The objective of this lesson: To stress that Christians come to Christ to grow spiritually.
Coming to faith in Jesus Christ is wonderful and significant! To understand (a) the being we call Jesus existed with God prior to becoming a human (Philippians 2:6, 7), (b) he lived as a human in total devotion to God's will and purposes (John 5:19, 30; 6:38; 8:28; 12:49, 50; 14:10; 18:11; Matthew 26:39,42), (c) he died that his blood might atone for human sin (Romans 3:21-26), (d) he was raised to make him Christ and demonstrate God is superior to physical death (Acts 2:24, 36) is truly wonderful! Yet, as wonderful as faith in Jesus is, that faith is only the beginning. Baptism may be the end to an ungodly existence, but it is always the birth (beginning) of a godly existence. Baptism is the green light for a life lived in faith in Jesus Christ, not a stop sign.
Stress that faith is essential, but it is just the beginning of response. Stress that baptism is the culmination of initial response, but is only the beginning of Christian existence.
It is easy to place so much emphasis on evangelism that spiritual growth in Christ is neglected. Both need to be stressed. Every person has the true need to choose between a godless existence and a godly life in Jesus Christ. In the same way, every person who chooses a godly life in Jesus Christ needs to learn how to live that existence, and live it! Stated in another way, only 20 chapters of one book are devoted to evangelism [Acts 1-20 are devoted to the evangelistic activities of two central persons--Peter and Paul. The rest of Paul's statements in Acts are basically defense speeches. I am told evangelistic speeches and defense speeches are obviously different in the original language.] By comparison, there are at least sixteen New Testament books that focus on how Christians individually or as congregations should live and behave. It is as important to mature those brought to Christ as it is to bring people to Christ. It does not achieve God's purposes to fail to bring people to Christ. Nor does it achieve God's purposes to fail to spiritually mature those brought to Christ.
Stress the fact that both evangelism and spiritual development are necessary in Christian existence. It is God's purpose that all people (a) come to Jesus Christ and (b) develop in Jesus Christ. Both are essential to achieving God's purpose.
Immediately after glorifying God for making it possible for humans to be saved and partake of the divine nature, Peter turned to spiritual growth by writing about what we call the Christian graces.
Show from Peter's emphasis that partaking of the divine nature leads immediately to spiritual development. A person does not become a Christian to resist (in himself or herself) spiritual development.
Place your attention on several things. First note that coming to Christ involves a personal commitment to develop as a person who belongs to God. Who you are spiritually when you are baptized into Christ (Galatians 3:26, 27) is not who you will be when you mature in Christ. Faith in Jesus Christ is just the foundation for continued spiritual growth.
There will be progressive spiritual development in a person who gives himself or herself to God. The progression of spiritual development will not be the same in everyone (each will develop at a different rate for many reasons), but a person comes to Jesus Christ to spiritually develop. A person has no real reason to commit to Jesus Christ if he or she has no spiritual interest.
Second, note the spiritual development is progressive. Faith in Christ changes your behavior. Changing behavior increases your appetite to know more about Jesus. Increased knowledge of Jesus challenges you to control yourself and to react differently to adversity. This entire process redefines your concepts of God resulting in a desire to fulfill your created objective to be in God's image. The hardest are these: (a) to see all others (regardless of culture or background) who are in Christ as brothers who deserve your kindness, and (b) to love as the God who forgives loves. A person cannot have faith in Christ without changing his or her behavior. That at first is the most obvious change, and the most natural to make. Love (agape) is the most demanding and difficult change to make (see 1 Corinthians 13). This kind of love is not flashy, but it is demanding.
Peter emphasized that spiritual development is progressive. Note that development becomes progressively more difficult as the individual matures in Christ. Early development is the result of acquiring more knowledge. Later development is the result of acquiring increased wisdom. Development never ends in our physical existence because wisdom constantly deepens and expands.
Third, note this development is essential. There is a tendency in some to consider baptism as the ultimate goal. Incredible effort is made to effect a baptism. Minimal effort is made to facilitate spiritual growth and development. Some seemingly assume that if the person of limited insight and understanding is baptized, growth will occur.
Baptism is not the goal but the beginning. Spiritual development does not just happen without interest and effort. Studying the word involves more than swapping or defending personal opinions. There must be a willingness to discover the previously unknown and a willingness to change one's life and understanding. Spiritual development commonly requires much more a discovery than a defense. There must be a willingness to learn the previously unknown without feeling threatened.
Too often, the result is that the baptized person feels he or she can justify any behavior by saying, "I have been baptized." Baptism is not a justification for godless behavior! It is the beginning of godly behavior! Godly behavior does not occur because the person redefines old actions. It occurs because the person changes his or her behavior to be compatible with his or her changed life in Christ.
We are not baptized to justify ourselves, but to develop a deeper, more accurate understanding of God and His will. For most of us, an assumption that we grasp all we need to understand about God and His will does not serve essential development in Christ well.
Consider how Peter emphasized the necessity of spiritual development. If such development does not occur, the person of faith is: (a) useless, (b) unfruitful in his or her knowledge of Jesus Christ, (c) blind or shortsighted, (d) forgetful of his or her purification from evil matters, and (e) prone to tripping.
Stress the negative factors of refusing to develop. It is not a matter of refusing to have faith, but a matter of refusing to allow faith to develop in us.
However, if the person of faith spiritually grows, he or she (a) will be useful to God, (b) will be fruitful in his/her knowledge of Jesus Christ, (c) will have good spiritual sight, (d) understands the personal purpose of purification, (e) is diligent about his/her spiritual calling in Jesus Christ, (f) will never trip, (g) and has reason to be confident about entrance into the eternal kingdom.
Stress the positive factors of promoting personal spiritual development. Contrast the positive factors with the negative factors. It very much is a matter of who I wish to become in Christ. It is much easier to defend a system than it is to promote spiritual growth. Defending a system is impersonal. Promoting spiritual growth is infinitely personal.
Faith is significant, but it is not all of it. Baptism is significant, but it is not all of it. We believe and are baptized to develop!
Stress that the purpose of faith and baptism is the development of spiritual growth.
The privilege of belonging to God increases! God gives us opportunity again to assume the divine nature! Salvation is infinitely possible! Our Lord Jesus Christ provides an "abundant" opportunity to enter the eternal kingdom!
This is Peter's version of "If God is for us, who can be against us" (Romans 8:31-39). Peter shares the possibilities of spiritual development as encouragement.
For Thought and Discussion
It is wonderful and significant.
Spiritual growth in Jesus Christ is often neglected.
Both need to be stressed.
He turned quickly by writing about the Christian graces.
It involves a personal commitment to develop as a person who belongs to God.
It is progressive.
Spiritual development is essential.
They assume that if a person of limited insight and understanding is baptized, he or she will grow spiritually (as an automatic process--such growth will just happen).
They seek to justify ungodly behavior by saying, "I have been baptized."
He/she is useless, unfruitful in knowledge, blind or shortsighted, forgetful of the meaning of purification, and prone to tripping.
He/she is useful to God, is fruitful in knowledge, has good spiritual sight, understands purification, is diligent in his/her spiritual calling, never trips, and has reason to be confident about life with God.
They are not all of it.
He gives us opportunity to again assume the divine nature.
Link to Student Guide
Lesson 9