Spiritual Progress

As believers, many of us come to a place in our walk when we ask “Am I doing enough for God.” I can’t tell you how many times a brother or sister has posed this question to me, or how many times I have asked this question of myself. Now, I can not answer that question for you. I do know that it is not our works do not earn God’s love. He loves us right where we are. God loves you this morning. Our faith and our spiritual progress are the proof of our walk with the LORD. If there is little to no evidence of change, as the scripture says, we may need to work our salvation out with fear and trembling before the LORD. There are four things that help identify if we are spiritually progressing. The first is:

I. Believe in Christ

John 3:16 NKJV

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

I want to make a point about John 3:16 this morning. Sometimes we are so wrapped up in our salvation, what God is doing in our lives, that we forget what he gave up for us. He gave His son to the world to be tortured and to die. How many of us would do that? He gave up His son to be separated from Him. Jesus left His presence, the majesty, the glory, and the worship of heaven. God gave His son up to the world and to the cross that we would have the opportunity to be counted as children in the kingdom of Glory.

Our spiritual journey with God begins with faith in Jesus Christ. When we repent of our sins and believe in Christ, we receive forgiveness. That forgiveness brings new life. There is an internal change that is externalized in our words and behaviors. What Christ has done in here (hearts and minds) we start to live out. We stop chasing after the sinful nature as our hearts and minds conform to the likeness of Christ. Those things that used to attract us start to repulse us. The Apostle Paul tells us:

2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT

17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

Since you started your walk have you found that your friends have changed, the things that amuse us, our desires, ambitions, and hopes for the future become new. We go from being self-centered; always taking, and consuming to being God centered; giving, loving, and serving. Being God centered is the mark of a person who is living out the second point and progressing spiritually.

II. We Belong to Christ

When Christ shed his blood for you, he paid a debt you could never pay, and he paid it in full. Jesus Christ completely commited himself to securing our salvation, our relationship with God. He did not make excuses, he did not give up, he gave everything. When Jesus said “It is finished” or “Tetelestai” from the cross, He was stamping our salvation as bought, paid for, signed by the LORD, sealed by his blood, and delivered to the very hand of God. If you belong to Christ, your name is written in the Lamb’s book of life. If you are a believer this morning, you belong to Christ. Not like a slave or a house or a car or a motorcycle. We have the choice if we want to be counted as heirs with Christ to the Kingdom of Heaven. Spiritual progress involves total commitment. Commitment to Jesus Christ. The Apostle John tells us:

1 John 1:7 NLT

7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

C.S. Lewis once stated “If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.”

I am going to share a truth that has been watered down so that people feel good about themselves. It is impossible to fellowship with God and to walk in darkness at the same time. The flesh stands opposed to the Spirit. If our walk is one of believing in Christ and doing exactly what he said to do, “we walk in the light because he is the light.” When we walk in his light, the darkness must flee. That is how we know and others know that we belong to Christ. Yes, others are to know that you and I belong to Christ.

We are to please God above man. For those who have the attitude that I used to have; it goes something like this: “I don’t care what anybody thinks about me.” Well, Jesus Christ kind of addressed that when He said this in:

Matthew 5:16 NLT

16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

If we are holding onto sin in our lives, the light goes away. When we hold on to sin, we deceive others and ourselves. It is possible for a believer to live in sin yet convince others and convince themselves that everything is fine in their relationship with the Lord. It is a house built on a foundation of lies. That spiritual decline gets worse: the next step is trying to lie to God (1 John 1:10). We have made ourselves liars; now we try to make God a liar! We contradict His Word, which says that “all have sinned, and fall short of God’s glory” and we maintain that we are exceptions to the rule.

Believers have twisted this verse to mean “it’s okay to sin,” when that is not what it implies. By virtue of believing that it’s okay to do something even though its a sin, we are calling God a liar. “God, you must have got that wrong, cause it’s okay for me.” We apply God’s Word to others but not to ourselves. We sit through church services or Bible studies and are not touched by the Bible’s teachings. Believers who have reached this low level are usually highly critical of other Christians, but they strongly resist applying the Word to their own lives.

Jesus did not make excuses. Belonging to Christ means that we don’t make excuses either, it means that we repent and seek out Jesus Christ, the light that overcomes the darkness. Jesus Christ promises that he will not leave us nor forsake us. God sent Holy Spirit to make us pure, to bring us peace, enabling us to persevere in trials and share Christ with others. Holy Spirit, the very mark of God upon His people. It is only through Holy Spirit that we can truly be used by Christ. Again, free-choice. We must be willing to be used by Christ. To be a vessel for Him! Those who are spiritually progressing are, to our third point:

III. Be Used by Christ

The Apostle Paul makes a bold and incredible statement in

1 Corinthians 3:9 NKJV

9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.

The people at the church at Corinth arguing about Paul and Apollos. Sounds familiar to what we here often today.“I like this teacher more than that teacher, I like that minister more.” They missed the point. We, meaning we (all of us), are fellow workers for God, and with God. Jesus gave us that command! To make disciples. If you are a believer this morning, you are to be a minister of the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. Working with God alongside your brothers and sisters in Christ.The emphasis must always be on God, and not the laborers. Let me ask you real quick: “Did you create the Gospel message? Did I?” No! We are all here, collectively to share the wonderful news of Jesus Christ with the world.

The Apostle Paul took it further by saying that “we are God’s field.” We are to collectively bear fruit. What happens to a field if it is not cultivated, seeded, watered? Nothing! It will not produce anything. That field lays useless to God. To be used by Christ, we must be willing to receive the living water, the living Word, and the cutting away of the old, otherwise, we will not grow.

Now, we are not all going to bear the same fruit or have the same gifts. Could you imagine if we were all the same, horrifying thought! The point is that we are not supposed to be comparing ourselves to each other or comparing others to one another. God is the source of growth and no human can take credit for that.

Check this out, the Apostle Paul tells us that “You are God’s building!” Okay, that did not get you as excited as it did me! I want you to think about this for a moment. God is the great architect of the universe, of this world, and everything in it, You are fearfully and wonderfully made, by the breathe of God, who created all things. You are God’s building. You are the house that the architect of the universe built and whose Spirit dwells. When man creates a beautiful feat of architecture goes up, people are not thinking about the people who grew the wood, cut the trees, folded metal, created the nails, or screwed and hammered it together. They are looking at the architect who planned it. The ultimate goal is for people to see God in us. To do that we must become like Christ.

IV. Become Like Christ

Spiritual progress means that our heart and minds desire is to be more like Jesus Christ. Imitating His love, showing His compassion, exhibiting grace and mercy to others. In all of our brokenness and in all of their brokenness. It is a natural progression. We first believe in Christ and realize that we belong to Christ. It is only then that we are able to be used by Christ as we become increasingly Christ-like. Amen?