A Christian has been “born again” (John 3:3,5) and
has received a new life in Christ. “Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).
Everything becomes new as a result – our behaviour, interests, outlooks and
attitudes.
It is important that the new life we have by God’s
power should grow. We begin as babies in God’s family and are meant to grow up
to be spiritual adults. “Grow in grace and knowledge” (2 Peter 3:18).
Birth takes a few minutes. Growth takes a lifetime. We
must grow spiritually if we want to please God, be useful to Him and be happy in
the Christian life.
Being a Christian is in some ways like riding a bicycle
– we either go forward or we end in disaster.
When we are really growing we become increasingly like
the Lord Jesus, and we have a growing love for Him and His people – and indeed
all people. We begin to understand much more about the Christian life and we
want to please and serve the Lord.
But how do we grow? The Lord Jesus Himself is the secret.
He is the vine and we are the branches (John 15:1-5). As we maintain contact
with Him, His life in us increases and we bear fruit. There are several means of
maintaining our contact.
Like a baby we need good food (we need to feed on God’s
Word); fresh air (our prayer life); a good home (the fellowship of other
Christians – be friendly to everyone, but make sure your best friends belong
to the Lord) and exercise (Christian witness and service).
At the same time make sure that you keep away from
anything which is harmful, which may lead you to sin or which causes you to lose
your sense of the Lord’s nearness.
And remember daily to give yourself back to Him, daily
depend on Him, daily keep in touch with Him and daily consult Him about every
step.
The Bible describes the way to grow in other ways as
well. It tells us that we are to know that our old man (the person we used to
be, under God’s condemnation, and the slave of sin) has been, in God’s
purposes, crucified with Christ (Romans 6:6). So we are now to count ourselves
dead to sin – it has no claim on us – and alive to God. As such we are not
to give ourselves to sin to be its instrument, but to give ourselves to God to
live for Him and to do His will (Romans 6:11-13).
Another way of describing how to grow is to say we should crucify (firmly refuse and reject) the flesh (i.e. our sinful nature) and live in the Spirit, keep in step with the Spirit and be filled with the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-25, Ephesians 5:18).
