Christian Maturity

Christian Maturity

INTRODUCTION

Christendom is full of people who call themselves Christians, yet they fail to manifest the presence of Jesus Christ in their lives. Oh, by the standards of the world they may live disciplined lives, and they are what most folk would call good people, but they don’t measure up to what the bible describes as a true Christian. There is a vast gulf, which exists between those who have a head knowledge about Jesus and those whose hearts are filled with the spirit of Jesus. Does this mean that those who only know about Jesus are not saved? God is the only one who knows that! What we do know is that it would be a very foolish person who thinks that they are a Christian because of some ritual they performed or because of being the member of a church.

Jesus said that if we are in Him then we will obey His commands, and He also said that He has come so that we might have life and have it more abundantly. If you have Jesus then you obey Him and you have a life that is truly a joy to live. If you are in Christ then you have everything a soul can possibly want and thus there is absolutely no reason for a person not to manifest the joy of the Lord. Yet, you ask a so called Christian: "how do you feel?" and they say: "ok." You ask a Christian; "how was your day?" and they say: "ok." You stand off to the side and watch a Christian and what do you see? You see frustration, anger, worry, anxiety, sickness, emotional disorder, mental disorder, and a long face. Now I ask you: "why do you see these things in Christians?" It is because they are so much a part of this world, and so disobedient, that the world can shake the joy of the Lord right out of them.

DO NOT BE A PART OF THAT WHICH CAN BE SHAKEN

The author of Hebrews writes: See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens." The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken-- that is, created things-- so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our "God is a consuming fire." (NIV) Hebrews 12:25-29

If the things of this world can shake you then you are in a poor condition to be calling yourself a Christian. Now don’t run off and get mad! Yes God still loves you and yes other Christians still love you; but you got some things that need working out. To start with, because you are a born again Christian you should not be a part of this world. If you are not of this world then this world cannot shake you. You should be a part of the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God cannot be shaken and thus you should not be able to be shaken. Perhaps the reason you can be shaken by the world is because you still have one foot in this world … most of us do. Things like a career, a spouse, your physical body, your emotions, and your mind are all examples of chains, which can bind us to this world. You will never be able to break these chains until you have died to yourself and then been reborn into the spirit of Jesus. I don’t know about you but I have to remind myself of this over and over again. As long as we are bound to this world by the chains of human reason the kingdom of God cannot dominate our heart … it can only run around in our head. As long as we primarily have head knowledge of Jesus we will not be strong enough to resist being shaken by the things of this world.

There are two major reasons that Christians remain bound to the physical world more than the spiritual realm of God. The first reason is because they are so in love with the physical world that they cannot let go of it. Such people can only believe in what their five senses detect, and thus they can only react to the vanity of the physical realm. Jesus taught that true Christians are those who have come to the place where they hate the physical world and all that is in it, and therefore have been transformed into the spiritual. The second major reason why people only have a head knowledge of Jesus is because their heart has not been purged of all sin. Paul and James expounded on Jesus’ teachings about how our minds are the real battleground on which we fight Satan. Sin that is manifested by physical action is the result of a mind, which has been given over to the influence of Satan. A mind, which has been given over to Satan, is the resultant of lost spiritual battles. Immature Christians, win the majority of their physical battles, and many of their mental battles, but they have lost way too many of their spiritual battles. This defeat is manifested by their willingness to tolerate "little" sins in their life. Our love of what we know is real, combined with our unwillingness to fight Satan on all levels, binds us to this physical world and keeps us from becoming partners with Christ.