So often when we think of Christian growth we think of it in terms of being transformed from something we are not into something we are to become. Even though we don’t want to hear this the hard truth is that much of what is taught and practiced in our churches has no basis in a New Testament relationship to God. We live from an old covenant quid pro quo paradigm thinking we have to do certain things to warrant God’s blessing and favor. There is more of a difference between the Old and New covenants than blank space in our bibles. The New Testament enacted in His blood provided a way of approach to God that has NOTHING to do with the old ! Our attitude is that we don’t have it so we need to strive to try and get God to give it.
Luke 2:52 states that Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. Here is a question…was Jesus any less God’s Son when he was born than He was when he was raising people from the dead ? The obvious answer is no , but… I don’t think we consider the fact that when we were saved we were also born from above by the very same Spirit that indwelt Jesus. We may poop our pants and make a mess of things but we can rest assured that we are His chldren because of his work and not ours. When I am born naturally I have everything I need to function in this world. The process of develpment comes as I learn to exercise and use what I already have…I am no more a human being now at 42 than I was when I was conceived. The same thing is true spiritually…we are transformed into His image by His Spirit as we renew our minds to what has ALREADY been freely given us in Christ and as we have our senses exercised to discern between good and evil.
