“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (New International Version, Eph. 4.11-13)
Here in Ephesians 4, Paul is teaching the Christians in Ephesus the importance of becoming spiritually mature in Christ. Sadly today, maturity is seldomly viewed as something that is only obtained with longevity in one’s walk with Christ. Unlike the human body, maturity in the body of Christ does not happen by just going through the motions: It is given only through obedience to God and observance of His scriptures. In the Bible, God outlines how we can begin maturing as early as day one of being a Christian (Acts. 9.20)! In this article we are going to examine three ways in which we can do so.
Three Ways to Become a Mature Christian:
1. Know The First Principles
“We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And God permitting, we will do so” (Heb. 5.11-6.3)
In Hebrews 5, the writer warns his audience with a concerned heart about their lack of spiritual maturity. In verse twelve he equates spiritual maturity with being teachers of the word but shares how these disciples should have been teachers. However, they still needed someone to teach them “the elementary truths of God’s word all over again”. He further illustrates his point by telling them all they can handle was “spiritual milk” not “spiritual solid food” as solid food is only for the mature. However, in Hebrews 6, he challenges them to, “…move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity”. The American Standard Version refers to these teachings as “the first principles of Christ”.
If someone is a mature Christian, knowing and teaching the “First Principles” will be a clear characteristic in their life. However, just as the Bible does not teach, “once saved always saved”, we are not, “once mature, always mature”. In Christ, maturity has nothing to do with age, level of leadership or longevity but spirituality! Take King Saul for example. In 1 Samuel 10, Saul becomes Israel’s first king and proceeds to do many great things in the following chapter. But just five chapters later, King Saul makes a few terrible decisions and God rejects him as king!
Knowing that maturity is not based on longevity or age, the question must be asked to “older” and “younger” Christians alike; can you teach with confidence the First Principles of God’s word? Do you know how to make disciples? Are you prepared to answer questions to defend the faith” (1 Pt. 3.15)?
As a congregation, we recently finished our annual First Principles Class where we met every Wednesday, for the past two months, learning how to make disciples effectively. By God’s grace, the Lord added twelve disciples to our number through baptisms during that time. However, it is important to consider that much of that fruit was from the Bible Talk leaders and interns. Imagine how much more fruit the Lord will give us in Denver when every single member knows and teaches the First Principles of God’s word with much expertise!
Here’s the encouraging thing: God knows we are not perfect. We are going to mess up and that’s okay! Learning from our mistakes helps us grow increasingly. We as disciples must make a decision to make progress every day. Start with these three decisions: First, make a decision to share your faith daily. Second, as you set up studies, seek training on how to be more effective. Lastly, make a goal to lead a “more challenging study” than you have ever led by the end of the calendar year!
When the Denver Church collectively pursues learning and mastering the First Principles of Christianity, we will begin to see God grow the church far beyond what we can imagine!
2. Practice Biblical Discipleship
“He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me” (Col. 1.28-29).
As Paul writes to the Colossian disciples, he tells them, “He is the one we proclaim”. By using the pronoun “we” (first person plural) he was referring to himself and all of the disciples who would have read his letter! Therefore, it is the job of every disciple to proclaim, admonish, and teach with a goal to present everyone fully mature in Christ!
Biblical discipleship is God’s plan to mature us to become like Him. We see this clearly in Matthew 29:19 and Galatians 4:19. He desires to have other disciples in our lives training us to become more godly. Then as we mature, we have other disciples in our lives whom we are training to imitate us. As Paul says in Romans 15:14, “I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another”. You see, we are all expected to be taught and learn to teach others.
As you can see, biblical discipleship is another characteristic of a mature Christian. Here are four challenges to help you grow in this area: (1) Trust that God has not made a mistake, but put the perfect individual in your life to help mature you to the next level in Christ; (2) Chose to give your heart to that individual and build a deep Christ-like relationship (Jn. 13.34-35); (3) If you are discipling someone, chose to make every effort to produce Christ in them (Gal. 4.19); (4) If you are not discipling anyone at the moment, pray God opens the door for that to happen soon. When you take on these challenges, God will surely help you mature greatly in your walk with Christ!
3. Learn To Persevere
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (Jas. 1.2-4).
Here we see our last practical for being a mature Christian, which is learning to persevere! James, the half brother of our Lord, challenges us to “consider it pure joy” when we go through hard times! What a challenge indeed! How do we know if we consider a trial “pure joy”? First, we are not going to complain about it but have a faith-filled, fired-up attitude (Phil. 2.14-16). Second, we see the sovereignty of God working through this situation and have a surrender knowing that God has allowed or made this trail happen for our spiritual growth (Heb. 12.7-11). At times we may wonder why God allows us to go through the same trails continuously. The answer is simple; we have not yet gone through the trials with pure joy.
When we learn to have pure joy during trials, we will understand that the testing of our faith produces perseverance. And once we learn to persevere, we will be “mature and complete, not lacking anything”!
As a congregation, we must fight to mature each and every day! In order to accomplish this, we must implement the following: (1) Grow everyday in our knowledge of the first principles of Christ; (2) Persevere in every relationship in God’s kingdom, including discipling relationships; (3) Joyfully persevere to the very end of your walk with God- never give up!
Family, let’s take these principles and strive to become the spiritually mature disciples that God called us to be!
And to God be the glory,
Jason T. Woody
Evangelist
