Nurture of your own faith
This page provides ideas for Christian growth, sanctification, and maturing in Christ.
2 Peter 3:18 says "grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ," so the first section below is about "grace," then the second section is about "knowledge."
Growing in Grace.
In the Bible, the word "grace" is sometimes used to express God's attitude
toward us, and in other places to refer to the strength God gives to us.
The word "faith" refers to our side of the transaction: "faith" is the term for
the open vessel that receives God's grace. Therefore growing in grace also
involves
growing in faith. More on faith.
We become Christians in the first place by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). Titus 1:11 says "The grace of God has appeared for the salvation of all men." The One who appeared is Jesus Christ. Likewise, our growth also happens because of grace and faith. The Titus passage continues by referring to growth: "teaching us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires, and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age."
The term "justification" (declared just) is associated with becoming a Christian: "therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 5:1) The term "sanctification" (being holy) is associated with the growth that commences at the moment of justification. The terms have different definitions, but where you have one, you have the other. Justification means that God "pronounces" you to be just. Sanctification means that God brings you to lead a life that is more and more according to His will. (1 Thessalonians 4:3). Justification and sanctification are both God's gifts to you, and are both received by faith, which is also God's gift to you. (Note that some Bible verses use the word "sanctification" to refer to God declaring you holy; see the more detailed notes at the very bottom of this page).
Sanctification is based on justification. In practical terms, this means that when we have a moral failure, we don't say, "what must I do so God will accept me again," but rather, "since I know God has accepted me because of Jesus' death, I know He forgives me, and I trust Him to work in me to overcome this behavior problem."
Just as "we love, because He first loved us," we can only hope to "grow in grace" because God first treats us with grace. Grace refers to God's loving action toward us, as stated in this acronym: "God's riches at Christ's expense."
The goal of growth is not to become "more saved." When you have Jesus, you are already completely "saved." Growth enables us to become all that God wants us to become in this present age. Growth enables us to experience the benefits that are ours in Christ. For example, God has promised that He will give us a way out when we are tempted (12 Corinthians 10:13). Without growth, we would not know this promise, and so we would be unnecessarily burdened. God has an ultimate plan for us as we grow, stated in Romans 8:29: to become more like Christ.
Its not that a young Christian needs to rely on Jesus a lot, and a mature Christian needs to rely less. Its just the opposite. The more you grow, the more you realize your need for Christ. Its not that a young Christian sins a lot, and a mature Christian sins less. Although outward sins may be controlled, the more a Christian grows, the more that Christian is aware of the sin nature and the need for forgiveness.
Growth can also be explained as an expression of your "new life." You have a new life because you are united with Christ by faith and baptism. Your new life automatically, by its very nature, wants to acts according to God's will. When you notice that you are disobeying God's will, you have caught your "old life" in action: your response is to repent. This relying on God for forgiveness strengthens your new life. Our goal is not that you live for God by resigned determination, but that your new life takes over so you serve with joy. The new life cannot help but show in concrete ways that Christ is the Lord, in charge of your life.
Growth in grace and faith does not require you to change
to a more "spiritual" situation in life, but rather means that your faith
deepens and you become more dependent upon God right in the situation that you
are in, believing that He has placed you there. Rather than saying that our work
or position in life prevents us from spiritual growth, we assume that God will
use our situation to contribute toward our growth. This notion requires a lot of
faith if we are in a position that does not seem spiritual, like "washing
dishes" or "breaking rocks," but God is everywhere and every legal vocation is
needed by society and a vessel for God to work in you and God to bless others
through you. More on how to treat others
(ethics).. Growth comes in serving others. Your faith is seen to be real and practical
when it motivates you to love. Growth comes in praying for strength to set aside
your own pleasures in order to use that time for others. Growth comes when
meeting the unforeseen causes you to lean on God.
One's growth in grace and faith often is associated with going through
difficulties. It is in difficulties that we discover our limitations, and have
no choice but to throw ourselves (by faith) upon the grace of God. It is in difficulties
that we discover the truth of the verse, "my grace is sufficient for you." Of
course, at the moment of the difficulty we are least likely to think that good
can come from it, but we can hold to the promise "all things work together for
good." Growth in trust through difficulties happened to the apostle Paul:
he describes the experience in 2 Corinthians 1:8-9.
Growth also comes from self-analysis. For example, as I pondered why I had difficulty with the clear command, "forgive one another, just as God has forgiven you," I discovered that my weakness in controlling anger was due to not trusting certain promises of God. I grew by repenting of this lack of trust, and by bringing the needed promises to mind. See Bible study on Anger.
Growth comes in nurturing others. When others tell you their problems, you are forced to look to God's Word for ways to comfort them. Like teaching any subject, you learn more by teaching it; those who have taught Sunday School have experienced this truth.
Growth comes in sharing the message of Christ with others. First, there is the fear that arises at the thought of talking to person who may be hostile or reject you. Turning to god to overcome this fear leads to growth. Putting the basics of your faith into understandable terms leads to growth. Researching the objections to the faith that arise in conversation leads to growth.
Growth happens as we live "by faith" day by day. Living by faith is the opposite of living by sight, and the opposite of living by works. Living by faith means "standing on the promises of God," even when you cannot see whether or not the promises are coming true. Living by faith is just one aspect implied by the verse, "As you have received Christ, so live in him." (Colossians 2:This verse shows that the day by day life of a Christian is a constant use of those truth that made you a Christian in the first place: saved by faith, lived by faith; saved by the Holy Spirit, live by the Holy Spirit; saved when you repented, live a life of repenting. The verse continues: rooted and built up in Him (Christ); Growth happens as we see the other things we tend to root ourselves in, and then turn away from them.
All the growth situations outlined above are intertwined with prayer, as Paul writes in speaking of the armor of God, "do all this in prayer." More on prayer.
Growth in grace happens as you regularly subject yourself to God's "means" of grace (that is, the "delivery system"). These "means" are "Word" and "Sacrament." The section on "word" is found below. The sacrament at the beginning of the Christian life is baptism, and baptism has ongoing relevance for your daily Christian life. The sacrament for continuing growth and nurture in the Christian life is Holy Communion. God has provided the church so you have regular access to these "means," and for the mutual encouragement of God's people.
All the growth in the examples above occur as God's gift to you. Your Christian growth is God's gift to you, just as your becoming a Christian was God's gift to you. Consider Philippians 2:4 "God is at work in you, both to will and to do after his good pleasure." The motivating energy behind your desire to grow is the gospel. The gospel is not only something that non-believers need to hear, not only the gospel "by which you were saved" (1 Corinthians 15:2), but it also is the message that brings sustaining power into the daily lives of Christians. Consider Romans 1:16 "The gospel is the power of God to all who believe." That message about God's love, reaching its climactic moment with Christ on the cross, reassures us every day that we are safe in God's loving care. And not only the cross -- also the resurrection, as in 1 Peter 1:3 "born again into a living hope through the resurrection of Christ from the dead." Christ who lives "to make intercession for you" is also living in your heart (Colossians 1:27). He, the light of the world, is alive in you, and that is why you can "let your light shine before men, so that in seeing your good works they will give praise to the father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16). Christ promised to send the Holy Spirit, and it is that Spirit who not only brought you originally to say "Jesus is Lord," (1 Corinthians 12:3), but the one who produces the "fruit of the Spirit," (Galatians 5:22), like love, joy, peace, and the rest. To be able to live in daily awareness of these promises, God has given us His Word, and so the following section provides helps for reading God's Word.
Growing in Knowledge.
Here I include Bible study suggestions.
(Elsewhere on this website, you can find:
Development of
denominations
Current trends in religious thought
Self-study outlines for key Bible topics
A study
on the value of regular Bible reading)
The link Simple Introduction to
the Bible introduces the main Bible concepts, plus:
A one page
summary of Bible history
An
illustration showing
the way the Bible is organized
Reading for Faith
Because Romans 1:16 says that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation, I
have wondered how to relate my daily Bible reading to the gospel. The way I now
use is to ask myself "what is God telling me to do through the verses I
have read today?" There may be many answers, but I usually select one for the
next step. I ask myself, "what is there about me that keeps me from living like
this all the time?" This gives me insights into my sin nature. That probably
sounds unappealing, but my point is that new insights into my sin nature give me
a fresh appreciation of the forgiveness that I have in Christ. I then
begin to pray, first repenting of this shortcoming, then thanking God for my
forgiveness, and then asking Jesus to change me in this aspect of my life.
Looking for key concepts
That "relating to the gospel" comes after I have used the other ways to read
that are commonly recommended. I do ask myself "what did it mean then" and "what
does it mean for me now?" I do ask myself how the section fits in to the
entire scope of biblical history. I do look for commands and promises. In
reading God's word, I also hope that my way of thinking will be affected by
God's way of thinking.
About memorizing verses.
We are grateful for the verses we were assigned to memorize when we were in
grade school. We have memorized many more since then, usually because we needed
to use them over and over again to encourage others. We helped out children
memorize verses and their locations through a
Scripture Card Game.
Reading plans
Many plans for reading through the Bible in a year have been published. The one
we have used is in the book The Divine mentor (see
www.lifejounrnal.cc) In this plan you
read from both he Old and New Testament each day, and you read from the prophets
while you are reading about the time that they lived.
One can also read the Bible in smaller segments, without the goal of finishing within a year. Like us, you can use many different reading plans in the course of your lifetime. For many years, I used the approach each day of first reading a Psalm, then one Old Testament chapter, then one New Testament chapter. There have also been times in my life when I have spent weeks just reading and re-reading a single book, often from a different translation each time.
Reference books
For personal growth in understanding the Bible, a study Bible is very useful.
Besides the notes on individual verses, it is also worthwhile to read the
introduction to each book. Familiarize yourself with the helps at the back of
the book. There may be helpful background essays. All these advantages can also
be found online as well. A site like
www.biblegateway.com includes links to a number of reference works.
Your study Bible may have a concordance, that is, an alphabetical list of important Biblical words, telling you which verses each word is found in. (If your Bible doesn't include a concordance, you can buy one separately, for example at www.Bibles.com.) If you go online at www.biblegateway.com, you obtain the same advantage by typing in a key word: all the verses that contain that key word can appear. You can gain a lot by doing word studies using a concordance. For example, look at all the verses that contain the word "forgive," or "pride." You can go s step forward and arrange what you have found in categories suitable or group Bible study material. See examples of studies based on word searches.
Principles of Interpretation
The technical term for this subject is called "hermeneutics." Some of the
well-accepted principles are:
1.
Take note of context: how does the verse fit in to the larger point being made.
2.
Note placement in history. For example, Old Testament ceremonial laws ended with
the coming of Christ.
3.
Take note of literature type. for example, "the mountains skipped like rams" is
a poetic figure of speech.
4.
Don't create a doctrine from one verse: first, find everything that the Bible
says about the subject.
Notable Book:
What Does This Mean? Principles of Biblical Interpretation in the Postmodern World by James Voelz (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House 1997). To the ideas above, adds that one must watch for "non-verbal signifiers" and "determining presuppostions" -- that is, some things are not written about because they were already known to the readers.
More on Sanctification.
The term "sanctification" means "make holy." The term "holy" means "set apart,"
so when referring to believers it means that God sets you apart, for Him, away
from impurity.
As stated above, the Bible sometimes uses these terms to refer to God's declaration about you, and sometimes about the ongoing growth in your behavior. One way to categorize these ways is to list the verses that use the Greek words involved. Those are the Greek words that start with the letters "hagio -."
Here are the verses using "hagio-" words I found that clearly refer to God declaring you holy, irrespective of the amount of purity of your behavior: John 10:36, John 17:7, 1 Cor 1:30, 1 Cor 6:11, Eph 1:4, Col 1:22, 2 Thess 2:13, Titus 3:5, Hebrews 2:11, Hebrews 10:10, 14, and 29, and Hebrews 13:10. For more details, see the issue 5, Sanctification, in the Good News Series, published by Concordia Mission Society P.O. Box 8555, St. Louis, MO 63126, USA. Executive Editor: Wallace Schulz. Phone: 1-800-778-1132, E-mail: info@good-news.net.
Because they are declared holy, the New Testament calls all believers "holy ones," customarily translated as "saints." Many other verses use the word "holy" when describing believers, such as the phrase "holy brothers." In 1 Cor 6:19, Paul says that believers are a holy temple, and uses this as a basis for telling them that this status should be reflected in their behavior.
Here are the verses I found that use those Greek words
starting with "hagio -" that give us insights into our growth in Christian
behavior:
Submit your members to righteousness,
leading to sanctification. Rom 6:19
Being set free from sin, you receive the fruit of sanctification. Rom 6:22
Abstaining from immorality is part of God's will for your sanctification. 1
Thess 4:3 and 7.
Paul commends charity and holiness in behavior. 1 Tim 2:15.
Paul prays that God would sanctify you wholly. 1 Thess 5:23.
A believer sanctifies himself for use. 2 Tim 2:21
Like the sanctifying done by the OT sacrifices, the blood of Jesus purifies us
to serve. Heb 9:13
How to be holy in body and spirit. 1 Cor 7:34
growing into a holy temple. Eph 5:27
no immorality, as suitable for saints. Eph 5:3
Be holy in your behavior. I Peter 1:15, 16
Live lives of holiness and godliness. 2 Peter 3:11
He who is holy, let him be holy still. Rev 22:11
God disciplines us so we share his holiness. Heb 12:10
Perfecting holiness in the fear of God. 2 Cor 7:1.
Increase and abound, to appear in holiness before Him. 2 Tim 1:14
Since this web page is about Christian growth, my use of the word "sanctification" on this page refers to the second set of verses, the concept of behavior change. This change is based on the fact that God has "declared" us righteous (justified), and "declared" us holy in his sight (the first use of the word "sanctified.")
Here are verses using "hagio-" that I was not sure how to categorize: John 10:19, Rom 12:1, Eph 5:26, 1 Cor 7:14, Heb 12:14, 1 Peter 1:2.
Other uses of Greek words based on "hagio-" include descriptions of God as holy, the Holy Spirit, holy angels, and descriptions of objects as holy (like the holy city, holy commandments).
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