Category: Spiritual Theology

The theology of spiritual growth & sanctification

climbing

Why Should We Go Through Purification Now? – Part 1

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After Jesus returns God will complete our Christformation. “When Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2, NIV). “We shall also bear the image of the man of heaven” (1 Cor. 15:49, ESV). Therefore, we will not need more purification because we will be pure as Jesus is pure.   This brings us to a critical question. If God is going to complete our Christformation after Jesus returns, why should we go to all the trouble of letting God transform us now? Why should we “cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body” (2 Cor. 7:1, ESV), “put to death the deeds of the body” (Rom. 8:13, ESV) and try to reach “the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13, NIV)? This involves sacrifice and struggle. Why do this now when God is just going to instantly do it after Continue Reading →

fivefold way stages of growth

Our Fivefold Way of Growth – Part 1

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A fascinating dimension of Christformation is the various phases of growth that believers go through. We know that we go through phases because Scripture warns us against being immature. In 1 Corinthians 3 the Apostle Paul makes a disappointing evaluation of the Corinthian Christians when he says: “I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ” (v. 3 NIV). We do not want to remain in the infancy phase. Thus, it is important to have an understanding of the phases of growth God wants to take us through. Understanding progressions of our growth helps us to know where we are and where we are going. It also helps us to be okay with where we are and not dislike ourselves for not being more mature. Understanding phases also teaches us what thoughts and feelings are normal for Continue Reading →

Our Return To The Garden

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God has an amazing plan for us after Jesus returns. Along with being in the direct presence of Jesus and the Father we will live forever in a perfect community of love with God’s followers. This is what God originally intended for humans in the Garden of Eden. He told Adam and Eve “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals” (Gen. 1:28 NLT). If Adam and Eve and their descendants had not sinned then they would have built a community of people who were completely godly. Thus, their “city” would have been a fantastically harmonious and loving community. It would have been thoroughly creative and constructive as everyone joyfully used their god-given creativity to create and build beautiful and glorious homes and machines and whatever else was needed. They would have Continue Reading →

Big brother

Our Big Brother Blazed The Way For Us

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The family of God has an unusual genesis. It has a Father like other families but it also has another member who made the family possible: a big brother. In the family of God everyone has a big brother and the big brother is Jesus. He is the “oldest” of the siblings because He is the first of the newly designed humans, the first of the new Adams. He was the first to live an ideal human life and he did this is order to blaze a new trail for the rest of us to follow. The power he had to be the first ideal human is available to us too. When we first believe we receive a new self that is like Jesus’ pure human self but it is an infant new self. God’s goal was to choose people “to become like his Son, so that his Son would Continue Reading →

glorious person man

Motivated By Our Future Perfection

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What motivates you to holy living? When you are tempted by something that others think is okay but you know it is unholy, what do you think about in order to strengthen your will and resist temptation? Scripture mentions several different motivations but one of them is the promise of being thoroughly holy and perfect one day. This might not seem logical at first. If God is going to perfect us anyway, why should we make a lot of sacrifice now in order to be holy? Why would the promise of future holiness motivate me to be more holy now? We can learn about this from John: “But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.” I Jn. 3:3 (NIV) Here God is motivating us to Continue Reading →