THREE STAGES OF GROWTH IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE

There are 3 different words used in the New Testament that speak of 3 areas of growth in the Christian life.

NAPIOS speaks of infants. TEKNION speaks of children. HUIOS speaks of the mature.

 In addressing the church in Corinth Paul writes ‘Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarrelling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?  The word used here is ‘NAPIOS’ and it speaks of those who are like babies in nappies and have to have everything done for them. In other words there isn’t anything within this person’s life that makes them different in nature from those in the world around us. ‘NAPIOS’ refers to those who are babies in Christ still being controlled and motivated by their feelings and emotions. Baptised but living like pagans. Paul gives us the marks of an unchristian church in 2 Cor12. Where he says ‘I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be quarrelling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder’. In other words there is no testimony when these things are present in one’s life, and there is no message for the world to see.

 In 1 John 2:1 we read ‘My dear children’….the word used here for children is ‘TEKNION’

In the prominent Jewish homes, the sons were under governors and tutors until they reached the age of maturity. They played and ate along with the children of the servants. Then the father prepared a great party and he invited all his relatives, friends and servants. That day the boy was dressed with different clothes to those which he had worn until then, and was presented before all the invited guests as his father's legitimate heir, with all the rights and responsibilities that it implied. Like the prodigal son a ring was put on his finger and sandals on his feet.  From then on, he would not be considered a "teknos" any longer, but a "huios", that is, a young adult and a mature son who could take his place next to his father in the administration and government of the house. He was now considered to be a joint heir with the power of attorney.

That’s what Paul was saying in Rom 8:14 ‘those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God’ the word here for sons is ‘HUIOS’. In other words, those who in character resemble God. Those who are governed by the Spirit of God.

So a ‘HUIOS’ son is one who has the nature of the Father within him. Jesus had the fullness of the nature of the Father within and this is what we have to develop within us. A Huios son has all the rights and authority as Jesus himself. He has given us the right to represent him in the fullness of authority and power so that then what I ask in Jesus’ name the Father will do it because I have reached that stage of maturity and am no longer a ‘NAPIOS’ son that Paul mentions in Eph 4:14 being tossed to & fro. Not reacting to how I feel or to the circumstances around me but to what the word of God says concerning my circumstances and as I respond in that way I can develop the very nature of God within.

If you want to develop the nature of the Father within you then read Matthew 5:44 where it lays down 4 ethical laws. 1) Love your enemies, 2) bless those who curse you, 3) do good to those who hate you, 4) pray for those who persecute you so that you may be ‘HUIOS’ sons of your Father in Heaven.

 

Blessed are the poor in spirit that is who I am, not what I do. Blessed are the merciful that is who I am. The Beatitudes which are the laws that have been written on our hearts develop in me the very nature of the Father himself. Blessed are the meek which means that I am able to tolerate the things I go through in life without negatively responding to them. It means that I have the patience to wait for God to change that situation….only God can change our situations, we cannot even change ourselves. I don’t have the power to change me, it’s only the Holy Spirit working through me, with me and in me that will cause me to change my life. The life of Christ within me is developed through tests and trials.

God our Father tries and tests us. We have as choice to respond in a relative way or an absolute way. A relative way is the way the world responds and this means I will be tossed to & fro because I will be reacting to what I see and what I feel. An absolute way is a spiritual response and this will develop the nature of the Father within me. It means I am responding according to what God’s word says and like Jesus I can speak to the storm and the peace of God that surpasses all human understanding will guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

The life in Christ is already within us through our baptism, it is there in seed form, but it has to grow & grow until it reaches full manhood so that I am able to discern between good and evil. Jesus grew in stature and favour with God. He learnt obedience through what he suffered. He went through all those temptations and trials and came out with the power of the Holy Spirit. Peter tells us that faith is only the gate to all the other gifts. It’s the starting point, he then says that we are to add virtue to our faith and add knowledge to virtue. This is not head knowledge. This knowledge begins to transform our inner life. Knowledge without that transformation means nothing. I can be like the Pharisees and know the bible from beginning to end but if this knowledge is not transforming my inner life then the image and nature of Jesus is not being manifested. Then were are to add to our knowledge self control, then add to self control perseverance and add to that godliness then add brotherly kindness and then add love. These don’t happen overnight they have to be developed.

 In Rm 3 Pauls tells us that ‘all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. It means that we don’t measure up to the nature of God, but Peter in his 2^nd letter tells us that we have inherited the Divine nature. We have it in an embryonic form so it has to be developed. We are born again of incorruptible seed through the word of God. A seed cannot produce fruit; it’s a tree that produces the fruit. My faith is to be used not just to operate the gifts of the Spirit but to develop the nature of the Lord Jesus within. The Corinthian church was able to operate the gifts of the Spirit but a lot of their lives were a contradiction. You can have faith to move mountains but if you haven’t developed love (agape) then your gifts are like a gong booming or a cymbal clashing. When Paul says that love endures all things he speaks of a supernatural power of love and it is developed by going through stages and the end result is that ‘we become as he is’ and you only get to know a person when you live with them, then you become like them and the Kingdom of God has to be established within us before we can affect the society around us.

 

We will not change society around us unless we already have the Kingdom of God within us. And that’s what the Lord is longing for, his Kingdom to come on earth as it is in Heaven. That will only come about when we grow up and are reflecting the image of Jesus to those who need to see him. Amen.