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