Are we there yet? Looking at our Journey of Faith and Adventure. Part 3, Dealing with Distractions, Disappointments and Delays in reaching our Destiny or Destination.

Are we there yet? Looking at our Journey of Faith and Adventure.

Part 3, Dealing with Distractions, Disappointments and Delays in reaching our Destiny or Destination.

I mentioned in a previous post, that I’m Welsh and part of being Welsh is the love of singing or in my case attempting to sing !,  My dad is a member of a Male Voice Choir called Swansea Gospel Male Voice Choir, and especially in the Welsh Valleys there is a History of Choral Singing, (Choir Singing).

One of the most well recognised and most famous Welsh Hymns is Guide me, O thou Great Jehovah (or Redeemer) which was written by one of the most famous Welsh Hymn Writers, William Williams (Pantycelyn) although originally written in the Welsh Language as Arglwydd, arwain trwy'r anialwch, It’s known throughout the World as Guide me, O thou Great Jehovah it’s also known as The Welsh Rugby Hymn or Bread of Heaven, where it’s sung with equal gusto when Wales play Rugby to when it’s sung in the Chapels and Churches.

Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,

Pilgrim through this barren land;

I am weak, but thou art mighty;

Hold me with thy powerful hand:

Bread of heaven, bread of heaven

Feed me till I want no more.

Feed me till I want no more.

Open thou the crystal fountain

Whence the healing stream shall flow;

Let the fiery, cloudy pillar

Lead me all my journey through:

Strong deliverer, strong deliverer

Be thou still my strength and shield.

Be thou still my strength and shield.

When I tread the verge of Jordan,

Bid my anxious fears subside;

Death of death, and hell's destruction,

Land me safe on Canaan's side:

Songs of praises, songs of praises

I will ever give to thee.

I will ever give to thee.

Several weeks ago. I had the privilege to spend some time with one of my closest friends here in Southport, He and his wife are great friends to myself and others and are an inspirational couple, he’s also likes Organs especially Hammond Organs, a few weeks ago he had to go to South Wales to collect an Organ, so I went with him to help him collect it.   On the return journey we stopped at a Tesco Express Convenience Store to pick up refreshments and I had an urge for Welsh Cakes, so I picked up a pack of Brace’s Welsh Cakes and bought them home with me,  a few days later I was shopping at my local Asda and has I walked around the aisle’s I noticed tucked away in the Bakery Aisle, Brace’s Welsh Cakes, the Lord spoke to me through this, that he not would only provide me with the essentials here but would provide me with blessings here, because I’ve been obedient to Him.

After our successful trip to Wales, my friend asked me would I be interested in travelling to the north of Scotland with him to collect an Organ, I of course agreed because I believe part of being friends is helping each other, On our Journey we used two forms of navigation a Sat-Nav and a Road Atlas, on this journey we had to stop for fuel and food and we stopped at Carlisle, there were other people travelling that day, and although my friend and I were travelling to Scotland not everyone had the same destination as ourselves, as people either left the motorway because they were getting to their destination or they were joining the motorway to go to their destination,  I wondered to myself, firstly how long it would take to get to our destination and what would we find when we got there and what would it be like, on our journey we passed various road signs giving names of various locations like Glasgow, Stirling, Perth and Dundee and as some people kept leaving the road we were on and other people kept joining I wondered to myself how many people travelling had the same destination as we had.

We shared the road with other travellers, and for part of the journey we travelled alongside each other, then they left us and in some ways we left others because our destination was different from them, on our journey we passed several places of interest such as The Falkirk Wheel and Stirling Castle, but even if those places are interesting,  they could have been a distraction to us, It would have quiet easy because of the distance we had to travel to  change our destination and go with the flow and go somewhere like Glasgow or Perth, but they weren’t our destination.

 We kept travelling and the further north we went we saw less and less traffic, we passed through several sets of traffic lights when we went through on the Green Light, it would have quiet easy in our eagerness to get to our destination gone through on Red or Amber Lights because we didn’t want to be delayed, eventually we arrived in the beautiful seaside town of Gardenstown in Aberdeenshire, none of the travellers we had seen on our journey had also arrived in Gardenstown and for part of our journey we had travelled alongside others, either for a small part or longer part of our journey.

In the Christian Life and Walk, we have two forms of Navigation, the Holy Spirit’s guidance in our life and the written word of God, The Bible,  I notice in our lives journey we use both forms of navigation and both lead us to the correct destination, there are/were other people travelling when we travelled and for part of our journey we travelled alongside each other but because our destination was different we've  parted  or part company at various junctions, we had to also stop for fuel and food,  so in our Christian Life and Walk we need to stop to be refreshed and recharged,  because our destination was further along that others destinations it would be easier and more convenient to change our destination but it wouldn’t have been our true destination or our goal, It would be easy to be distracted and because we had seen something that attracted us and it looks more achievable that our goal we settle in places that aren’t the correct location or best place for us, because of various things we can be delayed on our journey but we still arrive at our destination. But lets us keep going until we reach were God wants us to be.

I live in Southport, and our local train station is served by two train companies, Northern Rail who provide services to and from Manchester and Merseyrail who provide services to Liverpool, The Wirral and Chester, can you imagine if I decided to spend the day by visiting Chester but decided to travel to Manchester instead both have similar names but are two different places, Manchester is a great place but it wouldn’t have been my destination, when travelling to Chester you have to change trains at either Moorfields or Liverpool Central Stations , I could say to myself it has taken me 45 minutes to get to Liverpool, and it will  take another 50 minutes to get to Chester. I know I will stay here for a bit then move on to Chester but you end up in Liverpool which is a great place to visit but again not my destination, because Merseyrail is a local commuter line it stops at every train station between Southport and Liverpool one of these stations is Formby and in Formby there is a National Trust site that has a colony of Red Squirrels,  I could be distracted and decide to see these Red Squirrels, but again it’s not my destination!

Why I’m saying these things?  You may ask, I’m using this has an illustration, some of us have decided to go to places that aren’t our destination/destiny but have made it our destination or destiny because it’s similar to our destination or destiny and others have places where we need to change but we stay in a place that we needed to just to change at to get to our destination or destiny and then others have been distracted by things we’ve seen or have been told and yes we all say we’re happy and fulfilled where we are and God is blessing us,  yes this things may be true up to point but to reach the full potential of our destiny we need to be where God has called us to be in the first place, yes it will mean change and/or upset but we need to be where God wants us to be!

It says in Habakkuk 2:3 For still the vision awaits its appointed time it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it;    it will surely come; it will not delay.

It says in Ephesians 3:20 – 21. 20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.

Yours because of His Grace and Mercy

Blair Humphreys

Walking the Walk, Part 1 Built up in Christ

Colossians 2

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

You Are Built Up in Christ

2 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument. 5 For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ.

6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. 9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; 11 and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; 12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, 14 having cancelled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.

16 Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day— 17 things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, 19 and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.

20 If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, 21 “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” 22 (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)—in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? 23 These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.

IVP New Testament Commentary Series

Colossians 2:3ff

Simply put, spiritual maturity results from knowing Christ. The distinctive emphasis in this letter on wisdom (1:9, 28; 2:3, 23; 3:16; 4:5), knowledge (1:9-10, 27; 2:2-3; 3:10; 4:7-9) and knowing (1:6; 2:1; 3:24; 4:1, 6, 8), especially linked to Paul's proclamation of Christ, is no doubt made with Paul's Colossian opponents in mind. They too are concerned with ideas, but their "philosophy" is not centered by the teaching of and about Christ (2:8) and therefore is "hollow and deceptive," incapable of forming the spiritual life of the Christian congregation (2:6-7).

The Greek word for live (peripateo) literally means to "walk about." According to Paul, our trust in the received gospel of God's grace through Christ results in a "walk about" in him; we become familiar with him and a part of him. The apostle often sets indicative statements about God's salvation next to imperative statements about our response to God in order to show their close, even logical relationship. To embrace the truth about God's Christ is to live in him.

Our passage into Christ transforms the way we live. The four participles that follow in verse 7 express four characteristics of the Christian's "walk about." Each is stated in the passive voice because each is given by God's grace rather than acquired by human effort. The first two, rooted and built, are metaphors of growth, envisaging the dynamic character of Christian nurture, while the second two, strengthened . . . and overflowing, are metaphors of worship, envisaging the spiritual results of devotion to God. The two couplets are naturally related, since the nurture of Christ's community is facilitated by corporate acts of worship, when it is taught the faith it has received and offers its thanksgiving to God.

The verb take captive (sylagogeo) is found only here in the New Testament and suggests an illegal kidnapping. The word sounds very much like synagogue, and Wright suggests that Paul intentionally chose this rare word as a "contemptuous pun" to warn believers not to be taken in by a philosophy with roots in the esoterica of Colossian Judaism (1987:100). In addition, Paul may use this verb to recall the conversion motif of 1:13, where he spoke of salvation as God's rescue operation. The peril of the Colossian error is thereby highlighted: believers, who are rescued by God's saving grace from darkness and brought into the light, are now threatened by an enemy that seeks to recapture them and enslave them once again to the darkness of false teaching. In fact, the word darkness is used elsewhere as a metaphor of false teaching that closes the mind to the gospel truth (see Jn 1:5).

To be taken captive by a philosophy need not mean to accept a form of truth (that is, "philosophy") that is inherently flawed. Rabbis, for example, spoke of biblical teaching as "philosophy," because philosophy helped them organize biblical teaching into coherent and meaningful systems of truth. Paul himself has nothing against "love of wisdom," which is what philosophy literally means (compare 1 Cor 1:30). In this letter's opening thanksgiving, Paul agreed with other ancient philosophers in contending that "the word of truth" will produce good fruit (1:5-6). Yet now he uses the word more precisely to denote a system of integrated ideas that is promoted as gospel truth but whose result is hollow and deceptive—that is, spiritually useless

Whenever Christ's lordship over all things pertaining to life and faith is diminished, the result is stunted spiritual growth that can even imperil one's salvation (see 1:23). In fact, the practical results of a religious philosophy like that found at Colosse are a moral asceticism (2:20-23) that actually rejects God's creation as bad, and a visionary mysticism that replaces life in Christ with visionary experiences of angel worship (2:18). Such a spirituality makes the experience of God's liberating grace a real impossibility.

IVP New Testament Commentaries are made available by the generosity of InterVarsity Press.

Fire in My Bones, by J. Lee Grady Calling All Jonahs: Don't Run if You Are Called to Speak!

8:00AM EDT 8/21/2013    J. LEE GRADY

I did it again. On a recent Sunday I stood in a pulpit, looked out over a congregation of mostly strangers, cleared the lump in my throat and preached a message that the Lord had laid on my heart from the Bible.

Thousands of men and women speak publicly like this every week. It’s what preachers do. No big deal. But even though I speak often, I’ve found that preaching the gospel is one of the most frightening assignments anyone could attempt. I feel as if I die a thousand deaths right before I do it, and I die several more times after I go home and evaluate what happened.

After one discouraging experience in which an audience stared coldly at me with their arms folded, I determined that preaching surely must not be my calling. I shared my struggle with an older pastor.

“Sometimes I feel discouraged after I speak,” I said. “Does that ever happen to you?” I was sure he would counsel me to stop preaching.

His answer shocked me. “Son, I feel that way every Monday morning.”

When I tell friends that I stubbornly resisted the call of God to preach because of my lack of confidence, they act surprised. They think most people who stand in pulpits want to be there.

Think again! We assume God chooses gifted orators who hone their skills like doctors who learn surgery or actors who learn to perform on stage. But true preaching is not a natural exercise—it is one of the most supernatural tasks anyone can ever be called to do. It requires an imperfect human vessel to yield himself (or herself) to speak the very words of God.

If we do this in the flesh, the results are miserable; if we wholly trust the power of the Spirit, prophetic preaching unleashes supernatural anointing.

Most preachers in the Bible were reluctant. Moses made excuses about stuttering, Gideon tried to disqualify himself, and Jeremiah complained about the responsibility of carrying a prophetic burden. Jonah bought a one-way ticket to the other side of the Mediterranean Sea so he wouldn’t have to give his unpopular sermon.

And the apostle Paul, who was a silver-tongued Pharisee before he met Christ, was stripped of his eloquence before he preached throughout the Roman Empire. He told the Corinthians: “I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God” (1 Cor. 2:3-5, NASB).

Charismatic revivalist Arthur Katz, who died seven years ago, wrote about the power of true preaching in his 1999 book Apostolic Foundations: “The only one qualified to preach ... is the one who wants to run the other way, like Jonah. ... The man who sighs and groans when called upon to speak, who does not want to be there, who feels terribly uncomfortable ... is the man out of whose mouth the word of true preaching is most likely to come.”

That is certainly not the way most of us view pulpit ministry in contemporary America. We celebrate the smooth and the polished. We measure the impact of a sermon not by whether hearts are slain by conviction but by how high the people jump when the preacher tells them what they want to hear.

That kind of carnal preaching may win the accolades of men, boost TV ratings and even build megachurches. But the kingdom is not built on smug self-confidence. We need God’s words. The church will live in spiritual famine until broken, reluctant, weak and trembling preachers allow His holy fire to come out of their mouths.

If you have a message from God, die to your fears, doubts and excuses, and drink the cup of suffering that accompanies the genuine call of God.

Words for The Wise, Justification, Romans 5 NIV

Romans 5

New International Version - UK (NIVUK)

Peace and hope

5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we[b] boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Death through Adam, life through Christ

12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned –

13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.

15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: the judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

20 The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Footnotes:

Romans 5:1 Many manuscripts let us

Romans 5:2 Or let us

Romans 5:3 Or let us

NIV Application Commentary

We Hope Because God Loves Us in Christ (5:5–8)

Our claim that Christ will rescue us from God’s wrath will some day be vindicated. God will do what he promised.

How can we be sure? In Romans 5:5b–10, Paul gives two basic reasons: God’s love for us in Christ (vv. 5b–8) and God’s work for us in Christ (vv. 9–10). God does not mete out his love for us in tiny measures; he “has poured” (ekcheo) it into our hearts. This verb is used to describe the “pouring out” of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:17–18). Paul therefore cleverly alludes to the Spirit here. It is the Spirit, dwelling in the heart of believers, who communicates God’s love to us (cf. Rom. 5:5). Paul says much more about this ministry of the Holy Spirit and about God’s love for us in chapter 8.

Alongside this subjective evidence of God’s love, we also have objective proof of that love in the cross of Christ. At the time God determined, at just the right point in salvation history, “Christ died for the ungodly” (v. 6; cf. also, for this sense of time, 3:26; 8:18; 13:11). Sending his Son to die for people who refused to worship him (the basic connotation of “ungodly”) reveals the magnitude of God’s love for us.

To make sure we do not miss this point, Paul reinforces it in verse 7 with an analogy: “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.” Though the issue is disputed, a difference between “a good man” and “a righteous man” seems to be the key to the interpretation. A “righteous” person is one we might respect, but a “good” person is one we might love. Rarely will a person give his or her life for someone they merely respect; but occasionally a person dies for the sake of someone they love—a soldier for his buddies, a parent for her children. The awesome quality of God’s love for us is seen in that Christ died for us while we were “still sinners”—hating God, in rebellion against him (v. 8).

From NIVAC: Romans by Douglas J. Moo. Published by Zondervan Academic.

2. Justification according to the Apostle Paul. 

 When the Apostle Paul preached the doctrine of justification in the ancient Rom. world it would seem that the term was readily understood by both Jew and Greek (Rom 1:14). The apostle does not take great pains to define the term, although the word usually may be understood from the context in which it is used. To the Corinthians he simply wrote, “But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor 6:11) and let it go at that. Even in the Epistle to the Romans, the longest and most detailed presentation of justification in the Bible, the apostle does not pause to explain these terms but assumes that his readers understand them. Although in his inspired written record of God’s revelation of salvation to sinful man, the apostle uses other picture words to describe God’s action (apolytrosis), “redemption” (Rom 3:24) and katallage, “reconciliation” (5:11), his favorite term, esp. in his Epistle to the Romans, is (dikaiosis) “justification” (4:25, 5:16) and words closely related such as (dikaios) “just” or “righteous” (dikaiosyne), “righteousness” (dikaiō), “to justify” (dikaioma), “judgment” or “decree” (dikaiōs), “righteously.” Whether Paul speaks of “justification by faith” and/or of the negative opposite impossibility, justification by works, the meaning of the word “justify” by itself is basically declarative or forensic (the word “forensic” always is used in connection with law, courtroom procedure, judgment, or public discussion and deba te).

 A man justified by works would be pronounced righteous because he did the works and a judge says so; God pronounces sinners righteous because of Christ’s work for him. In both cases the act of judging or justifying is forensic. A study of Paul’s Epistle to the Romans reveals that the idea of judgment or rendering a decision is the leitmotif of his entire presentation on justification. When he says that “God gave them up” (1:24-28) in speaking of the sins of natural man, this act involved a judgment on the part of God. The section in his treatise (2:6-11) esp. exemplifies this meaning of justification. Since God’s justice is righteous and perfect, He will pronounce judgment upon every man according to his works. Paul says a judgment, a “justification,” will be rendered for all men, eternal life to those who have done well, wrath and damnation to those who have disobeyed. The verdict will be as it should be, for there is no partiality with God. The forensic situation is the same as that of which Moses writes: “If there is a dispute between men, and they come into court, and the judges decide between them, acquitting (LXX: δικαιόω, G1467) the innocent and condemning the guilty, then if the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall cause him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with a number of stripes in proportion to his offense” (Deut 25:1, 2). The apostle states that the “doers of the law will be justified” (Rom 2:13). Using the term in a context of law and judgment, the apostle does not say the doers of law become righteous, or make themselves righteous, but that they are pronounced or judged righteous before God. Paul is not teaching salvation or justification by works but maintains the basic meaning of the term “justify.”

 No man can fulfill the law of God perfectly and cannot receive a judgment or justification by work s. Nevertheless, even if he could fulfill its demands, man would not thereby make himself righteous, but would have to be pronounced righteous or innocent by the judge. In the phrase “justified by faith” (Rom 3:28), the term means to judge a sinner not guilty, that is, to acquit a guilty man rather than an innocent man. Justification is a reversal of God’s attitude toward the sinner because of his justification by faith in Christ. The sinner is declared free from guilt and the punishment of sin (cf. 2 Cor 5:19-21; Acts 13:38, 39). This is Paul’s unique use of the term justification, God’s acquittal of the sinner. A just man is not pronounced just because he is just, but a sinful man is pronounced just because his sins have been atoned for by the righteousness of Christ. In another illustration on this point, in Romans 2:26, Paul says that a man’s uncircumcision is regarded or counted as circumcision. In other words, one thing is simply counted for another, or a person is regarded as something he really is not. This is the basic, Scriptural concept of the idea of “to justify” or “justification.”

Accordingly, the old Lutheran theologian, Martin Chemnitz (Loc. II 250), writes of Paul’s teaching on justification; “Paul everywhere describes justification as a judicial process, because the conscience of the sinner accused by the divine Law before the tribunal of God, convicted and lying under the sentence of eternal condemnation, but fleeing to the throne of grace, is restored, acquitted, delivered from the sentence of condemnation, is received into eternal life, on account of obedience and intercession of the Son of God, the Mediator, which is apprehended and applied by faith.” According to this, justification signifies “to be pronounced righteous,” or “to be acquitted.”

5. Justification and the atonement of Christ. If God’s righteousness is the saving act of God in Christ for man’s salvation, then justification is closely related to our Lord’s atonement. In fact, Christ’s atonement is the grounds for justification. Christ’s person and activity is the justification or reconciliation with God and the basis of all individual justification. It is the only basis upon which God can and does justify the sinner (Rom 3:24; 8:1; 2 Cor 5:18-21). The atonement of Christ answers the question: “How can a just God acquit a sinner; yes, one who remains sinful even after he is justified?”

 Justification does not mean God “overlooks sin” or acts as if man were not a sinner. The sentimental view which conceives of God as a gracious old “grandfather” who winks at the sins of His “children,” denies the integrity of the true God and destroys any concept of justification. God’s justice and holiness demand payment for sin, and this penalty Christ paid in the atonement on the cross. Thus in justification God devised a plan whereby both His attributes of justice and His love manifested in grace for salvation of sinners are given full meaning.

By making Christ a substitute for man, God preserves His own justice and the same time achieves salvation for the sinner (Rom 3:26). It is un-Biblical, therefore, to speculate whether God could or does forgive without Christ. Sinful men “are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forth as an expiation by His blood.”

God is involved in the justification-atonement syndrome in three ways: (1) He is the Initiator, who first loved man. (2) He is the Instrument or Means, who gave Himself in the incarnate Christ as the once-for-all sacrifice for man’s sin. (3) He is also the Object of His saving work, who satisfied His wrath and justice over sin through Christ’s all-atoning sacrifice. At one and the same time God satisfies Himself and forgives the sinner. Therefore, only in Christ does God justify the sinner by imputing Christ’s perfect righteousness to the sinner who has none of his own (2 Cor 5:21). The Scriptures teach plainly that the wrath of God is visited upon by sinful man or else the Son of God must die for them. Either man dies or Christ dies. But God “shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8).

Encyclopedia of The Bible.

Yours by His Grace

Blair Humphreys

Southport, Merseyside

Some thoughts for Today. Christ is more than enough

Colossians 1

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Thankfulness for Spiritual Attainments

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

3 We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel 6 which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth; 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, 8 and he also informed us of your love in the Spirit.

Thanks Be to God (1:3) IVP New Testament Commentary Series

Paul always gives thanks for God's work in the lives of others. Here he uses the plural pronoun—we always thank God . . . when we pray for you—in order to emphasize the corporate nature of his ministry. The prayers he regularly shares with others, such as Timothy (1:1) and Epaphras (1:7-8; see also 4:12), seek to benefit others spiritually without assuming any special status for himself. Further, Paul's prayer is centered on God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Worship never congratulates people or focuses on their material needs; rather, Christian worship is rooted in our singular devotion to God, from whom and to whom our salvation is directed.

Paul's frequent use of Father alludes to an important Old Testament metaphor for God's covenantal relationship with Israel. Thanksgiving is given to God, then, within the framework of a covenant of mutual fidelity. Thus, to express thanks to God as our Father not only acknowledges God's faithfulness to us but also assumes our covenantal obligation to obey God in return, even as the child is responsible to bring honor to his or her father. So thanksgiving anticipates our own faithfulness to a faithful God, which is made possible by God's grace through faith in Christ (see Eph 2:8-10).

Reformation Study Bible

1:4 faith in Christ Jesus. In the face of a teaching circulating in Colossae that questioned whether Christ alone could be sufficient, Paul reminds the readers through his prayer of thanksgiving that what they already have “in Christ” is enough.

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9 For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.

IVP New Testament Commentary Series

While the apostle Paul is impressed by the report of the congregation's spiritual development, his petition seems to detect a certain immaturity in them that fails to discern what is spiritually important. Hence, he asks God for increased knowledge and spiritual wisdom and understanding for them. This accumulation of similar terms for true knowledge underscores its importance to Paul. The progress of Christian formation follows up rebirth with retraining. While the Colossians have learned the word of truth from Epaphras, they are apparently too easily confused by false teaching; their faith in Christ Jesus is not "as hard as nails," and their Christian witness has suffered as a result. At its root, the Colossian crisis is a crisis of knowing God. And so it is with every challenge to a congregation's spiritual formation.

Paul's concern for a more comprehensive knowledge of God's will as the basis of living for God in the world is profoundly Jewish in nature (see Schweizer 1982:41). Knowledge for its own sake—as "fine-sounding arguments" (2:4) or as philosophy "which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world" (2:8)—is simply not valued by Paul. Knowing God, the yield of an active spiritual life, sparks obedience to God, and obedience finds its eschatological reward (3:1-5; compare Rom 2:5-11). In a similar sense, the writer to the Hebrews warns against being satisfied with a rudimentary understanding of "the elementary truths of God's word" and calls for a more mature wisdom that can "distinguish good from evil" (Heb 5:12, 14). That is, a mature knowledge of God's Word always yields a practical and public result: behavior that conforms to the will of God, which is "doing good" (compare 1 Pet 3:17).

The Incomparable Christ

13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. 18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. 19 For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, 20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.

21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, 22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach— 23 if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.

24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions. 25 Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, 26 that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, 27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. 29 For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.

Words for the Wise, Christian Leadership

1 Timothy 6

English Standard Version Anglicised (ESVUK)

6 Let all who are under a yoke as slaves[a] regard their own masters as worthy of all honour, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled. 2 Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers; rather they must serve all the better since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved.

False Teachers and True Contentment

Teach and urge these things. 3 If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound[b] words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, 4 he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, 5 and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. 6 Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and[c] we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Fight the Good Fight of Faith

11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before[d] Pontius Pilate made the good confession, 14 to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honour and eternal dominion. Amen.

17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

20 O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge”, 21 for by professing it some have swerved from the faith.

Grace be with you.[e]

The IVP New Testament Commentary Series

Opposing False Teachers (6:2-5)

The Christian leader must not forget the responsibility to protect the faith. Those of Paul's readers who fell into this category, including Timothy, were to discharge this duty by teaching and urging the true faith (v. 2). The command that sets Timothy in this mode again (see also 3:14; 4:6, 11; 5:7, 21) also reminds them that in this operation the Christian leader is not unarmed. Paul has given specific teaching (these . . . things) for confrontation with the false teachers.

Having repeated the command, Paul issues a kind of "wanted poster." It is the counterpart to the "job description" given in chapter 3. Notably, each begins with the general if anyone (compare 5:4, 16; Tit 1:6). Here, verses 3-6 consist of one long sentence in the Greek, beginning with the "criminal" and the "crime" and going on to give identifying characteristics in a list of vices. By using the list (compare 1:9-10; 2 Tim 3:2-4; Tit 3:3) Paul meant to create a strong stereotype or caricature of the false teacher that would communicate primarily two things: an authoritative denunciation and a solemn warning. Readers, after seeing this "poster," would not be likely to form or maintain casual attitudes about the false teachers or their doctrine.

The IVP New Testament Commentary Series

Timothy, Fight the Good Fight (6:12-15)

The servant of God must also fulfill the calling of ministry. The charge issued in 1:18 is repeated here. Paul has changed the metaphor, however, from ministry in terms of a military struggle to ministry in terms of an athletic contest (see also 2 Tim 4:7). Thus the need for perseverance, sustained effort and training dominate in this charge (compare 1 Cor 9:24-27; 2 Tim 2:5). Like a skillful coach, Paul supplies ample motivation for maintaining the struggle.

1. Eternal reward (6:12). Especially for the minister, to "finish the race" is no mere option. The command tone (take hold) reminds us of the real element of human responsibility in the salvation process, as it also implies the real possibility of success. Though the cost is great, the Christian leader can arrive at the goal of personal salvation, eternal life.

But while the athletic imagery emphasizes the human side, it is the prior action of "calling" that establishes the believer's future success. In the passive, the verb refers clearly to God's call to eternal life. Yet as we have just seen, divine sovereignty does not preclude human responsibility. Timothy had an obligation to participate in his salvation. We too must view faithful Christian living and service, in whatever context God places us, as our necessary responsibility to God.

2. Past promises (6:12). The Greek sentence continues without a break, and attention shifts to Timothy's past commitment to God. It may be (as the NIV interprets it) that the phrase good confession in the presence of many witnesses relates directly to God's calling (to eternal life), indicating the time when realization of this occurred. In this case, the event in mind would probably be Timothy's baptism. However, the phrase may be linked more directly to the parallel commands to fight and to take hold, making the event grounds for obedience to those ministerial commands. In this case, the allusion would be to a commissioning ceremony of some sort. The two ceremonies would have been similar in tone, each including a confession of faith, a charge and a vow of commitment.

To judge from the ministry context here and probable allusions to the event elsewhere (1:18; 4:14), Paul may have had in mind Timothy's commissioning (similar to the more modern ordination). Then his reasoning is that the two commands of verse 12 are in keeping with the promises of God's selection of one for ministry. The ceremony that bound the congregation to acknowledge the authority of the new minister also bound the minister to faithful service.

Today the binding force of one's word is often questioned, but before God that is not so. The minister's pledge to serve must not be taken lightly. But it takes discipline as well as forceful reminders from coworkers or from God's Spirit to bring us back to first promises that bind. Yet what the servant must recall are not only human commitments to God but also God's commitments to his servants.

3. Present promises (6:13). This comes more clearly into view as Paul reminds Timothy of his present situation. Christian service is not something God initiates, like the christening of a ship, then leaves to run its own course. It begins with God's choice and continues in his presence and fellowship. So when Paul repeats the solemn charge, which begins in verse 13 and ends in verse 14, he emphasizes Timothy's continuing fellowship with God and Christ.

In this fellowship, too, obligation and promise are combined. To be in the sight of God (5:21; 2 Tim 4:1) is cause for reverent fear. The Hebrews were terrified of God's presence, which, as Moses explained, was to keep them from sinning (Ex 20:20). But God's presence meant for them also his faithful care—guidance, food, clothing (Deut 8:1-5). And the description of God as life-giver means the same for Paul's readers. God's constant presence should spur the Christian on to excellent service. Equally, this truth provides encouragement and strength, for the ever-present God is the one who gives and sustains life.

At the same time Timothy is reminded of his fellowship with Christ. He is our ever-present Lord (compare Mt 28:20). This comforting promise of continual fellowship, however, ought to compel us to the heights of faithfulness, for our Lord is also our judge (2 Tim 4:8; Rev 3:15-16).

Christian leaders in difficult situations have always found encouragement in Christ's experience. In fact, God has called us to participate in the very ministry Christ initiated. He made the good confession first, before Pontius Pilate. Paul's allusion is difficult to ascertain. Probably the reference is to Jesus' trial and to the supreme testimony he gave in his death. He authenticated his calling and commitment to serve God before the representative of this world, despite great danger and temptations to denial (see Jn 18:28-37). The one called to serve God makes a confession and commitment to continue Christ's own mission at any personal cost. Christ's commitment to his servants is continual fellowship.

4. Future promises (6:14). It is equally important for Timothy to concentrate on the promise of Christ's return, for two reasons. First is the promise of relief. The term Paul chose to describe the Second Coming here (the appearing) pictures the event as a glorious intervention to bring help. In fact, Paul uses the same term to refer to Christ's first advent (2 Tim 1:10; Tit 2:11; 3:4); this shows how the present age is to be understood in relation to Christ's two "appearances"—what began with Christ will end with Christ. When God's appointed time arrives, relief will come to the minister. A Christian's earthly duties will cease.

Second is a note of urgency. The obligations connected with the call to service (the command, vv. 11-12, to lead an exemplary Christian life) must be kept, the course must be finished in all faithfulness (without spot or blame), for Christ comes to judge (2 Tim 4:1, 8). In light of the certainty of this future event, without spot or blame stresses the need for a life that expresses godliness consistently and in all respects. The early Christians lived as if Christ's return would occur during their lifetime. We for the most part do not, and we are the weaker for it. This confident hope of consummation and evaluation can sustain us when days are long, bodies grow weary and results seem few.

5. Sovereign God (6:15-16). Last of all in the charge to Timothy, Paul calls to mind the sovereign and majestic God. A clear vision of the true nature of God is a strong motivation for holy living and service for all Christians. Paul declares that God has ordered all events (v. 15), including the appearance of Christ. But what a God! The Greek makes it clear that Paul has actually inserted a doxology, which celebrates the majesty and mystery of God, to describe the subject of the verb of execution (bring about) in verse 15. The force of Paul's artistry is to close the charge to God's servant in adoration and worship (compare 1:17).

The God whom Christians serve is the blessed and only Ruler. This description comes out of intertestamental Judaism. God's oneness and sovereignty (Ruler means "sovereign"), which might suggest transcendence and "otherness," are balanced by the blessing he intimately bestows on his people. The phrases King of kings and Lord of lords ascribe to God absolute sovereignty. This powerful combination appears in Revelation 17:14 and 19:16 in reference to Christ.

Majesty gives way to mystery in verse 16 as the doxology next declares God to be "the only one having immortality" (1:17). The meaning is that God is the source of eternal life, that life which is proper to him alone, which he has chosen to bestow on others. His dwelling place is unapproachable light (Ex 24:15-17; 34:29-35; 1 Jn 1:5-7), which speaks symbolically of his absolute holiness. The mystery becomes complete in the reference to his "invisibility" (1:17). The actual phrase, whom no one has seen or can see, recalls God's response to Moses, who in preparation for leading God's people requested to see God: "no one may see me and live" (Ex 33:20). Still, enough was shown to Moses to carry him through in confidence.

Finally, the doxology closes in praise, ascribing honor and might forever to the sovereign God (Rev 5:13). In the end, God's servants must set their concentration upon the invincible God. Turning the thought to praise, Paul reminds his readers that Christian life and ministry together form the appropriate response to the blessing of God.

IVP New Testament Commentaries are made available by the generosity of InterVarsity Press.

The Bible Panorama

1 Timothy 6

V 1–2: SLAVES The word ‘bond servants’ means ‘slaves’. They are told to honour their masters so that God will be glorified. They must not take unfair advantage of Christian masters who bestow great benefits coming from their Christian character. Timothy is to insist on this. (Some slaves became more privileged and better supported than many free people.)

 V 3–5: SEPARATION Timothy is to separate himself from those who have selfish, corrupt and ungodly attitudes and lifestyles which cause them to seek gain rather than godliness.

 V 6–10: STRAYING Carrying on with the thought of gain, Paul tells Timothy that some have strayed from the faith, and injured themselves, because of a love of money. Godliness brings its own contentment. Paul advocates a simple lifestyle with gratitude for needs being met, and a desire to glorify God.

 V 11–16: SPOTLESS Timothy, as a man of God, is to flee all spiritually harmful influences and seek the qualities and characteristics which are consistent with the ‘good fight of faith’. He is to seek to be kept spotless and blameless in the view of Christ’s appearing. He is to remember the coming appearing, the holiness and the greatness of his ‘King of kings and Lord of lords’.

V 17–19: SHARING Timothy is to tell the rich Christians, for whom all their riches have come from God, that they should be willing to share with others and invest in eternal life.

 V 20–21: STEWARD That which has been committed to the stewardship trust of Timothy is to be protected from any teaching that would pollute it. Some have strayed through those polluted teachings and Paul prays for God’s grace for his protégé.

Words for the Wise, Spiritual Growth and Maturity. Ephesians 4

Ephesians 4

English Standard Version Anglicised (ESVUK)

Unity in the Body of Christ

4 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. 8 Therefore it says,

“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,

    and he gave gifts to men.”

9 (In saying, “He ascended”, what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?[a] 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds[b] and teachers,[c] 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood,[d] to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 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.

 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

The New Life

17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practise every kind of impurity.

 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!—21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self,[e] which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbour, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labour, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.

 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

The Bible Panorama

Ephesians 4

V 1–6: UNITY Paul urges the Ephesians to a worthy walk which reflects the oneness of the body of Christ in spiritual unity. In so doing, he clearly emphasises that there is only ‘one Lord, and one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all’. Unity for him does not mean sacrificing truth. It is because of his stand for God’s truth that he writes as ‘the prisoner of the Lord’.

V 7–10: INDIVIDUALITY This unity does not detract from the fact that grace is individually given to each person who trusts Christ, and that God gives enabling gifts to individual believers. He is the universe’s highly ascended Lord, and can do that easily!

 V 11–16: COMMUNITY God has given certain gifted people to His church. They are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. His aim, through them, is to equip and edify His people so, together, they know Christ, stand firm on biblical doctrine against those who would deceive, and recognise how they all together fit into the body of Christ of which He is head.

 V 17–19: FUTILITY The Christian Gentile is to be contrasted with the other Gentiles who, as unbelievers, walk ignorantly, blindly, and in sin and greediness.

 V 20–24: IDENTITY In coming to know Christ, their old ways are dispensed with and the ‘new man’ is put on, in righteousness and holiness. There is a spiritual renewal of the mind and a radical change of identity for the born-again Christian.

 V 25–32: QUALITY There is a new quality of life of the Christian which reflects the fact that he does not ‘grieve the Holy Spirit of God’. He rejects former sinful ways, words and works, and applies himself to replacing them with positive good. He gives the devil no place in his life and rejects his former negative behaviour and sin. His new quality of life is shown by tender-heartedness, showing forgiveness to others, and avoiding grieving the Spirit. The springboard for this is that ‘God in Christ forgave you’.

The Bible Panorama. Copyright © 2005 Day One Publications.

Dictionary of Bible Themes

5904 maturity, spiritual

The development of Christlike character and behaviour in the Christian through a renewed mind and tested faith.

Christlikeness as the goal and model for spiritual maturity

Eph 4:13-15 See also Col 2:6-7; Heb 12:2

Marks of spiritual maturity

Spiritual understanding Col 2:2 See also Ro 15:14; 1Co 2:6; 1Co 14:20; Eph 1:17-18; Heb 5:12-6:1

Discernment of God’s will and changed behaviour Col 1:9-10 See also Ro 12:2; 1Co 3:1-3; Gal 5:22-23; Eph 4:22-23; Php 1:9-11; 2Th 1:3

Stability Col 4:12 See also Eph 4:14; 2Pe 3:17-18

Care for the weaker brother Ro 15:1 See also Gal 6:1-2

Maturity is to be the aim of the Christian

Php 3:13-15 See also Lk 8:14 a reason for spiritual immaturity; 2Co 7:1; 2Co 13:11; 1Ti 6:11

The process of maturity

God causes spiritual growth Php 1:6 See also Gal 3:3; Heb 10:14

Possessing gifts of ministry Eph 4:11-13 See also Ro 1:11

Being equipped by the word of God 2Ti 3:16-17 See also Ro 15:4; 1Pe 2:2; 1Jn 2:5

Persevering through trials Ro 5:3-5 See also Heb 2:10; Jas 1:3-4; 1Pe 5:10

The concern of the pastor is to help others to maturity

Col 1:28-29 See also 2Co 13:9-10; Gal 4:19