On Christian Maturity

Seeking Maturity

The Appalling lack of Maturity Today

Adult displays of immaturity

Lack of Emotional Regulation

Heightened sense of Entitlement and ego-centric behavior - an inability to put others needs before their own

Lack of Responsibility

Even in the church

Fights and quarrels among you - James

1 Tim - Making shipwreck of the faith - as we are drawn away by the temptations of the world

1 Cor - Christians suing other Christians, while turning a blind eye to immorality

Immature Christians are poor representatives of Christ and the gospel

The Purpose of Gospel Ministry: To Present Everyone Mature in Christ

The goal of God’s work in our lives is that we would grow up!

Romans 8:29 - Those whom God foreknew, he predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son

The blessed result of our union with Christ is that we would bear resemblance to him

Eph 4:13–14 we are to attain… to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ

The beauty of the Gospel

You were dead in your trespasses, but God has made you alive in Christ Your life is now lived as Christ lives in you,

You have a new identity, and new life, in him

As we live in Christ, we will grow in him, mature in him, become more like him.

What does Christian maturity look like

Having our hearts encouraged

Being reminded of our identity - beloved, chosen, set apart by God -

Eph 6:22 - Paul sent preachers to encourage when they were discouraged by the troubles of the world - rooting them, reminding them, of their identity in Christ.

Being knit together in love -

A church that stands together, works together, loves one another, rather than biting and devouring one another - because in Christ:

Eph 4:4–6: There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Putting the needs of others before your own,

Phil 2:3 seeing others as more significant than yourself

Eph 4:2 “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love”

Reaching all the riches of full assurance of understanding and knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ

Maturity as a Christian only comes as we know and grow in Christ - finding in him our greatest treasure

Not being deluded by plausible arguments - vain philosophies

Seminary students riding every new wave

Eph 4:14 - we mature “so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.”

The Method of Gospel Ministry - How does Paul go about this?

Filling Up Christ’s Afflictions

What does Paul mean? Every pastor who preaches this wishes Paul would have said it differently, But we know it is inspired by God and therefore infallible, so we want to understand it.

Is Christ lacking? NO! Paul’s just written about the preeminence of Christ in all things, especially in our redemption, which was secured through his death upon the cross.

What what is Paul saying? John Piper - “Paul's sufferings," he explains, "complete Christ's afflictions not by adding anything to their worth, but by extending them to the people they were meant to save.

What is lacking in the afflictions of Christ is not that they are deficient in worth, as though they could not sufficiently cover the sins of all who believe. What is lacking is that the infinite value of Christ's afflictions is not known and trusted in the world. . . . So the afflictions of Christ are 'lacking' in the sense that they are not seen and known and loved among the nations. They must be carried by the ministers of the Word.

What is lacking, then, in Christ's afflictions is not propitiation but presentation. In other words, the sufferings of Jesus fully satisfied the wrath of God, but there is lacking "a personal presentation by Christ Himself to the nations of the world. God's answer to this lack is to call the people of Christ (people like Paul) to make a personal presentation of the afflictions of Christ to the world. In doing this, we 'fill up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions.' We finish what they were designed for, a personal presentation to the people who do not know about their infinite worth" (269).

When we weather the storms of adversity for the sake of Christ, enduring hardship, suffering loss, and do so joyfully because of the treasure we have in him - we make glory glory of our Savior known Making God’s Word Fully Known

Making the Word of God complete… fully known

What was the Word that Paul had - the OT Scriptures

He was making the Word complete (not that it was lacking) but completing their understanding of it. He was opening the Mystery of God

That Gentiles would be saved - included as heirs of the promises of God

Christ is the key to unlocking the rest of Scripture

Don’t throw away the OT - but read it through the lens of Christ - know the treasures of wisdom and understanding, that are only opened when you know the grace and wisdom that is given in Christ.

Striving in the Spirit through Prayer

Toil, struggle, striving - an athletic term - Paul uses them to describe his life of prayer for the church

Though he was away in person, he was with them in Spirit - through prayer. Paul, though not with the Colossians, prayed earnestly for them - that they would come to maturity

Measuring Maturity: Are you maturing in Christ?

1 Cor 13 - when I was a child…

What stunts your growth?

Do you reject the suffering of Christ, and suffering for Christ

Do you attend to the teaching of God’s Word, mining the treasures for yourself

Are you striving in prayer - or casually throwing out a “Hail Mary” when things seem bleak

How to Grow

Abide in Christ - the Gospel

Grow in your knowledge and love for Him

Rest in His promises, run in his strength, reach for the riches of full assurance of faith -

Rejoice - even in suffering -

Bear with one another, love each other well, making Christ known in how you live as community

Toil, labor, in prayer

Drawing near to the heart of God, daily communing with Him, finding in him your strength and your joy

Rest in these - and you will mature in Christ -