Stages of Development in a Believer
Some people say: “Why should I go to church? People are just as bad in the church as they
are outside the church. They think of
the church as being a building and a sign outside with the pastor’s name. The sign usually will tell you the name of a
denomination where you can decide if you believe the same thing they
believe. Then there are signs that will
call themselves a Christian center and you must go in and guess how they
believe. The true church is made of
people with God living inside of them and is a gathering together of
like-minded, people in one accord.
(1 Cor. 6-19). Or do
you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is
in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
If the same Holy Spirit lives in the believer and they
listen to Him, then why are the believers not as one? Why is there so much turmoil in the church? Why are there so many nuts and flakes in the
church? The reason is that the believer’s
soul (mind, will, emotions and five senses) has to be trained with the word of
God in order to communicate with his spirit.
In order to understand the believer, we must recognize that
there are stages of development in the believer. It does not come with physical age or even
how long you have been a believer or even a position you hold in a group. These stages are:
- Babes,
- Children,
- Sons/Daughters
of God
- And
Fathers and Mothers in the faith.
The characteristic of a baby Christian is that he is
innocent. He is beginning a new life. He is ignorant. He has to rely on someone else to feed and
take care of his every need. If they do
not, he will die. He is irritable. Babies are easily distracted, easily
frustrated and easily hurt. This is a
critical stage of a Christian because it is forming his character. It is said that the personality of a baby is
developed in his first 2 years of his life. It is very important what a baby Christian is
being taught because this forms his thinking in the future. 1 Cor. 13:11
The characteristic of child of God is that he is
unreliable. Children have a short
attention span. They have to be told
every day what to do and have a lack of discipline. A
child is curious. Children are like
cats. If a cat stays in the house he
will want to see in every closet and under every bed. If you say no to a child too much, it will
become dung in his ears and will agitate him until he experiments for
himself. Another characteristic of a
child is that he has foolish talk/vain speaking.
Eph 5:3-4 But fornication and all uncleanness or
coveteousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints4neither
filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but
rather giving of thanks.
If you have ever had a teenager, he will react to everything
that is said to him by his peers. Some
people never leave their children and teenage years.
The characteristic of a Son (no gender in the Spirit) of God
is described in
Romans 8:13-17. For
if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put
to death the deeds of the body, you will live.14 For as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, these are sons of God.15 For you did not receive the spirit of
bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry
out, “Abba, Father.”16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we
are children of God,17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs
with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified
together.
The apostle Paul encouraged the Christians at Rome to live not
“according to the flesh,” but “by the Spirit,” because those who “are led by
the Spirit of God, these are sons of God”.
This Christian will recognize that he has come through the other stages
that we discussed and will judge no one when he sees them mess up, he will try
to help them. Psalm 1:1:3 describes a
Son of God like this:
Psalm 1:1-3 Blessed is the man who walks not in the
counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat
of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he
meditates day and night. He shall be
like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its
season, whose leaf also not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.
The last stage, although we never reach perfection this side
of heaven, is Fathers and Mothers, the reproducers, mentoring someone else in
the faith. That is what fulfilling the Great Commission is all about, making
disciples
Let’s desire the pure milk of the Word, grow up to eat the
Meat of the Word, and become the mature church having a spiritual senses
discerned.
Hebrews 5: 13For everyone who partakes only of milk is
unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14But
solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those
who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
(Heb 4:12) For the Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing apart of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
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