strive to reach
perfection.
c.
In my
studies, I am convinced that EVERY sin we commit has to do with our
self-control or lack thereof.
If we are to mature, we have to bring everything into subjection
to Him – 1 Cor. 9:27 – Paul disciplined his body and brought it into
subjection; 2 Corinthians 10:5 speaks of using our weapons to bring
every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
That is self-control.
d.
As we
learn the truth, we must put it into practice.
That requires self-control!
As we mature, we seek to master this quality.
e.
Self-control is going to keep you from doing something that you will
regret. I will keep you
sinning with your tongue. It
will keep your emotions in check.
It keeps you from developing or engaging in bad habits.
Self-discipline causes you to get up and get to services ON TIME.
It is what provokes you to pray as often as you do and to study
God’s word. It is what
provokes you to choose to serve God rather than engaging in some worldly
conduct.
f.
If you
want to grow as a Christian, you must develop this quality!
a.
2
Corinthians 13:5 – examine yourself as to whether you are in the faith.
This is something we need to do from time to time.
Think of it as a spiritual audit.
We may not like the word audit, but if we genuinely want to
improve and be right, it is a good thing.
b.
We need to
look at what I call “Spiritual indicators.” – An indicator is a device
that shows you where you are.
Typically, it has some sort of scale so that you can compare that
to what is considered normal or right.
A spiritual indicator is an indicator that helps me see where I am as a
Christian right now. We
need to occasionally step back and take a spiritual inventory. Of
where we are in relation to where we ought to be.
1.
What is my
priority?
2.
How often
do I study the Bible?
3.
Do I pray
as I ought to?
4.
How
important is it to me that I worship properly – both true to God’s word
AND with a proper attitude?
5.
Am I in
control of my words?
6.
How
important is the church and my brethren to me? (We will address this in
2 weeks)
7.
Do I
understand repentance
8.
How much
do I care about others? (We will review this in 3 weeks)
c.
Friends,
if you want to grow as a Christian, these things are imperative in your
life. The life of a
Christian is NOT just lip service or a one-time irrevocable act (i.e.
becoming a Christian).
Therefore, we need the occasional examination.
a.
It has
been said that anything worth doing, is worth doing right.
Typically, that means that anything worth doing takes diligent
effort to accomplish it.
Diligence means to put forth earnest and fervent effort.
b.
As you
read your Bible, it doesn’t take long to learn that Christians are
expected to do their best and to be growing.
We’re not trying to barely get by, but rather to excel.
That is emphasized with many words and passages.
Diligence conveys this idea.
c.
2 Timothy
2:15 - be diligent to
present yourself approved unto God.
You have to work at it!
There are no short cuts to genuine growth.
d.
Ephesians
4:3, in seeking unity tells us to be “endeavoring to keep the unity of
the Spirit in the body of peace.”
True unity takes work.
e.
2
Peter 1:5-10, a must
passage to consider when we talk about growing as a Christian.
Peter lists a number of qualities we are to develop within our faith.
This is not a task to be taken lightly.
With diligence, we add to our faith.
The qualities mentioned are worthy of their own study which time will
not permit. But we are
called upon to add to our faith – virtue (moral excellence, integrity) ,
knowledge (understanding of what we have learned), self-control (see
above), patience (endurance), godliness (see above), brotherly kindness
and love (agape).
Note the result of developing these things –
1.
You will be neither
barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In other words, you will be productive and producing fruit (which
is the goal of maturity).
This includes your understanding of His word.
The word of God is remarkable in that the more we learn and apply
His word, the greater our understanding of it becomes!
2.
If you do these things,
you will never stumble.
The KJV says you will never fall.
The actual word means to misstep and thus trip up.
And the idea is to make a mistake.
I am convinced that IF we perfect each of these qualities, we can
reach a point where we will not sin at all.
But one might say, we all do continue to sin.
And that is TRUE! But
why? Because we have NOT
perfected each of these qualities.
There is always more work to do and thus we continue to struggle.
BUT, we must STRIVE for this perfection in our lives!
3.
For so an entrance will
be supplied into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ –
the ultimate reward of our faithfulness is our home in heaven.
And is than not what it is all about?
Romans 2:7 speaks of the eternal life that awaits those who by
patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor and immortality.
And
thus we can see some qualities that will help us grow as a Christian.
May we have the necessary perspective to notice those areas that
are lacking and the desire to fully realize them in our lives.
And in those matters that we are strong, let us seek to maintain
them and even refine them as necessary.
Don’t let your failure to grow as a Christian keep you from
your eternal reward in heaven.
So
how are you growing as a Christian?