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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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!
For Thought and Discussion
Link to Teacher's Guide
Lesson 9