Spiritual Maturity

1. Our Spiritual Maturity –20th
November 2015
“Do your best to present yourselfto Godas one approved,a worker who does notneed to be ashamed
and whocorrectly handlesthe word oftruth”( 2 Timothy 2:15).
Spiritual maturityisaprocessthat beginswhenapersonacceptsJesusChristasSavior.He or she isborn
againof the HolySpiritand thenchoosestolive "inChrist."The Apostle Paul saidthatspiritual growthis
an ongoingprocess. "NotthatI have already obtainedall this,or have already been made perfect, but
I press on to take holdofthat for which ChristJesus took holdofme. Brothers, I do not considermyself
yet to have taken holdof it.But one thingI do: Forgettingwhat is behindandstrainingtoward what is
ahead,I press ontoward the goal to winthe prizefor which Godhascalled me heavenwardin Christ
Jesus" (Philippians3:12-14).In thispassage we can learnthat eventhe Apostle Paul saysthathe had
still notarrived at thatlevel of Spiritual maturity,yethe continuallypressedtowardthe prize. As
Christiansthisiswhatwe shouldseekconsciouslythroughoutourlives…
Therefore,inorderforChristianmaturitytodevelopinourlife, we mustmake achoice to learnGod's
Word, study,meditate and allowGodtorenew ourmind,andthenbe obedienttowhat we learn...We
can learnthisin Romans12: "Therefore, I urge you, brothers,in view of God'smercy,to offer your
bodiesas livingsacrifices,holyandpleasingto God - thisis your spiritual actof worship.Do not
conformany longerto the pattern of thisworld,but be transformedby the renewing ofyour mind.
Then you will be able to test andapprove whatGod'swill is - his good,pleasingandperfect
will"(Romans12:1-2).Withmore knowledge of God’swill,ourmindswill be renewedtoreachspiritual
maturityandthus obtaina deeperunderstandingof Hisperfectwill forus.
One may inquire,whatare the marksof spiritual maturity?Spiritualmaturityislearning of Godswill for
us as Christiansand howto walkinobedience toGod.Itis makingthe choice tolive byGod's viewpoint
rather thanyour humanviewpoint. Galatians5:16 andalso 25 give the key, "SoI say,live by the Spirit,
and youwill not gratifythe desires ofthe sinful nature…Sincewelive by the Spirit,let uskeep in step
with the Spirit." The word "walk"or“live bythe Spirit”as statedin verse 16 is fromthe Greekword
peripateo, whichmeans"towalkwitha purpose inview."The word"walk" or“keepinstep”as inverse
25 is translatedfromanotherGreekword stoicheo andit means"stepbystep,one stepat a time."Itis
learningtowalkunderthe instructionof another.Thatpersonis JesusChristwhocontinuestoteachus
throughthe Holy Spirit.Since believersare indweltbythe Spirit,theyshouldalsowalkunder God’s
requirementsfromusandthus underthe control of the HolySpiritforeverythingisourlives.
How can I learnto walkinthe HolySpirit'scontrol? Simplysteadfastly studyGod'sWord! We can learn
in2 Timothy 2:15 -“Doyour best to present yourselfto Godas one approved,a worker who doesnot
need to be ashamedandwho correctly handlesthe word of truth”. We can learnthat all scripture is
throughGod that equipusfor goodness:“All ScriptureisGod-breathedandisuseful for teaching,
rebuking,correcting andtrainingin righteousness, 17
sothat the servant of God[a]
may be thoroughly
equippedfor every goodwork”(2Timothy 3:16-17). This isPaul’s instructiononhow we become
spirituallymature. AsChristianswe mustknow thatitisnot done by remote,butit isdone by choosing
to applyGod's Word in our everyday livesandwhatevercircumstances itpresents.Aswe walkstep-by-
step,applyingGod'sWordto your life, we willgrow spiritually.
Spiritual maturityshouldbe apriorityfor Christians.We canreadof an impoortatstatementmade by
Paul to the Hebrews: "Anyonewholiveson milk,being still aninfant,is not acquaintedwiththe

2. teachingabout righteousness.But solidfoodisfor the mature, who by constantuse have trained
themselves to distinguishgoodfromevil" (Hebrews5:13-14). Asa believer, we are nottobe milk-fed
all the time like babies.Instead, we are calledto leanonthe "meat"of God's Word. We needtodiscover
God's truth by the study of the Bible andfeedourselves spiritually.Thenapplythatsustenance toour
life aswe walkinthe HolySpirit.
In orderto experience spiritual maturity, we mustalsounderstandthatgrowth inspiritual maturity
comesby grace andit isGod’s Word andthe HolySpiritthatare our resources.We can learnthisis 2
Peter 1:3-9 : "For thisvery reason,make every effort to addto yourfaith goodness;andto goodness,
knowledge;6
and to knowledge,self-control;andto self-control,perseverance;and to perseverance,
godliness;7
andto godliness,mutual affection;andtomutual affection,love. 8
Forif you possessthese
qualitiesinincreasingmeasure, they will keep you from beingineffectiveand unproductiveinyour
knowledgeof our Lord Jesus Christ. 9
But whoever does not have them is nearsightedandblind,
forgettingthat they have been cleansed fromtheir pastsins." We alsoknow these asthe Giftsof the
spirit.
Whenwe commitourselvestoJesusChristbyacceptingHimas ourpersonal saviour,we became achild
of God.We are givenall we need"inChrist"tobecome aspirituallymaturingbeliever.However, the
responsibilityof make thischoice isinourhands!We needtoconsciously applyGod'sprinciples inour
life.Itwill nothappenovernightbutthroughdeepunderstandingtoconsciouslychange tobe a new
entitylivinginsubmissiontoGod’swill. The wonderful thingaboutbeinginsubmissiontoGod's
maturingprocessisthat we will be changed! We needtoconsciouslybe willingtoallow the changes
effectedbythe Holy.Goddoesthe changing!He will conform usto the image of JesusChristas we
humblysurrendertoHisHolySpiritandlearn God’s Word.
We can learnin Hebrews 13: "May the Godof peace, who throughthe bloodof the eternal covenant
broughtback from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherdof the sheep,equip youwith
everything goodfor doinghiswill,andmay he work inus what is pleasingtohim, through Jesus
Christ,to whom be gloryfor ever and ever. Amen"(Hebrews13:20-21),
What causesfightsandquarrelsamongyou?Don’t theycome fromyour desiresthat battle within you?
2
You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel
and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3
When you ask, you do not receive, because
you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. James 4:1-3
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to
be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth”(2 Timothy 2:15)