This We Believe The Spiritual Growth and Development of the Believer by James O. Henry, Ph.D. Professor of History results. This is good. There are a number of Scriptures in the New Testament that enjoin the Christian to search that he might grow and mature spiritually. The Apostle Peter in II Peter 3:18, instructs his readers to, “ . . . grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” In I Peter 2:2, he suggests to his readers that they, “As new bom babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that they may grow thereby.” The writer of Hebrews speaks in the same vein as he discusses the present priestly work of our Lord Jesus Christ when he says, “ . . . we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. For when . . . ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are became such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For everyone that uses milk is unskillful (or has no experience) in the Word of righteousness for he is a babe” (Heb. 5:11-14). In these verses the writer of the He brews rather chides his readers for what might best be called a spiritual laziness and immaturity; he exhorts them to grow up and become mature spiritually—concluding his exhortation in these words, “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God. Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrec- 26
S p ir itu a l l if e is likened, in the Word of God, to natural or physi cal life—it must be similarly sustained by correct and proper nourishment. The new or spiritual life is imparted to us in a new birth when we accept Christ as our Saviour. If a newborn babe should be left without proper care and nourishment, it cannot be ex pected to grow and develop. Likewise, the spiritual life must be properly nur tured and fed if it is to grow and de velop as it should. Becoming a Chris tian is a matter of birth — the new birth; being a Christian is a matter of spiritual growth and development. In the New Testament, the spirit ual growth and development of the be liever are second, only, to the new birth in significance and emphasis. From science we learn that physical life is never static. It is either develop ing and growing, or it is diminish ing. Likewise, spiritual growth and development are never static — the Christian is either growing or declin ing spiritually. For this reason our spiritual growth and development re quire constant cultivation. For example, at Biola College, we dare not assume that because our stu dents are Christians, they will auto- maticaly grow and develop spiritually as they should. Neither can we assume that because we have a Christian faculty that its members will auto matically be spiritual. Nor can we as sume that because our students are regularly enrolled in Bible classes that this will, in itself, guarantee the.desired
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker