Christian Growth & Victory Part 1

 MEMORY VERSES: 2 Peter 1:5-9

 Few issues in the Christian life are more important than this. Practically every new believer is puzzled about why he still has a problem with indwelling sin and how can it be handled. That is the question that we will answer in these lessons.

 Introduction

 1.  When the believer comes to Christ, God regenerates him and gives him a holy nature, but the old sin nature is still present. It is called the “old man.” This is why the New Testament everywhere instructs believers to put away sin (e.g., 1 Peter 2:1). The ongoing presence of sin in the Christian life is everywhere taken for granted in the New Testament Epistles. If sin were somehow eradicated, the Epistles would not everywhere address the need to deal with it. If sin could somehow be eradicated, the New Testament would explain how this could be accomplished, and this experience would everywhere be offered as the solution to the sin problem. But this is not what we find. There is a spiritual war that goes on in the believer’s life. The flesh wars against the Spirit; the old man wars against the new man.

 

2.   There is no one secret or key to spiritual victory in the Christian life. Many “keys” have been proposed, such as the baptism of the Holy Spirit, a second blessing, the crucified life, and John Piper’s joy in God path. If there were one such thing that would give the believer victory, every New Testament epistle would say so. For example, when Paul wrote to Corinth to correct their sins, he would have spent the entire epistle explaining the “key.” Instead, Paul dealt with many different things. The same is true in the epistle of Ephesians. Chapter 4-6 is a treatise on the Christian life, and instead of one “secret” Paul dealt with all sorts of things, such as putting off the old man and putting on the new (4:22-24), not grieving the Holy Spirit (4:30), having no fellowship with evil (5:11),

walking circumspectly (5:15), redeeming the time (5:16), being filled with the Spirit (5:18), giving thanks always to the Lord (5:20), wives submitting to their husbands and husbands loving their wives (5:22-33), and putting on the whole armor of God (6:10-18).

 

3.     Some of the things that we would ordinarily include in this section on Christian growth and spiritual victory, such as prayer and the church, are dealt with in their own separate sections.

 

4.  In 2 Peter 1:3-11 we see several important truths about Christian growth:

 

a.    Christian growth flows from God’s abundant salvation (2 Pet. 1:3). At salvation the believer has everything he needs to grow and be fruitful. All he has to do is use it.

 

b.   Christian growth is a process of adding to one’s faith (2 Pet. 1:5-7). When we are saved, we only have one thing, and that is faith. The Christian life is adding every good thing to faith.

 

c.     Christian growth is not instantaneous; it doesn’t come overnight. The believer doesn’t suddenly have perfect virtue, perfect patience, perfect charity. Growth is a gradual thing. You can’t see a baby grow on a daily basis. We must therefore have faith and patience. We must keep on keeping on. This is one of the most important traits in the Christian life. It is described as walking with Christ (Galatians 5:16; Ephesians 5:8; 1 John 1:7). This is a step by step, day by day thing; the Christian life is not a leap or a flight, but a walk.

 

d.     Christian growth requires “all diligence” (2 Pet. 1:5). The half-hearted Christian will not grow. He will remain a babe and will continue to cause trouble in the church and do more to hinder God’s work than to help it. Jesus said that He hates lukewarmness (Rev. 3:15-16).

e.   Christian growth is an individual path and process (2 Pet. 1:5-7). We cannot measure ourselves by one another; we have different handicaps, different spiritual and moral baggage that we brought into the Christian life.

 

f.    Christian growth is to live by the new law, which is Christ (2 Pet. 1:5-7). Verses 5-7 describe Christ. He is all of these things incarnate: virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity. The goal of the Christian life is to reach the “measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13).

 

g.     Christian growth requires patience (2 Pet. 1:6). This is one of the most important things in the Christian life. Patience is essential for growth because it is a process, and there are many trials and obstacles and enemies. You just have to keep on keeping on, keep on walking with the Lord and trusting Him and praying and reading your Bible and going to church and obeying Him.

 

h.    Christian growth guarantees fruitfulness (2 Pet. 1:8). Every believer can have good fruit and blessing in this present life if he is willing to be diligent in seeking to grow in Christ.

 

i.   If the believer is not growing, he is going backwards (2 Pet. 1:9). It is like traveling up a river against the flow of the current. As long as I keep paddling I can make progress, but as soon as I stop paddling I start being carried back down the river. Likewise, the believer cannot stand still spiritually. He cannot say, “I am satisfied with where I am, so I will just stay at this place in my Christian life.” We must keep pressing on to higher ground, or we will backslide.

 

j.    Backsliding makes the believer nearsighted and forgetful (2 Pet. 1:9). He becomes filled with the cares and lusts of this world so that he does not think about eternity. His eyes are on man rather than on Christ. He forgets the important things and focuses on the unimportant things. Backsliding is a sad and unfruitful condition.

k.    Christian growth does not save, but it does prove one’s salvation (2 Pet. 1:10). Peter’s challenge in 2 Peter 1:10 is the same as Paul’s challenge in 2 Timothy 2:19 and James’ in James 2:17-18. Those who profess Christ but do not live for Him have no biblical basis to say that they are saved.

 

l.    Christian growth does not produce salvation; it produces rewards (2 Pet. 1:11). Peter is not saying that by growing we will make it into heaven; he is saying that by growing and serving Christ we will lay up treasures in heaven. Compare 1 Timothy 6:12.

 

 

REVIEW QUESTIONS ON CHRISTIAN GROWTH PART 1

 

1.  What is another name for the old sinful nature?

 

2.  If sin could somehow be eradicated, the New Testament would explain how this could be                                          , and this                            would everywhere be offered as the                                             to the sin problem.

 

3.  In what book and chapter is the believer taught how to add to his faith?

 

4.  What is one of the most important traits in the Christian life?

 

5.  The Christian life is not a           or a                    , but a                  .

 

6.  What will happen if the Christian is not diligent in seeking to grow?

 

7.  What is the believer's new law?

 

8.  If the believer is not growing, he is                                           .

 

9.  How is the Christian life like paddling up a river?

10.  What does backsliding produce in the Christian's life?

 

11.  Christian growth does not save, but it does                     one's salvation.

 

12.  Christian growth does not produce                       ; it produces

                             .