Tag: growth

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The Fourth Mark of a True Disciple of Jesus Christ (continued)

True disciples grow

True Disciples Grow because They Fight against Sin

Continued from the last post on why true disciples grow

4. A true disciple fights daily against sin.

True disciples are not complacent or apathetic about their sins. They are not perfect or sinless, but they are never okay with sinning. They confess it sincerely to God and determine to turn away from it in the future.

False Christians, on the other hand, say they believe in Jesus, but they have accepted certain sins in their lives and have no intention of repenting. They still love certain sins and still love the world.

Galatians 5:16–25 describes the struggle that true disciples wage against sin:

“I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”

Application: If you look at your life and see no transformation happening, then you need to ask yourself: Am I content with sin? Am I resisting it, and not just the grosser sins but worldliness of any kind? As Scripture says, “Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.” (2 Corinthians 7:1, ESV).

5. A true disciple regularly beholds the Lord through worship.

The apostle Paul wrote, “We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” 2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV)

Paul is not describing a literal vision of the Lord, but rather our thoughts about his ways and works. Paul says thinking true thoughts about God transforms us into his image.

And so, for example, thinking about the love of God as revealed at the cross of Jesus makes us more loving. Thinking about the patience of God as revealed in his forbearance with Israel over many centuries makes us more patient.

This is why attending church and worshiping God changes your life (if you do not harden your heart). This is why reading the Bible meditatively transforms you, for nothing reveals more about God than his Scriptures.

Application: If you look at your life and see no transformation happening, then you need to ask yourself: am I conducting a regular devotional life of worship, thanksgiving, prayer and communion with the Lord?

6. True disciples intentionally lean into growth.

They work on their faith. They read the Bible and other books. They use a spiritual journal. They are disciplined about having a daily devotional time with God and weekly church involvement. They discuss their spiritual lives with other Christians. They have spiritual goals. Disciples have discipline.

The apostle Peter wrote, “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, {6} and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, {7} and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. {8} For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. {9} For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. {10} Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. {11} For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:5–11, ESV)

Application: If you look at your life and see no transformation happening, then you need to ask yourself: Am I making every effort to grow in godliness? Do I work as hard at growing spiritually as I do on my job?

Continued next time

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The Fourth Mark of a True Disciple of Jesus

True disciples grow

True Disciples Grow

True disciples grow. True disciples bear the fruit of changed lives. They are becoming more like Jesus every year.

For true disciples this is inevitable. It begins immediately upon their repentance toward God and their faith in Christ, and it continues until their last day on the earth.

There are at least eight reasons for the certainty of growth in Christlikeness for his true disciples. Let’s look at just three today.

1. True disciples have the Holy Spirit living within

True disciples are actually united with the third member of the Trinity, with God himself. That will change you! This is not just you trying to make some resolutions and be a better person. This is not just you trying harder. This is not just you on a good day. This is almighty God, the Holy One giving you the thoughts, desires, motivations, feelings, understanding, and wisdom to live a good and godly life.

Therefore, you can do this, not because you can do this but because God is more than able to help you grow and overcome sin and take on the beautiful character and ways of Jesus Christ.

Galatians 5:22–23 says, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”

Romans 8:13–14 says, “If you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”

Application: So, if you look at your life and see no transformation happening, then you should ask yourself: Am I walking in the Holy Spirit and seeking his guidance in my life, as is normal behavior for a true disciple? 

A true disciple tries to walk in the Holy Spirit. A true disciple follows the leading of the Holy Spirit. A true disciple intentionally conforms to the character of the Holy Spirit as revealed in Galatians 5:22–23.

2. A true disciple has Jesus Christ living within

Scripture says that not only do you have the third member of the Trinity living within you and united with your human spirit, but you also have the second member of the Trinity living within you. That of course is Jesus Christ. You can be like Jesus in character because you have Jesus himself living in and through you! You’re not thinking this stuff up. You’re not trying to imagine what a Christian lives like. You actually have Jesus living his life through you.

That’s why growth in Christlikeness is inevitable for a true disciple of Jesus.

The apostle Paul wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20 (ESV)

2 Corinthians 13:5 says, “Do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?”

Application: If you look at your life and see no transformation happening, then you need to ask yourself: Am I trusting in Jesus day by day? Am I trusting in him to live in me? Am I walking by faith? Am I through prayer carrying on my relationship with Jesus throughout the day? Have I died to sin and my flesh and this world, and am I alive instead to Jesus?

3. True disciples die to themselves and their sinful natures daily and renew their minds according to the Word of God

Romans 12:1–2 says, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Here we see two of the powerful elements at work in the life of a changed person. All who choose deliberately to die to self and sin, will in union with Jesus in his death on the cross experience enormous change in their lives. In Romans 12:1–2 this is called presenting yourself to God as “a living sacrifice.” That is, you choose to die. You choose to say no to temptation and sinful habits and selfish desires and worldly ways. It is as simple and powerful as that: No!

Galatians 5:24 says, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

What gives you the power to do that is your union with Jesus in his death on the cross. Therefore, once again it is not just you trying to say no to something in the natural, but it is the power of the cross of Jesus mediated in your life by the power of the Holy Spirit; so that when you say no, your no has supernatural authority!

Moreover, compound that with the Word of God renewing your mind according to eternal truth and reality. We cannot fully grasp the power of God’s Word to change our mind, heart, and spirit.

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)

This again is a divine power at work in those who are true disciples. It is at work because true disciples are abiding in the Words of God, as Jesus said in John 8:31: “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples.”

Application: If you look at your life and see no transformation happening, then you need to ask yourself: Am I deliberately and consciously dying to my sinful nature every day? Or am I letting my sinful nature rule my life? Am I deliberately renewing my mind through daily attention to Scripture, to think God-pleasing thoughts, or am I thinking in a worldly manner?

Continued next time

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The Necessity of Fruitfulness

If we fail to bear fruit, are we truly Christians?

necessity of fruitfulness

The Bible says many things to comfort and assure us of our acceptance with God. The Bible also says many things that emphasize the conditional nature of our relationship with him. These Scriptures warn us we need to do certain things or repent of certain sins to have a relationship with God.

All these verses in the Bible are true, and we need to hold on to both the assurances and the warnings. They do harmonize. But most people will focus on one or the other. Some people focus on the verses of assurance and rarely think about where they fall short of God’s will. Others focus on the warnings, and they lack confidence in God’s love for them and acceptance of them through Jesus Christ.

We need to maintain both sides of the equation.

In this post we will consider an important warning.

Warnings from Jesus

You may have noticed that Jesus gives many warnings. It seems to me he gives more warnings than assurances. That suggests that we need them. Here is one of his warnings given in the form of a parable:

“A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’” (Luke 13:6–9 ESV)

The unmistakable point of this short parable is that farmers require fruit from their trees. Farmers are in business. They do not farm for recreation or entertainment; they need to make a profit. So, they maximize the use of the ground, planting as many fruit-bearing trees as their land will allow. They cut down barren trees and replace them with trees that they hope will bear much fruit.

What fruit does God look for?

So, what spiritual point is Jesus making?

The context of this parable is important. In the preceding verse, Luke 13:5, Jesus said, “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

So, the fruit God looks for in us is repentance. God seeks increasing Christlikeness and decreasing worldliness, more fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23) and less works of the flesh (Galatians 5:16–21).

What about the barren?

What is striking about this parable is the readiness of the farmer to cut down the barren tree. There is no sentimentality. He has given the tree three years, and that is enough time for fruitfulness to begin.

Yet, surely Jesus is not saying our merciful God removes people who regard themselves as Christians yet fail to repent, grow, and show the fruit of walking with Jesus Christ. Surely Jesus is not saying our gracious God is this businesslike in his evaluation of supposed believers.

Does God really remove barren believers? Other Scriptures explicitly say yes. Jesus elsewhere said, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” (John 15:1–2 ESV)

Hebrews 6:7–8 says, “Land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.”

Fruit matters

The parable of Jesus about the barren tree is an important warning for every person who calls himself or herself a Christian yet does not live as a true disciple of Jesus (see John 8:31–32). A true disciple of Jesus follows him daily, learns, and obeys his words. A true disciple is devoted preeminently to him, not to the things of this world. A true disciple bears the fruit of repentance and obedience.

There are other marks of a true disciple, and that is the theme of this series. Stay tuned—and be true.

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Truth #12 – God’s Word Creates Faith

To increase our faith we must learn to absorb God’s Word in the way that creates faith.

increase our faith

Have you ever dearly wanted something and realized to get it you needed more faith?

That happened to me about four years ago. I came to the settled conclusion the church I serve must have the ability to win converts to Jesus. And for that to happen I myself needed to have the ability to win converts to Jesus. The frustrating truth was, the latter was not happening, though not for lack of effort.

But I knew God wanted it to happen. Luke 19:10 says Jesus “came to seek and to save the lost.” When he ascended to heaven, he gave that mission to his church. So I knew we were missing something. One crucial day James 1:5 convinced me God could give me the wisdom to understand what we were missing and what we could do about it.

But there was a complication. James 1:6, the very next verse, told me that to get that wisdom I must have faith.

How we increase our faith

The situation for which you need faith differs from mine. You may need faith for physical healing. You may need faith to get out of debt and establish your finances or to meet the person who will someday become your spouse or to conceive a child or to succeed in school or on the job or to overcome fear or depression.

Whatever your need, we all need more faith for something, and the good news is we can get it.

To get the wisdom I needed I began memorizing Scriptures about God’s willingness to give wisdom. Over the next year I collected a list of 39 Scriptures. One by one I memorized them and spent slow time pondering each one over and over again. Then I would cycle back and refresh my ability to quote the verses correctly and once again ponder each text one word and phrase at a time.

I have been doing that now for several years, and I now believe in every cell of my bones that God gives me the wisdom I ask for. And slowly I have been learning how to lead others to become followers of Jesus.

Breakthrough

Over the past year my breakthrough came. I know of four people who have responded to my conversations with them and said they wanted to follow Jesus. I assume others have as well, for I have given the gospel to hundreds of people in various ways over the same period. Every month or two I get another insight into how to improve and become more effective in this.

I am certain that over the next year I will lead more people to become followers of Jesus than I did last year. My wisdom and effectiveness will keep growing. Why? Because I believe God’s words concerning his willingness to give me wisdom, and so I keep seeking it and I keep getting it and using it. God’s words have created this settled faith in me.

God’s words create faith as acorns create oak trees.

Romans 10:17

Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

In this verse Paul is describing how saving faith comes about, and he says it comes when lost people hear the message of the gospel, which is “the word of Christ.” The same principle applies to faith in general. Faith comes from hearing the word of God.

Faith needs an object, it needs content, and the object of faith is God and his Word. (Unlike the department store chain with the one-word marketing slogan, “Believe,” which does not specify what to believe, as though all that matters is belief in something or anything.)

Faith increases as we hear, read, and consider the Word of God and humbly and obediently choose to believe it. God’s word creates faith as acorns create oaks.

The unique vitality of divine words

God’s words are not like ordinary human words.

First, like acorns God’s words are alive. Hebrews 4:12 says, “The word of God is living and active...” Living things grow and multiply. Living things are active, like the new leader of an organization who brings fresh ideas, energy, and vision. Scripture pulses with life.

Second, God’s words are spirit. Jesus said, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (John 6:63). Notice that he did not say his words are spiritual, although that is certainly true. Rather he said his words “are spirit.” He was asserting something about the nature and essence of God’s words. God is spirit (John 4:24), and his words also are spirit. Whatever that means exactly, it suggests why his words are powerful, uniquely life-changing, and able to create faith, why they are living and active.

This sheds light on why God can say, “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:10–11).

It makes sense

As this verse illustrates, God’s words are instrumental in nature, and they hold a place at the center of his relationship with us and the foundation of no less than the universe itself. For example:

Jesus is the Word

John 1:1–2 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” Verses 14–18 make it clear that “the Word” is Jesus.

In John 14:6 Jesus described himself as “the truth.”

Clearly, if God himself can be described as the Word, then words are fundamental to all reality. It makes sense, then, that words are fundamental to our faith.

God created all things through his words

Genesis 1:3, 6, 9 says, “3 And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. … 6 And God said, ‘Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.’ … 9 And God said, ‘Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.’ And it was so.”

Likewise for the remaining days of creation. God creates through his verbal commands.

It makes sense, then, that he creates faith in us by his Word.

God exalts his words for the sake of his glory

The Holy Spirit inspired the writer of Psalm 138 to say to God,  “you have exalted above all things your name and your word” (v. 2).

The Holy Spirit inspired the writer of Psalm 56 to say three times the refrain that he praised God’s words. “In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust” (v. 4). “In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise, in God I trust” (vv. 10, 11). And twice the psalmist links his praise of God’s words with his trust in God.

The psalmist’s praise for God’s words inspired his trust in God. God’s word creates the faith that brings God glory.

Takeaway

You need more faith for situations you face. The question is, how badly do you want it? Enough to really knuckle down and work for it for the long haul? To carefully read several chapters of Scripture daily? And to compile verses that pertain to your situation and memorize and meditate on them? To regularly ask God to help you do all this and thereby to increase your faith?

Shifting my analogy: Although it only takes one acorn to create an oak tree, it takes many acorns to feed a squirrel for the winter. The more acorns you squirrel away, the stronger your faith will grow.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)