How to Get Spiritually Fit - Part 2: Time to Grow Up

INTRODUCTION
 
So last week we started a new series on how to get spiritually fit. We did this because during this time every year, people are making all kinds of New Year’s resolutions to start exercising, eating better, and getting in shape physically. So I felt led for us to start out the New Year focusing on what is much more important than getting physically fit and that is getting spiritually fit.
 
Now when I refer to getting in shape spiritually, I am referring to our inward man, called our spirit. And the fact is, we are not just our outward man; we have a spiritual nature on the inside of us, and it’s this hidden man of the heart that is going to live forever. Therefore, our spiritual condition is of even more importance than our physical condition. 
 
But most people don’t even realize that they are a spirit, much less know that it needs to be developed. However, the fact is, the real us that lives on the inside of this flesh desperately needs to be nourished & exercised just like our body needs nourishment & exercise. And from what we saw last week, we do this the same way spiritually as we do it physically.
 
Let’s look again at our golden text that describes this – First Timothy 4:6-8. It says, “If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. But reject profane and old wives fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness. For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.”
 
Now of course, we know that Paul was not talking about eating right & exercising physically. No, he was talking about being nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine as well as exercising ourselves toward godliness. So what Paul was referring to was eating right and exercising from a spiritual standpoint.
 
But you can see how the apostle Paul likened being in shape spiritually to how we get in shape physically. Yes, in order to be strong & in shape in spirit is the same way we become strong & in shape physically according to the Holy Spirit who inspired Paul to write this.
 
So as I told you last week, that is how we are going to tackle this subject of getting spiritually fit. We are going to look at how this works in the natural and see how it works the same way spiritually. Amen?
 
So last week, we looked at the first and most foundational part of being spiritually fit and that is to become spiritually alive by being what the Bible calls “born again.”
 
We looked at the various Scriptures where being born again is described and saw that this is how one is made spiritual. But we saw how being born again is not just some metaphorical way of describing someone having a new life. No, it is a literal transformation that takes place in the spirit where the Holy Spirit impregnates us with the Father’s seed, and we become a new creation in Christ Jesus.
 
So no, this is an actual new life that is birthed within us that came from the incorruptible seed of God which totally changed the nature of our spirit man to reflect the nature of our Heavenly Father.
 
But we saw that the awesome part of all of this is that when you are born of God, you’ve got all the spiritual genes that you need to be fit, in shape, and strong in your spirit! In other words, you inherited your spiritual DNA/genes from HIM and, therefore, have His nature and potential.
 
Now in the natural, not everyone is born on the same playing field. That’s because we inherit whatever our parents inherited. Some of us are gifted in certain areas, while others are gifted in other areas. So in this case, some of us sure got the short end of the stick when it came to some of these physical and mental things.
 
However, the same is not true spiritually – for everyone who has experienced the new birth has been born with ALL of the characteristics & qualities that they need to be strong and fit in the spirit just like their Heavenly Father. No, in Him, we are capable of both developing into His image and according to His likeness (Genesis 1:26)!
 
Therefore, there is no excuse for any of us who have been born from above to not become as good looking, smart, and successful as we can possibly be because the genes of our Heavenly Father are all extraordinary! Yes, you’ve got God’s divine nature, my friend! Spiritually speaking, you’ve got His eyes! You’ve got His hair! You’ve got His physique! You’ve got His giftings & His capabilities! Praise the LORD!
 
TIME TO GROW UP!
 
BUT now that we are born again, that doesn’t mean that you and I are good to go. Sure, the new birth might have granted us entrance into the kingdom of God and gave us some eternal security, but there is more to be had. 
 
Just like a baby is born into this world alive and with all of the bones and muscles that it is ever going to have, the child must still grow & develop. Yes, both its bones have to grow, and its muscles have to develop. However, all of this is not automatic. That baby has to be properly nourished and certain physical things have to start happening so that it can build itself up the way God designed it.  
 
Now a lot of what is done for a baby in order for it to start growing up is provided by grace, right? No, a baby can’t survive on its own - if it was born and it was all left up to him or her to feed itself, that baby would die. So it needs its parents, not only to survive but to thrive.
 
And did you know that it works this way spiritually as well? I think a lot of us have had this as a part of our testimony – that when we were born again, it was as if God carried us for a period of time. Yes, there was extra grace on our lives where it’s easy to read & study the Word, go to church, to pray, etc.
 
So it was like the LORD was carrying us & feeding us like a parent takes care of their child during its infancy. Some call this early season of being married to the LORD right after we were born again, our “honeymoon” experience.  But as I’m sure we’ve all experienced, the honeymoon always ends. Yes, that same kick start grace doesn’t always seem to remain throughout our Christian walk.
 
People have speculated as to why this seems to be the case, but the obvious conclusion that we come to is this: We cannot expect the LORD to carry us through our entire spiritual life just as we wouldn’t expect a mother or father to continue doing everything for their baby as it grows out of infancy. No, the child has to start learning how to feed itself. It has to learn how to walk on its own. It has to GROW UP!
 
And I believe that is what our Heavenly Father wants from all of us – that we would grow up in our salvation and tap into that grace for ourselves. This is where our getting spiritually fit comes into play. It is us intentionally & deliberately deciding to grow up & develop spiritually.
 
Now just like it is in the natural, just because we’ve been saved for decades doesn’t mean we’ve automatically grown up. Think about it from the physical for a moment: There are a lot of people that even though they have become 20, 30, or 40 years old, they still haven’t grown up a lot. Sure, they might have gotten bigger physically, but mentally & emotionally they still act like a 10-year-old.
 
Well, I believe that same thing happens to a lot of born again, Spirit-filled Christians. Sure, they might be spiritually alive, but they haven’t grown much over the years. That’s on us, church! It’s up to us to grow up and hit the gym. The LORD is not going to do this for you. We all must decide how to become spiritually mature and to get in shape in our inward man. 
 
So that’s what I feel led to talk about this week – growing up out of spiritual infancy.
 
Did you know that the Bible actually talks a lot about spiritual infancy and shows us that it is a much more widespread epidemic in the Lord’s church than most realize? It sure does! There are several New Testament passages of Scripture that talk about being babes in Christ and most of these verses are not commendations.
 
So let’s go through some of these New Testament verses that talk about spiritual immaturity and glean from them both what are the symptoms of being babes in Christ and how to grow up into maturity.
 
Again, all of these things are what are going to cause us to grow to the place where we can become spiritually fit – for you cannot take a 5-year-old and develop them like you can someone who is 25. There’s just something about maturing & blossoming physically that enables one to enter into the full potential of their physical condition.
 
WHAT SPIRITUAL MATURITY LOOKS LIKE
 
Now the first Scripture I want us to look at is found near the same ones we looked at last week – First Peter 1:23.
 
Again, the apostle Peter talked to his readers presuming that they had been born again by saying, “having been born again, not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever” (Verse 23). Then after he makes this statement, he quotes an Old Testament verse that talks about how God’s Word indeed never fails and will outlast all of these natural things.
 
But notice what he goes on to say at the beginning of the following chapter (First Peter 2:1) – “Therefore (So because you have been born again of God’s incorruptible seed which will live and abide forever), lay side all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking …”
 
So notice that the very first exhortation he gives to the born-again believer is to lay aside some vices (i.e. works of the flesh). Therefore, a big part of growing up is to what? To stop wearing certain things.
 
You see, the word that is used for “laying aside’ here describes putting something off or taking it off and throwing it away. It’s used in Acts 7:58 to describe how those who were about to stone Stephen “laid down” their clothes at the feet of Saul.
 
And isn’t this a big sign of immaturity in this natural world as well – how people dress? An immature person who is behaving childishly will say, “Well, I’m just going to wear what I feel like wearing.” Well, wearing what you feel like is generally going to be a characteristic of an immature person.
 
But someone will say, “Yeah, Pastor, but I just believe in being real.” Well, what they really mean by saying they are just being real is they are being real carnal because how many of you know a characteristic of being childish is to do and say what you feel like doing and saying. These people don’t hold jobs well. They don’t make many friends. And they certainly don’t prosper in this world.
 
Well, the same is true in God’s kingdom. We have to clothe ourselves in what the LORD deems appropriate, not the way our flesh wants to. My flesh will want to speak its mind, give its opinion, etc., etc., etc. But my spirit chooses the opposite wardrobe.
 
How many of you know that when you grew up, you had to learn how society works? You had to dress appropriately. You couldn’t just say everything you thought. No, in order to thrive in this world, you can’t just do everything you want to do and say everything you want to say.
 
Now the Book of First Corinthians shows us a lot more about what being spiritually mature looks like.
 
Most of us know that this church was rich in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Yes, they had an abundance of spiritual gifting, but as Paul goes on to say in First Corinthians 3:1-3, that didn’t make them spiritual.
 
The apostle Paul starts by saying, “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.” So here we see that these spiritually enriched children of God were, in fact, still children. He even went as far as calling them “carnal babies.” We all need a spiritual father like that, huh?
 
Did you know that the word “spiritual” here literally just means “non-carnal.” So here, he is saying that being spiritual is the opposite of being babies in Christ.
 
I oftentimes like to say that all you have to do to be carnal is NOTHING. Well, the opposite is true as well, all we have to do to be spiritual is just get rid of the carnality. But when I speak of “carnality,” what are we talking about? Well, let’s look at the rest of these verses and see if we can get a clue as to what the Holy Spirit considers carnal …
 
Verse 2 goes to say, “I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able;”
 
So here we see that one’s ability to handle spiritual truth is indicative of how spiritual one is. Therefore, how much one can handle oftentimes can show their spirituality.
 
Hebrews 5:12-14 describes this same thing when the writers said that their readers had become dull of hearing: They went on to say, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”
 
What is being described here is how milk is the only thing the immature can drink because they are “unskilled” in both how to eat solid food and because their discernment level isn’t where it needs to be.
 
You see, we’d be fools to give a baby a ribeye. It couldn’t chew the meat up for one. And it would probably choke on it. It is simply not what a baby can handle. Well, that’s where a lot of Christians are at. They can’t get to the good stuff because they haven’t even started teething yet.
 
Now don’t be mistaken – milk isn’t a bad thing. We all need it initially and it is an important part of spiritual growth. It’s just that we don’t want to still be on the bottle when we are out of the stroller.
 
This reminds me of a prophetic vision I heard a minister once had of a grown man sitting in a stroller with nothing but a diaper on and one of those bonnets on its head. In his left hand, he had a pacifier, and in his right hand, he had a bottle of milk. And this man was crying up a storm like a baby. This minister said that when he saw this, he thought it was the funniest thing he ever saw until the LORD then said, “That’s that way you look to Me right now!” LOL!
 
Then in verse 3, Paul very bluntly told this church – “for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?”
 
So here we see that all of this stuff like envy, strife, and divisions within God’s people is CARNAL. In other words, people that yield to these vices are carnal and spiritually immature.
 
You see, there are lot of Christians who think that the ones who are spiritual are those who can quote a lot of Scripture, speak in tongues, or prophesy. Others think that being spiritually mature is simply how we carry ourselves, and so if we act like adults and pretend like we are humble and are nice & kind people, that we are spiritual grown-ups. All of these things aren’t necessarily bad, but they aren’t necessarily spiritual either.
 
So what is being spiritual according to the apostle Paul here? It is not being envious. It is not catering to strife. It is not being divisive. This isn’t necessarily an exhaustive list, but it was what these “carnal Corinthians” were doing.
 
For a more exhaustive list of what being spiritual mature looks like, just look over at Galatians 5:22-23 where the fruits of a truly spiritual life are described – love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These nine fruits are characteristic of spiritually mature people. And spiritually immature people do the opposite, and these are called the works of the flesh – things which include, yes, adultery, murder, idolatry, fornication, etc., but they also include things like hatred, jealousy, contentions, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambition. 
 
So don’t be deceived. Know that when people are truly operating in the fruit of the Spirit, they are the spiritually mature and those who operate in the works of the flesh are the spiritually immature and have likely never got off the bottle. It’s tight but it’s right.
 
But let me add one more thing – What we oftentimes do (and this too is a sign of immaturity) is when someone else might be walking in the flesh towards us, meaning that they might be operating in strife against us, we tend to justify our ungodly response and have offense in our hearts towards them because, after all, they started it (Notice the way that phrase sounds, “Well, they started it!” Sounds a little immature, right?)
 
Well, if you are spiritually mature, you won’t do that. When we are grown up in the Spirit, we will still walk in the fruit of the Spirit even when the other person might be operating in the flesh and totally in the wrong. Yes, if I stop loving them, being good & kind to them, and lose my peace & joy, then I am not being spiritually mature.  
 
So my point is that there are some things we need to be mature in but other things we need to be simple concerning. Yes, like a baby doesn’t understand a lot of things - being simple to certain evils that are in the world - we need to be simple concerning evil. But on the flipside, we need to seek to have understanding concerning spiritual things.
 
The apostle Paul said in First Corinthians 14:20 — “Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature.”
 
The word for “understanding” describes one’s cognitive abilities. In other words, the mind’s ability to comprehend and understand things like a baby grows in its cognitive faculties.
 
And what is something that a baby needs to grow up in? I’m glad you asked. Let’s look at a few verses that describe to us how babies grow …
 
HOW BABIES GROW UP
 
Back in First Peter chapter 2, we see what we can do to grow up out of spiritual infancy …
 
In verse 2, Peter goes on to build upon this idea of being born again by saying, “as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby.”
 
So here, he tells them (and us) what a newborn Christian is to do – and again, notice that it is what a physical newborn will do – “desire the pure milk of the Word.” Some translations say to “crave” this spiritual milk. Others say to “long for” it.
 
And what does a baby do when he or she is craving this nourishment? They cry out for it! Yeah, you don’t usually have to guess when a baby is hungry, do you? They will let you by lifting their voice and crying out for some milk!
 
And why do babies cry out for this milk? It’s because they haven’t grown up enough to ask for it: Did you know that in one of the main words that is used to describe spiritual “babes or children” it literally describes one with the inability to speak. So it was as if in the language of their day, one of the main ways they described this particular infant was that they can’t talk yet.
 
And I’m here to tell you that is a distinguishing characteristic of a spiritual babe in Christ – they haven’t learned how to talk.
 
Now this goes both ways: On one hand, it might mean that they just only use their tongue to spew venom on others, not understanding that both death and life are in the power of the tongue. Yes, spiritually immature folks will not guard what they say.
 
The Book of Wisdom, full of the wisdom & understanding that the LORD blessed Solomon with, is loaded with truths about how important our words are and how things like our words, lips, and tongues are like weapons that can hurt both us and others.
 
So although the world likes to say, “Sticks & stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me,” actually, that’s a lie! Words absolutely can hurt, and the truth is, there are a lot of us here today who have been mortally wounded by words.
 
So a spiritually mature person understands this and chooses their words wisely … But not just to avoid speaking bad things, but to speak LIFE!
 
James 3:2 says, “For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.”
 
Sure, we all stumble in many things – whether we are mature or not. The occasional stumbling in our Christian walk is not what makes one immature. But do you know what does show one’s maturity – our words.
 
Notice James says, “if anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man …” The word used for “perfect” here is the Greek word teleios, and is the word used to describe someone who has come to full age and is fully grown. In other words, it describes an adult or a mature person. Therefore, a spiritually mature person is someone who doesn’t stumble with their words.
 
So we evidently need to learn how to talk if we want to become spiritually mature, right? But speaking of “words,” let’s look back at First Peter 2:2 and see how Peter describes this milk …
 
Now I know this verse says to desire the pure milk of the Word, but that’s actually not the best translation. You’ll find that most expositors like to translate this as spiritual milk. So what is this “spiritual milk” that we are supposed to be crying out for? Well, isn’t the LORD called El Shaddai, the All Breasty One? Doesn’t Peter go on to say in verse 3 – “if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious”?
 
So this spiritual milk speaks to me of more of that close & intimate fellowship that we are supposed to enjoy with our Heavenly Father. Yes, the Godhead is meant to provide us with the spiritual nourishment that does what? Well, at the end of verse 2, Peter says, “… that you may grow thereby.” Other translations say, “that you may grow up in your salvation.”
 
So what is it that is going to cause us to grow up in our salvation (or we might say, “grow up spiritually”)? It is a hunger & thirst for pure spiritual milk (i.e. true spiritual things). So it’s having a heart that craves to be fed by God. Yes, it is a hungry heart that seeks His face and desires to know Him and His ways like a baby seeks & desires his or her natural nourishment. Amen?
 
So if I’m growing up, I’m hungering & thirsting after righteousness. I know I need the truth, and I am crying out for it. Hunger is always a symptom of being healthy. Amen!   
  
But there are things that we need to be careful of as we hunger for this spiritual milk, and that is eating things that can harm us. So, guess what else babies are capable of doing in their ignorance? They will eat whatever they can get their hands on!
 
We see this in Ephesians 4:14-15 when the apostle Paul says, “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 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; 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, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—”
 
Notice how these verses describe how spiritual maturity comes: It begins with the five-fold ministry. God gives us these gifts to equip us. And they equip us by building up the Body so that it becomes a “perfect” (or, mature) man, growing up to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Amen! So just like we have the five main food groups, we have the five main ministry leaders that are meant to nourish us.
 
But I want you to notice the next thing Paul said in verses 14-15: He then went on to describe how that through this spiritual maturity, we are no longer to be “children,” which is the same word used for infants or immature little children. And what did he use as an example of this spiritual immaturity? It was being “tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine.” In other words, spiritually immature people tend towards ingesting everything they hear, and like little children in the natural, have no filter on what is good to eat and what’s harmful. Amen?
 
So spiritual babies are easily susceptible to error and can get deceived very easily.
 
Here’s another good Scripture that describes the state of the spiritually immature:
 
Second Timothy 4:3 says, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.”
 
This means that in the Last Days and in the Lord’s church, that we will see a rise in this – people having ears that itch to only hear what they want to hear. These verses say that they will not tolerate “sound doctrine.”
 
Did you know that the word for “sound” here is the word translated “health” in Third John 2? So what Paul was referring to here was “healthy doctrine.”
 
So do you see how this happens? Because as a general rule, people will be spiritually immature and babes in Christ, they will not want to eat healthily. They will heap up for themselves teachers who will preach what they want to hear and how they want to hear it. We might say they will gather up “cooks” who will give them what they want when they want it.
 
This is why we need sound, healthy preaching & teaching of God’s Word. It is what nourishes us like milk nourishes a baby. But this is also why we need that healthy spiritual milk that comes directly through our fellowship with God, to where He has become our provider & nurturer. This is how we grow up in our salvation – through His Word and through relationship with Him.
 
Let’s no longer be spiritual babies (i.e. immature Christians), saints! Let’s grow up in our salvation by learning how to walk, how to talk, what to eat, etc. In doing so, we will grow up in our salvation and become spiritually mature in Christ.