Measuring our Spiritual growth
How can our spiritual growth be
measured? Is it possible to measure it as we are able to measure our physical
growth?
We are told that, “God’s divine
power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through
the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence [virtue], by
which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, that through
these you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of
passion, and become partakers of the divine nature” (2Peter 1:2-4).
The objective for human life is to
develop God’s divine nature. It is to rid the body of sin, so that the body can
become the spiritual temple of God, and our everlasting dwelling.
The growth and development of the new spirit
man is, “In knowledge after the image of its Creator” And therefore we are
admonished to, “Grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ” (Colossians 3:10; 2Peter 3:18).
All of God’s promises to us are to
His praise and glory. They are all contained in the glory and virtue
[excellence] of Jesus Christ which we are to emulate and share, “For no matter
how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through Him
the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God” (2Corinthians 1:20).
Therefore, because of God’s
promises, “We are to purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body
and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God” (2Corinthians 7:1).
In order to be able to measure our
spiritual development, we need to clearly define what is glory and virtue. We
ought not to be afraid of examining ourselves. In fact, the exhortation is to,
“Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Prove yourselves. Do
you not know yourselves; that Jesus Christ is in you? - Unless you are
disqualified (2Corinthians13:5-6).
Glory, the desired end for which we
have been justified, called, and predestined is:
a.
A
distinctive feature; the highest pinnacle or distinction. A trait, which
distinguishes something above the rest; splendor, honor, fullness of
perfection, radiant beauty, magnificence.
b.
It
is the pinnacle of God’s majestic powers, His awesome beauty, His unsearchable
knowledge, His indescribable wisdom, His holiness, His amazing strength, and
His perfect love.
c.
The
developing state which follows salvation (2 Timothy 2:10; Romans
2: 7, 10).
d. A transformation by the Holy
Spirit, dependent on the individual’s assessment of the Lord’s glory. The level
of one’s glory is dependent on the degree in which Christ is formed or
magnified in the individual (2Corinthians 3:18; Colossians1:27;
Galatians 4:19; Philippians 1: 20; 2Corinthians 4:10-11).
e. A developing state as a result of
suffering [not wrongfully] but as a Christian. Considered to be greater than
all present sufferings (Romans 5:3; 8:18; Hebrews 2:9-11, 1 Peter
4:12-16; 2Corinthians 4;17;
f. The future state of all those who
will appear with Jesus Christ at His return (Colossians 3:4).
God has called us to His eternal glory, as it
is written, “To this He called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain
the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2Thesssolians 2:14; 1
Peter 5:10).
Since we have been called to God’s
eternal glory, and we are being transformed from one degree of glory to
another, depending on the image of the glory we have before us. What sort of
image do we have before us, and how does the image of God’s glory manifest
itself?
To be continued
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With brotherly love
Lucius Joseph
