Christian Growth & Victory Part 3

 MEMORY VERSES: Matthew 13:22; 1 Corinthians 15:33; Ephesians 5:11; 1

Peter 2:1-2; 1 John 2:15-17

 

In the last lesson we looked at four important ways to grow spiritually and to have victory in Christ: abiding in Christ, putting off the old man and putting on the new, confessing sin, and pressing toward the mark.

 

In this lesson we will look at four more things: devouring the Word, protecting the Word, separation from the world, and separation from false teachers.

 

DEVOURING THE WORD (1 Peter 2:1-2)

 

An essential thing for growing in Christ and for spiritual victory is the Bible. The Bible is God’s living Word and it has the power to make us grow (Heb. 4:12; Acts 20:32). It is spiritual meat. The believer must immerse Himself in it. It has been said, “A dusty Bible indicates a dirty heart,” and, “The Bible will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from the Bible.” The Christian that desires to have spiritual victory will make the Bible the Book of his life.

 

He must establish a habit of daily reading. He must also learn how to study it and interpret it. (We deal with this in the course Fundamental Lessons in How to Study the Bible.) He must attend a good church faithfully to hear the Bible taught and preached.

 

He must memorize the Bible and meditate on it throughout the day. And he must base his decisions on its precepts.

Notice in 1 Peter 2:1-2 that as the believer receives the Word of God, he must also be laying aside sin. If we try to take in the Word while holding onto our old sinful ways, we will not grow.

 

The first thing I suggest to new believers or those who are struggling in their Christian lives is to get serious about reading and studying and memorizing the Bible. There are many ways this can be done. If you haven’t been faithful in reading the Bible every day, commit yourself to this. Establish a time and a place and keep that divine appointment without fail. If you have been reading the Bible a chapter a day, commit yourself to tripling this or even more. You could add the reading of Psalms and Proverbs to your daily reading program. You can read through the Psalms in a month by reading five chapters a day and through Proverbs by reading one chapter a day. You could read Psalms in the morning and Proverbs in the evening, or any other plan that you decide on. A pastor recently told me that he is reading the Bible through in one month and that it has been one of the best things he has ever done. One couple told me that they spent a year doing this, reading the Bible every month together, and it greatly enriched their lives. A youth pastor told me that he is memorizing ten verses a day this year. Immersing oneself in the Scripture is the best way to grow and to get through spiritual difficulties.

 

PROTECTING THE WORD (Matthew 13:22)

 

In the Parable of the Sower Jesus warned that the Word can be choked by the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches. Mark adds the “lusts of other things entering in” (Mark 4:19), and Luke adds the “pleasures of this life” (Lk. 8:14).

 

Countless believers have unwisely failed to protect the Word in their hearts. They attend church and hear God’s Word and even read the Bible regularly, but in their day to day lives they allow the cares of life and the lusts of other things to dominate their hearts and thus choke out the effect of God’s Word.

Consider the lusts of other things. The Lord showed me this as a new Christian, when I realized that though I was studying the Bible diligently, it was not having the desired effect because I was still feeding the old man through rock & roll and unwholesome movies.

 

Consider the care of this world. If a believer finds that the Word is being choked out of his life because of the care of this world, he needs to sit down before God and examine his situation. Sometimes there is no way to avoid a worrisome circumstance, but oftentimes the believer can escape it if he is willing to put God and God’s will first. And one thing the believer can always do is cast his care upon the Lord (1 Peter 5:7). When reading the Bible, it is wise to have paper and pen at hand, and when some worry or concern comes to mind write it down and deal with it later instead of allowing it to choke God’s Word.

 

Consider the deceitfulness of riches. Many believers have failed to grow and to do God’s will because they allowed the “deceitfulness of riches” to choke God’s Word. Riches are deceitful because they promise happiness and this is a lie. The richest people in the world are not the happiest! Riches are deceitful, too, because they are uncertain. They often “take wings and fly away” (Prov. 23:5). The solution to this problem is contentment (1 Timothy 6:6-10) and putting God and His will and His business first (Matthew 6:33). He has promised to take care of me if I put Him first.

 

SEPARATION FROM THE WORLD

 

Another thing that is necessary for spiritual growth and victory is to separate from evil. We mentioned this earlier in the context of obedience, but it bears repeating.

 

The Bible warns that evil communications corrupt good manners (1 Cor. 15:33). This refers to any sort of evil thing, whether it comes by way of literature or television or movies or the Internet or music or personal associates or friends or relatives. “Good manners” refers to the good Christian life. Paul is saying that

any kind of association with evil hurts the quality of one’s Christian life.

 

We are instructed to have no fellowship with evil things (2 Cor. 6:14-18; Eph. 5:11). This is a very high standard. If the believer does not cut off his fellowship with evil, he will not grow.

 

The Bible says that if the believer loves the world, he does not love God (1 John 2:15-17). The world is defined as “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” Therefore, the believer must make many hard choices. He must choose whether to love the world or to love God. This shows the error of the “Christian rock” philosophy. I cannot love the world’s wicked pop culture and love Christ, too.

 

When I was a new Christian saved out of a hippie background, I had to make choices about many things in my life. I had to separate from rock music and filthy movies and smoking and drinking and many other things that I had enjoyed before I was saved. I did this because I wanted to please the Lord who had saved me, and I wanted to grow and to find His will.

 

SEPARATION FROM FALSE TEACHERS

 

God instructs His people to mark and avoid those who teach things contrary to the Bible (Romans 16:17-18).

 

Paul told Titus that he must stay away from heretics (Titus 3:9-11). This refers to false teachers who refuse to submit to the truth. Paul warned that heretics ask foolish questions. This refers to insincere questions that are asked with the objective of causing doubt about sound doctrine. For example, the Jehovah’s Witnesses deny that Jesus is God. They ask questions to try to confuse the brethren on this issue. Their questions are not sincere. They don’t want to hear a good Bible answer. They simply want to confuse people and draw them into their false doctrines. The Bible warns us to stay away from this type of thing,

because if you don’t it will cause you to doubt the truth and to be devoured by the devil.

 

To separate from false teachers means to stay away from their churches, their Bible studies, their books, their television and radio programs, and their audio and video recordings.

 

 

REVIEW QUESTIONS ON CHRISTIAN GROWTH PART 3

 

1.  According to 1 Peter 2:1-2, what are two things the believer must do to grow?

 

2.  What are five things the believer must do to make the Bible the Book of his life?

 

3.  According to the Parable of the Sower, what kind of things can choke the Word in the believer's life?

 

4.  What verse says the believer can cast his care upon God?

 

5.  We can cast our care upon God, because he                  for us.

 

6.  Why are riches deceitful?

 

7.  Proverbs warns that riches can take                  and             away.

 

8.  What verse says that if I put God first He will take care of me?

 

9.  What verse says evil communications corrupt good manners?

 

10.  What does this mean?

11.  What verse says to have no fellowship with the works of darkness?

 

12.  What book and chapter says to come out from the evil and to be separate?

 

13.  What passage warns the believer not to love the world?

 

14.  How does this passage define the world?

 

15.  What verse says to mark and avoid those who teach things contrary to the Bible?

 

16.  What is a heretic?

 

17.  What type of question is a foolish question?

 

18.  What is an example of a foolish question?