Born Again Christian...But, have you grown up?

Accepting the Gospel of your salvation (believing that Jesus is God in flesh, died for all your sins, rose again victoriously from the grave, and lives forevermore as your personal Savior) is the starting point of being “born again.” You have now entered into an eternal spiritual relationship with God as your Heavenly Father, the Holy Spirit as your Comforter/Guide permanently indwelling you, and Jesus as your Savior, Lord, and Sustainer.

A born-again believer has the new spiritually divine nature of Christ within them. However, our old sinful nature inherited by Adam from our first physical birth also remains within us. This is where conflict and contrast are evident in our daily life as Christians.

Just as we grow up physically with nourishment, knowledge, and maturity; we are to grow up spiritually in these same ways as a Christian. From Old Testament through New Testament, faithful followers of God and Christ are told to be holy as imitators of the perfect God. The Apostle Peter proclaims this Old Testament command bringing it into New Testament Christian teaching and conduct. “Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy” (1 Pet. 1:16).

So how does a believer in Christ achieve holiness? How do Christians grow spiritually with nourishment, knowledge, and maturity? The answers to these questions are given in God’s Word. Christians must lay down their old sinful life in exchange to serve fully in their new spiritual Christian life. Our values, traits, motives, and mission should be aligned to glorify God fully in body, soul, and spirit. Let’s now review some Scriptures explaining these answers in detail:

After explaining the assurance of salvation which born-again believers possess in Christ, the Apostle Peter speaks about molding one’s life to spiritual holiness. “Wherefore laying aside all malice  (intention or desire to do evil or harm another), and all guile  (deceit, lying, subtle lies), and hypocrisies  (being hypocritical, phony), and envies  (sinful jealousy, coveting), and all evil speakings  (defamation upon another, gossiping),  As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be  (since or because) ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” – 1 Pet. 2:1-3

The Apostle Paul also has a lot to say about holy/godly living as a Christian...

“Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour. Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.   Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering  (sexual intercourse and cohabitation outside of marriage) and wantonness  (lustful shamelessness, sinful outrageous behavior involving communication and/or physical acts), not in strife (arguing, heated disagreement, debating/contention) and envying (contentious rivalry, jealousy).   But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.” – Rom. 13:7-14

These Scriptures teach the Christian to pay their taxes (be a good citizen), honor & respect leaders/elders, don’t have any debts, love people through gracious & faithful active service for their benefit, don’t commit adultery, murder, steal, lie, covet (to envy other’s status or belongings), be honest & truthful, don’t engage in excessive partying, drunkenness, sexual relations or cohabitation outside of marriage, engaging in sinful and lustful behavior in communication and/or physical acts (shamelessness), arguing (lacking self-control), or having a jealous contentious spirit (be content).

“That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.” – Eph. 4:22-32

These Scriptures inform the Christian to be soft-spirited, soft-tongued, honest, truthful, forgiving, seeking good & spiritually uplifting experiences, hard-working, and generous.

“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify  (put to death) therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication  (illicit sexual intercourse outside of marriage, sexual immorality), uncleanness  (lustful luxurious living with impure, immoral motives), inordinate affection  (lusting of the mind, depraved or vile passion), evil concupiscence  (wrong/wicked craving for what is forbidden, desiring what God or civil law has said is wrong), and covetousness (greedy desire to have more), which is idolatry: For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. But now ye also put off all these; anger  (violent passion), wrath  (repetitive passionate boiling anger), malice  (intention or desire to do evil or harm another), blasphemy  (slander, defaming another), filthy communication out of your mouth  (foul, shameful, obscene speaking). Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all. Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” – Col. 3:1-17

These Scriptures above give us several more instructions for holy living. We as Christians are to set aside our old sinful way of living and serve God in our new divine spiritual nature with our words, behavior, and constant conduct. We are to be forgiving, kind, humble, patient and compassionate. We are to have self-control and enduring in our new spiritual life all our days. We should be thankful in all things, teaching others our love for God and His Word, and doing all things for the glory of God. What is our motivation for living an active Christian life? The writer of Hebrews tells us…

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”

These Scriptures tell us to consider the believers who have gone before us in holy Christian living. Consider our Savior Jesus Christ! He is worthy of our life dedicated to Him for what He endured for us. He enables believers to live an effective Christian life as we yield to the Holy Spirit He has provided.

The Apostle James reiterates the same principles above in explaining that the faithful Christian dedicating one’s life to holy living will be patient, caring, giving, compassionate, receptive to the Word of God, and a faithful doer of the Word of God, applying it fully to one’s body, soul, and spirit in an effort to mirror the perfect example in Jesus Christ. (see James 1:18-27)

Your new spiritual life in Christ as a born-again believer should look much different than your old sinful life from your first/former physical birth. So, the questions remain, are you a Spiritual Christian? Have you grown up in Christ?