How we Grow in Jesus Christ

(1 Thessalonians 4:1)

This scripture today is an exhortation to the church, and to us, to continue to grow in Christ.

We have been called to come to maturity in Christ. All of the gifts of God are for the purpose of bringing us to maturity, and ultimately perfection in Jesus Christ.

So let us take a look at this important subject and how we grow in Jesus Christ

How you ought to live

As Christians we are called to change the way we live in this world. We can’t escape the world, but we don’t have to be part of it. We don’t have to do what the rest of the world does but instead we need to follow Christ.

One of the primary things we learn as we become Christians is the need for repentance. How we grow in Christ begins with repentance, and it was repentance that Jesus, John the Baptist, and the twelve Apostles all began their respective ministries preaching.

Repentance is about change. The Greek word that is translated as repentance literally means to “change your thinking” or to “change your mind.”

If we change our thinking then we can change our actions too. All behaviours and actions begin with a thought. So it makes sense that if you change your thoughts, you will change your actions as well. How we grow in Jesus Christ then depends heavily upon changing our thinking. And the scripture backs this up.

For though we live in the world we are not carrying on a worldly war, for the weapons of our warfare are not worldly but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle to the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. (2 Corinthians 10:3-6)

So taking every thought captive to obey Christ is the start of how we grow in Jesus Christ.

We have been called to walk with Christ and that walk is one of growth. As we move forward we learn and grow so that we can become mature in Jesus Christ.

God’s gifts to the church

To help us as we learn how to grow in Jesus Christ, God has given an array of gifts to the church. These gifts were given for the express purpose of helping us grow to maturity.

11 And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the cunning of men, by their craftiness in deceitful wiles. (Ephesians 4:11-14)

These ministry gifts to the church are one of the ways in which we learn and grow. Some of these are for the purpose of building the church, while others are for building those within the church.

How we grow in Jesus Christ depends greatly on how well these gifts are employed within the church. If they are not present, then the possibility for growth is severely restricted, perhaps even impossible or at the minimum very difficult.

But where these gifts are operating in accord with the word and the will of the Lord, then growth to maturity in Christ is possible.

And as we mature in Christ we can come to the place of understanding how we ought to live and to please God, as the scripture in 1 Thessalonians 4:1 tells us.

Finally, brethren, we beseech and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you learned from us how you ought to live and to please God, just as you are doing, you do so more and more. (1 Thessalonians 4:1)

Maturity is the end game for how we grow in Jesus Christ. The aim of all the work of the ministry gifts of the Lord given to the church is to bring the people of God to maturity in Him.

And there is one more critical gift given by God to help us as we learn how to grow in Jesus Christ: the Holy Spirit.

Walking in the Spirit

Receiving the Holy Spirit is essential if we are to learn how to grow in Jesus Christ.

I mentioned above that repentance is all about change and transformation. Well, so too is the work of the Holy Spirit.

The primary work of the Holy Spirit in us is to effect change in our lives. It is the Holy Spirit that works on us and in us. The Spirit changes the wrong and evil aspects of human nature. He eliminates them to bring us into the image of Jesus Christ.

This is the primary work of the Holy Spirit. And the Spirit does this by teaching, guiding, nudging, convicting, counseling, comforting, and interceding to God on our behalf.

And as we grow in Christ Jesus, we need to learn how to walk in the Spirit. We need to learn how to hand our issues and problems over to the Spirit as and when they arise, so we are not weighed down by negative passions.

It is the human passions and desires of the flesh that lead to sinfulness, if we do not bring them under control. Unfortunately, it is very difficult for people to control their base passions, lusts, and desires. And in fact many people don’t want to control them.

But if we are to live in a manner that pleases God, it is essential that we learn to control these aspects of our nature. How we grow in Jesus Christ depends heavily upon learning how to walk in the Spirit. And the next part of that is to learn how to walk in God’s love.

Walking in the Spirit is the means by which we control our passions. As they arise in us we use the power of the Holy Spirit to quell them and overcome the passions and so put to death the evil deeds of the flesh.

So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh– for if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. (Romans 8:12-14)

This is how we grow in Jesus Christ and how we are transformed into the image of Christ. If we are to live with Christ and God the Father in the eternal kingdom they are establishing, then we must change. We must learn how to live with one another as brothers and sisters in the family of God.

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