What is Spiritual Maturity? How can I Grow in My Christian Faith?

WHAT IS SPIRITUAL MATURITY? HOW CAN I BECOME MORE SPIRITUALLY MATURE IN MY CHRISTIAN FAITH?

By Ezekiel Kimosop

There is no express biblical definition for spiritual maturity in the Bible but a number of passages of Scripture convey this idea with considerable clarity. 

It is instructive that spiritual maturity is a process rather than an event in the life of a Christian. No believer ever graduates from the school of spiritual growth but there are signs that manifestly affirm that the believer is mature and stable in their faith. 

How do we know that someone is spiritually mature? 

Let us examine some relevant passages of Scripture as our guide to answering this question.

In 2 Timothy 3:15-17 Paul reveals that traditional Jewish religious training had a profound effect on the life of young Timothy and that Scripture is the principal instrument of spiritual instruction. Timothy was Greek but he was raised by two important Jewish women in his life - his mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois.  The two women provided the spiritual foundation from which Timothy grew in spiritual stature before later serving God as a Christian missionary and church minister under apostle Paul. 

In Ephesians 4:1-11, Paul outlines a number ministry gifts and declares that their purpose was to prepare and equip the saints “till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting: (Ephesians 4:13-14, NKJV). 

This is the ideal stature contemplated by Scripture on Christian maturity. It is the capacity to distinguish between right doctrine and error. 

We shall now examine three dimensions of spiritual maturity that we can distil from the passages we have cited and other relevant Scripture passages. 

The first dimension relates to the spiritual stage where the believer is brought into the unity of the faith as a member of God's household of faith. This is where new believers are found. It is the position of initial spiritual consciousness that every child of God experiences in the fellowship of believers - the position of love and affirmation in the Lord. Spirit growth is nurtured under interpersonal relationships and mentorship in a congregational or Christian community setting. The believer is vulnerable at this stage and should be protected from the predatory tentacles of false teachers (see Acts 20:28-31). Paul adjudged the Corinthians as falling into this stage by reason of their schisms. They had not sufficiently matured in the faith (see 1 Corinthians 1:3-4).

The second dispensation is the growth of the believer in his knowledge of Christ and in his intimacy with God as he receives spiritual instruction and exhortation in deeper Christian doctrine.  The believer continues to grow in the discernment of the Person of Jesus Christ and appreciates the purpose of His finished works of the cross. He also learns to walk in obedience to God through the instruction of the word of God and is devoted to Christ by the leading of the Holy Spirit (John 16:13-15). He should be instructed in sound foundational Christian doctrine. The believer is under spiritual supervision at this stage and is unable to instruct other believers independently. He serves under the instruction and direction of a mature believer, Christian elder or pastor. 

One of my seminary professors once stated that there must be a healthy balance between the word and the Spirit. By this he meant that believers should not ignore the word of God at the expense of prayer and other spiritual disciplines because such an imbalance would result in growing "prayer warriors" that have little Scripture knowledge! Conversely, believers should not neglect their spiritual devotion, meditation and prayer at expense of other exigencies of life. A healthy spiritual balance builds our intimacy with God and grows our knowledge of Christ and our capacity to serve. 

Spiritual maturity can therefore be considered as work in progress under an effective discipleship program in the hands of mature believers and spiritual instructors. Apollos was a beneficiary of this process. He was instructed in the way of Christ by a faithful Jewish couple, Priscilla and Aquila, and went on to serve God as a Christian missionary (Acts 18:24-28).

Sadly, poor discipleship accounts for some of the heretical teachings that are are increasingly identified in some Christian communities today. A heretic is a teacher who teaches error and rejects legitimate biblical correction for it when offered to them in love. Heretics mutate into apostates as they draw further and further away from the fundamental truths of God's word. (cf. 1 Timothy 1:20; 2 Timothy 2:16-18). 

Faithful teachers are those who handle Biblical truth with godly fear and are careful to raise other leaders of their kind. Paul exhorted Timothy to commit the word of God to faithful men who shall be able teach others (2 Timothy 2:2). These are mature believers who went through the spiritual cycle under our discussion. 

The third dimension or stage of Christian maturity can be wrapped up through a description of the end process. The mature believer grows to a measure of stature that manifests his fruitfulness in Christ. He demonstrates the fruit of Christian maturity through his spiritual integrity, humility and faithful service (Galatians 5:22). He displays firmness, confidence, consistency and courage in his moral convictions. His knowledge of Christ is firmly anchored in his worldview so that he is no longer tossed about by all manner of doctrines and teachings that contradict Scripture (cf. Psalm 119:10-11,105; Ephesians 4:14). He is accountable and able to teach others (see 1 Timothy 3:1-7). The believer is sufficiently mature at this stage such that he is able to teach and mentor others without direct supervision. He can be assigned ministry duties in line with his gifting. 

One of the telltale signs of spiritual immaturity in a believer is the “nomadic culture" where the believer goes about seeking a “new experience" or "new  revelation” rather than faithfully sticking with a Bible believing Christian community. Some of these "nomads" eventually fall into the hands of apostate sects and cults  that teach heresy. 

The word of God is central to Christian maturity. 2 Timothy 2:15, says “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (NKJV). How should we interpret this text? While some would legitimately identify this verse with formal biblical instruction for Christian leaders in the context of seminary training, my view is that the text is not exclusively tied to this context.  Seminary training is a highly valued contribution to the theological development of a Bible teacher. Paul himself was a trained theologian, a Pharisee who was raised under Gamaliel, the revered first century Judaism scholar (see Acts 22:3). My view is that the text affirms that a diligent and skillful interpretation of Scripture authoritatively conveys the mind of God to the preacher's audience with clarity and enhances his ministry capacity and builds his congregation in the way of Christ (cf. 1 Thess. 2:4). 

Paul's exhortation to Timothy therefore speaks to every believer who desires to grow in the knowledge of Christ through the study of Scripture. We must learn to "wrestle" with the word of God so that we continually discover the mystery of God’s revelation in the written Scriptures and grow in the knowledge of Christ.

CONCLUSION 

Spiritual maturity does not merely arise from the study of the word of God alone. A believer must embrace all the spiritual disciplines that the Bible outlines for us. These include obedience to the Great Commission in witnessing for Christ (Matthew 28:19-20), Prayer (Matthew 6:9-15; I Thessalonians 5:17), Christian fellowship (Hebrews 10:25) and Christian service. We should avail ourselves to God as vessels of honor so that our Master can use us in His service and for His glory (2 Timothy 2:20-21). 

As one grows in the knowledge of Christ, they learn to endure Christian suffering and reject worldliness and all its sinful allures (James 1:2-4, 13-15). They also submit to Christian contentment and moderation and discover that God is the ultimate owner of all the resources and skills at their disposal. Spiritual maturity is therefore a process that ultimately draws us closer to Christ and increases our capacity to discern the will of God for our lives so that we are better able to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3). It builds us in the most holy faith (Jude 1:20) and shields us from the vagaries of heresy and apostasy. 

No believer outgrows the Christian maturity process no matter how long they have walked in the faith. It is an incremental lifelong process that ends either on death or at the coming of Christ, whichever be the earlier. The Bible says in 1 John 3:2 "Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is" (NKJV). 

Shalom

© Ezekiel Kimosop 2022