StriperAddict
Senior Member
This is a needful post on the subject of Maturity and Spiritual Growth by David Moss, FB contributor. Enjoy
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SIGNS OF A MATURING BELIEVER
I have been thinking a lot about this subject lately. How would we give a definition to what a maturing believer looks like? How would we know?
FRUIT INSPECTION- The church’s method:
Many in the church determine maturity in a believer by “fruit inspection”; whereby certain people evaluate another person to see if their lives match up with what THEY think it should look like? And that is usually centered on what the person under inspection is DOING or not doing. What determines that?
Is it determined by how often a person goes to church? Tithes their money? Has their quiet times in the morning? (The earlier the better). Is it determined by how many people a person invites to church or leads people to Christ? How about how often they serve in their church? Or how many Bible verses they memorize?
Many would say that yes, these are ways we can determine how mature a believer is. But is that a good assessment method?
No.
CONSIDER THIS:
Any method that evaluates other people on the basis of what they do is worthless for two reasons:
1. Any lost person can perform a list of do’s and dont’s and “disciplines.”
2. Evaluating others is not Spirit led
ANYTHING A LOST PERSON CAN DO IS CERTAINLY NOT A SIGN OF A MATURING BELIEVER.
Can a lost person go to church every time the doors are opened? Of course!
Can a lost person sing hymns in church? Of course!
Can a lost person invite others to church? Of course!
Can a lost person tell another person about what Jesus did as recorded in the Bible? Yes!
Can a lost person spend time reading their Bible every day, even early in the morning? Certainly!
Can a lost person give 10% of their money to a church? Of course!
**TRUE MATURITY COMES FROM THINGS ONLY THE HOLY SPIRIT CAN ACCOMPLISH WITHIN A PERSON**
It takes the Holy Spirit in a person to be a believer in Christ. So we need to see what the Holy Spirit does within a believer to see growth, and that comes in the realm of the spirit; what a person BELIEVES first and foremost.
Let’s look deeper at this……
THE SPIRIT LIFE
1. ONLY BELIEVERS ARE IN THE SPIRIT
“However, you are not in the flesh but IN the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.”
Romans 8:9
To be maturing in Christ, first and foremost, the Holy Spirit of God must be IN a person. Salvation IS the presence of God in a believer.
2. A MATURING BELIEVER IS LED BY THE SPIRIT
“But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.”
Galatians 5:18
How do you KNOW if you are being led by the indwelling Holy Spirit? The answer is clearly given in Gal 5:18 above- you are not under Law!
Believer, do you live a life trying to obey laws/rules/commandments? Are you attempting to do good and avoid evil? Are you attempting, by your willpower, to restrain the flesh, and the better you do at this the more blessings from God you think you will receive instead of punishments from God?
Then guess what? You are living under law. And if you are living your life this way (most of the Christian world does), then according to Scripture, you are NOT being led by the Spirit!
Trying to grow by doing will never work, because any lost person can conform to a list of do’s and dont’s, which is not being led by the Spirit.
Being led by Spirit means the Spirit gives revelation of truth to be believed and depended upon; truth pointing to Christ and the finished work; truth that transforms lives.
3. A MATURING BELIEVER’S LIFE IS CHARACTERIZED BY LOVE
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience…..
A mature believer isn’t obsessed with doing things FOR God, but is settled in to being WITH God. And the more we just ARE who we are in Him and live by faith in who He is in us, the fruit of the Spirit is more evident.
The only thing that matters is faith expressing itself through love. Gal 5:6.
4. A MATURING BELIEVER HAS A REVELATION THAT CHRIST FULLY DID AWAY WITH SIN AT THE CROSS AND AS A RESULT, GOD NO LONGER COUNTS ANYONE’S SINS AGAINST THEM. (Heb 9:26, 2 Cor 5:19).
The sin issue is over. Jesus Christ put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself once and for all (Heb 9:26).
As a result, God no longer counts mankind’s sins against them (2 Cor 5:19), nor remembers them (Heb 8:12, 10:17).
5. A MATURING BELIEVER HAS A REVELATION THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT CONVICTS A BELIEVER NOT OF SIN (see #4 above) BUT OF OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Contrary to popular belief, the Holy Spirit does NOT convict a believer of sin, He convicts unbelievers of the sin of not believing in Jesus! John 16:8,9!
When a believer sins, we have an Advocate (Jesus) who goes to bat for us. He doesn’t point a finger at us. He protects us, guards us from the accusations of the ENEMY.
The Holy Spirit doesn’t convict a believer of sinning. We already know when we sin. In that moment, we need a reminder that Jesus has already fully dealt with our sins at the cross and has taken them away for all time!
We are righteous and THAT is what the Holy Spirit convicts us of (convinces us of). John 16:10, 14:12,19,20. We need a reminder that we are the righteousness of God in Christ and we wear His robes of righteousness no matter what. 2 Cor 5:21.
6. A MATURING BELIEVER HAS A RENEWED MIND TO TRUTH
The Holy Spirit will lead and guide a believer into truth. John 16:13. That is HIS job. How does He do it? Through the renewing of our mind (metanioa- a revelation of truth). When He does this, you “see” something you hadn’t seen before and think, “Oh wow! I see it now!”
Romans 12:2- “be transformed by the renewing of your mind”
This is the process over time of replacing old mindsets with new mindsets based upon truth the Holy Spirit reveals to us.
**This is a process of seeing people and things the way God sees them in the Spirit realm as opposed to seeing things as they appear in the earthly realm**
7. A MATURING BELIEVER HAS THE HOLY SPIRIT REVEAL THE THINGS THAT GOD HAS FREELY GIVEN TO US
“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God” 1 Cor 2:12.
What things?
“He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us ALL things?”
Romans 8:32
A believer has been given ALL things.
What are the ALL things?
“He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention,…..
the summing up of ALL things IN CHRIST, things in the heavens and things on the earth.”
Ephesians 1:10
The Holy Spirit makes known to us what God’s will is in His kindness to us, that is, He tells us what the ALL things are summed up in ... Jesus Christ. HE is ALL things and in Him, you have Him and He has you, and as He is, so are you in THIS world.
1 Jn 4:17
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**Maturity in Christ comes by Holy Spirit REVELATION rather than by the things you do. A maturing believer trusts in, depends upon, Christ and what He has done rather than you and what you do or don’t do. A maturing believer puts NO confidence in the flesh; instead, puts all confidence in Christ in them**
------------------
SIGNS OF A MATURING BELIEVER
I have been thinking a lot about this subject lately. How would we give a definition to what a maturing believer looks like? How would we know?
FRUIT INSPECTION- The church’s method:
Many in the church determine maturity in a believer by “fruit inspection”; whereby certain people evaluate another person to see if their lives match up with what THEY think it should look like? And that is usually centered on what the person under inspection is DOING or not doing. What determines that?
Is it determined by how often a person goes to church? Tithes their money? Has their quiet times in the morning? (The earlier the better). Is it determined by how many people a person invites to church or leads people to Christ? How about how often they serve in their church? Or how many Bible verses they memorize?
Many would say that yes, these are ways we can determine how mature a believer is. But is that a good assessment method?
No.
CONSIDER THIS:
Any method that evaluates other people on the basis of what they do is worthless for two reasons:
1. Any lost person can perform a list of do’s and dont’s and “disciplines.”
2. Evaluating others is not Spirit led
ANYTHING A LOST PERSON CAN DO IS CERTAINLY NOT A SIGN OF A MATURING BELIEVER.
Can a lost person go to church every time the doors are opened? Of course!
Can a lost person sing hymns in church? Of course!
Can a lost person invite others to church? Of course!
Can a lost person tell another person about what Jesus did as recorded in the Bible? Yes!
Can a lost person spend time reading their Bible every day, even early in the morning? Certainly!
Can a lost person give 10% of their money to a church? Of course!
**TRUE MATURITY COMES FROM THINGS ONLY THE HOLY SPIRIT CAN ACCOMPLISH WITHIN A PERSON**
It takes the Holy Spirit in a person to be a believer in Christ. So we need to see what the Holy Spirit does within a believer to see growth, and that comes in the realm of the spirit; what a person BELIEVES first and foremost.
Let’s look deeper at this……
THE SPIRIT LIFE
1. ONLY BELIEVERS ARE IN THE SPIRIT
“However, you are not in the flesh but IN the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.”
Romans 8:9
To be maturing in Christ, first and foremost, the Holy Spirit of God must be IN a person. Salvation IS the presence of God in a believer.
2. A MATURING BELIEVER IS LED BY THE SPIRIT
“But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.”
Galatians 5:18
How do you KNOW if you are being led by the indwelling Holy Spirit? The answer is clearly given in Gal 5:18 above- you are not under Law!
Believer, do you live a life trying to obey laws/rules/commandments? Are you attempting to do good and avoid evil? Are you attempting, by your willpower, to restrain the flesh, and the better you do at this the more blessings from God you think you will receive instead of punishments from God?
Then guess what? You are living under law. And if you are living your life this way (most of the Christian world does), then according to Scripture, you are NOT being led by the Spirit!
Trying to grow by doing will never work, because any lost person can conform to a list of do’s and dont’s, which is not being led by the Spirit.
Being led by Spirit means the Spirit gives revelation of truth to be believed and depended upon; truth pointing to Christ and the finished work; truth that transforms lives.
3. A MATURING BELIEVER’S LIFE IS CHARACTERIZED BY LOVE
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience…..
A mature believer isn’t obsessed with doing things FOR God, but is settled in to being WITH God. And the more we just ARE who we are in Him and live by faith in who He is in us, the fruit of the Spirit is more evident.
The only thing that matters is faith expressing itself through love. Gal 5:6.
4. A MATURING BELIEVER HAS A REVELATION THAT CHRIST FULLY DID AWAY WITH SIN AT THE CROSS AND AS A RESULT, GOD NO LONGER COUNTS ANYONE’S SINS AGAINST THEM. (Heb 9:26, 2 Cor 5:19).
The sin issue is over. Jesus Christ put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself once and for all (Heb 9:26).
As a result, God no longer counts mankind’s sins against them (2 Cor 5:19), nor remembers them (Heb 8:12, 10:17).
5. A MATURING BELIEVER HAS A REVELATION THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT CONVICTS A BELIEVER NOT OF SIN (see #4 above) BUT OF OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Contrary to popular belief, the Holy Spirit does NOT convict a believer of sin, He convicts unbelievers of the sin of not believing in Jesus! John 16:8,9!
When a believer sins, we have an Advocate (Jesus) who goes to bat for us. He doesn’t point a finger at us. He protects us, guards us from the accusations of the ENEMY.
The Holy Spirit doesn’t convict a believer of sinning. We already know when we sin. In that moment, we need a reminder that Jesus has already fully dealt with our sins at the cross and has taken them away for all time!
We are righteous and THAT is what the Holy Spirit convicts us of (convinces us of). John 16:10, 14:12,19,20. We need a reminder that we are the righteousness of God in Christ and we wear His robes of righteousness no matter what. 2 Cor 5:21.
6. A MATURING BELIEVER HAS A RENEWED MIND TO TRUTH
The Holy Spirit will lead and guide a believer into truth. John 16:13. That is HIS job. How does He do it? Through the renewing of our mind (metanioa- a revelation of truth). When He does this, you “see” something you hadn’t seen before and think, “Oh wow! I see it now!”
Romans 12:2- “be transformed by the renewing of your mind”
This is the process over time of replacing old mindsets with new mindsets based upon truth the Holy Spirit reveals to us.
**This is a process of seeing people and things the way God sees them in the Spirit realm as opposed to seeing things as they appear in the earthly realm**
7. A MATURING BELIEVER HAS THE HOLY SPIRIT REVEAL THE THINGS THAT GOD HAS FREELY GIVEN TO US
“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God” 1 Cor 2:12.
What things?
“He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us ALL things?”
Romans 8:32
A believer has been given ALL things.
What are the ALL things?
“He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention,…..
the summing up of ALL things IN CHRIST, things in the heavens and things on the earth.”
Ephesians 1:10
The Holy Spirit makes known to us what God’s will is in His kindness to us, that is, He tells us what the ALL things are summed up in ... Jesus Christ. HE is ALL things and in Him, you have Him and He has you, and as He is, so are you in THIS world.
1 Jn 4:17
__________________________________
**Maturity in Christ comes by Holy Spirit REVELATION rather than by the things you do. A maturing believer trusts in, depends upon, Christ and what He has done rather than you and what you do or don’t do. A maturing believer puts NO confidence in the flesh; instead, puts all confidence in Christ in them**
