The four most common hindrances for Spiritual Growth.
1. Having not been born again by Barnabas Park
Romans 8:29: For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren;
Beginning today, I would like to share concerning the four most common hindrances for Spiritual Growth, one hindrance at a time. As I share with you this afternoon concerning the four most common hindrances for spiritual growth, I guess we need to define what I mean by spiritual growth. If we talk about physical growth or mental and social growth, no doubt that most of us have very concrete ideas. That's what our parents had been yearning for us many years ago: they fed us, sent school, and encouraged us to be around with good friends and persons so that we might function as we should be in our society. Likewise, our heavenly Father also desires us to grow; that is what spiritual growth is all about.
According to the passage today, it is evident how God wants us to grow. "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren" Romans 8:29
What kind of growth does God want to see us grow? It says, "to become conformed to the image of His Son" In other words, God wants us to become conformed to Christ." Christ is our model for spiritual growth. Then what does it mean to become conformed to Christ? It may not be easy to answer since there seem to be so many attributes in Christ, and people have a different understanding of who he is.
But, then here, this is what God Himself says through Paul's expression: God identifies Jesus Christ as the Son of God. Christ is identified in terms of His relationship with God. Though he has so many attributes, His relationship with God, the Father, is the most outstanding. That being the case, we can safely conclude that being conformed to Christ means growing in our relationship with God as children of God, more than anything else.
Another thing is about the seriousness of "being conformed to the image of Christ." The passage says this is the very reason why God foreknew and predestined us. Being conformed to the image of Christ is more than an option. Moreover, this is even more than an obligation; this is God's design and our destiny. Unfortunately, despite such importance of spiritual growth, we tend to neglect it for so many reasons. I pray that as we study the four most common hindrances for spiritual growth, we all have a strong and urgent desire to grow spiritually and understand more in what is involved in spiritual growth and make concrete decisions to grow spiritually.
The first and most common and so obvious factor that hinders spiritual growth is when you don't have spiritual life. In other words, you can't grow unless you are born again.
There won't be any spiritual growth if you don't have a spiritual life, just as there wouldn't be physical growth without physical life, to begin with. It is an apparent reason, yet the most commonly ignored reason, for the impediment of spiritual growth. Do you know why? As far as physical, social, and mental growth, you have objective measures to observe and determine your growth. But, spiritual growth is not as measurable as other types of growth. You can do all kinds of spiritual activities, for example, attending church meetings, praising, thanking God, praying, offering, fellowship, bible study, even casting out demons, acting like prophets, that is, working as ministers and pastors. But, that doesn't guarantee you are genuine. It's like an artificial flower. Since it has the exact appearance of the real one, it is easy to confuse it with the real one.
Jesus warned that many, not few, would do ministries all their lives under self-deception until one day before Jesus they would be proved to be not a genuine believer.
Matthew 7:21-23 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. 22 "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'"
Jesus said to them, "I never knew you." I am sure that all their life, they might have thought they were Christians when they weren't even once.
Then how do you know if you are a genuine Christian or not? Let's consider the matter of flower again. Whether natural or artificial flowers, they look alike. Does it mean there isn't any intrinsic difference between them? Of course, there is. One grows from a tiny seed, the other without any seed. A natural flower grows because of the seed, which has life and power. Whether you have genuine faith or not also depends on this seed. This seed is the word of God, more specifically, the gospel.
1 Peter 1:23-25 You have been born again, not from a seed that can be destroyed, but through God's everlasting word that can't be destroyed. That's why Scripture says, "All people are like grass, and all their beauty is like a flower of the field. The grass dries up and the flower drops off, but the word of the Lord lasts forever." This word is the Good News that was told to you.
Verse 24 says you have physical life like a flower, but your physical life is temporal because the physical seed is temporal and can be destroyed like a flower. But the seed that gives us spiritual life is everlasting and can't be destroyed. Our new life in Christ is such that it is eternal and everlasting. What is this everlasting word of God? Let's go back to verse 25; it says, “it is the Goon News that was told to you.”
Our spiritual life starts when we accept this word, the Good News: "Jesus died for our sins and resurrected for our righteousness." In other words, the process of becoming conformed to Christ starts with your accepting Jesus as described in the Good News. You have to accept Him as He is presented in the Good News, crucified for our sins. Then God promised, those who did receive Him, He gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His name who were born, not of blood, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:12-13)
Do you realize why some people don't grow even though they perform all kinds of Christian activities? It is because they don't have the seed, the gospel. If you haven't received the crucified Jesus for our sins and resurrected for our righteousness, you are believing and serving different Jesus. You will not grow spiritually, no matter how much you try to follow Him and serve Him. Those who grow spiritually have the proper understanding of who Jesus is as crucified for our sins and resurrected for our righteousness. If you want to grow, you have to accept the seed that gives you life, the gospel, and the person Jesus as presented in the gospel.
