It is not unusual for Christians to go through periods of dryness in their life of faith. Sometimes this can be distressing. We may find ourselves wondering if there is something wrong with us, or if our perceived progress in the faith was some sort of self-deception. Distress can give way to discouragement and despair. Preachers and teachers can (usually inadvertently) send the message that the life of faith should be a single upward spiral of growth and movement from one spiritual high to the next. But the truth is that the Christian’s life in this world is always marked by challenge and difficulty (John 16:33).
Sometimes God may seem distant. Much of the time growth and spiritual progress will be difficult. That doesn’t necessarily mean anything is wrong. Consider what St. Paul says in Romans 5:3-5, “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” So a certain amount of challenge and opposition is part and parcel to the Christian life.
Resetting Expectations
One of the chief issues for many modern Christians is the lack of a clear vision and right expectations regarding spiritual growth. In the absence of Biblical and faithful teaching, our tendency is to simply work harder, to become busier, chase experiences, or (and this is the most grievous) simply settle in to having no expectations of making any progress in the spiritual life.
Sinclair Ferguson notes, “The illustrations and metaphors of Scripture for Christian progress are generally horticultural and not in any sense mechanical.” Quoting John Owen, Ferguson says, “Like a plant, the Christian grows, not by equal stages of development, but by ‘sudden gusts and motions…so the growth of believers consists principally in some intense, vigorous actings of grace on great occasions.” (Ferguson, Sinclair, Some Pastors and Teachers, Banner of Truth, Edinburgh, 2017, 269)
This principle alone has two things I hope you can see. First, notice that growth is not automatic, mechanical, or formulaic. It is more like a plant than a computer. There is no magic strategy that you are missing. Second, notice that the chief source of progress is grace. It is the work of God in your life. It is not your based on your achievements but on His Providence.
So take a breath my friend.
This does not mean we don’t have a part in our spiritual growth –we do! But growth in the Christian life is rooted in God’s work, not ours. You can’t make yourself grow spiritually any more than you can make yourself grow physically. However, it is similar to our bodies in that there are things we can do to facilitate that growth and to cooperate with the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Our spiritual growth must first be marked by a clear understanding of what Christ has done already– understanding what has already been accomplished in us and for us by faith in the Lord Jesus.
Resetting Foundations
The foundation of spiritual growth and maturity is not your activity, but your identity. The challenge for us is to truly believe who we are in Christ and recognize the radical change he has wrought in our lives. Then we can authentically progress toward becoming who we are called to become. The problem is that many of us are like the Galatians and think we simply need more effort. In Galatians 3 Paul chastises the congregation at Galatia for this very thing. He says, “Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3, ESV). Don’t we just love busyness! But Paul gives us the essential foundation of the Christians’s life a little earlier in this same letter when he says, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20, ESV)
Paul is pointing to the idea of union with Christ. He recognizes that his identity is subsumed into Christ by virtue of the cross. Christ lives in him. Faith animates his flesh. He recognizes the personal love of God for him and the sacrifice Jesus made for him. This is the foundation of Paul’s life and it is from that foundation that Paul’s life of faith grows and matures. Because of this, Paul can also recognize that the dominating power of sin has been broken in his life. This doesn’t mean that there is no presence of sin (see Romans 7:15-20), but it means that sin no longer runs rampant. Furthermore, by virtue of his new identity in Christ, Paul is now radically oriented toward God. From this new orientation and identity flows Paul’s entire life of faith.
This is why 2 Corinthians 5:17 is so stunning and refreshing and exciting, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV)
This union with Christ is the primary foundation of our life. You and I are brought into covenant with Jesus, are transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light (Colossians 1:13, ESV). We are freed from the bondage and dominion of sin. Our spiritual growth in Christ flows out of our identity in Christ. This gives our pursuit of spiritual growth a new freedom and hope. To grow in faith is to grow into greater union with Christ, greater knowledge of Him, and greater obedience to Him. All this is grounded in the fact that we are already His by adoption and redeemed by the cross.
Resetting Application
Now we can move to the “how” of all of this. The chief “how” of our spiritual growth is the Word of God -the Bible. 2 Timothy 3:16 says that Scripture is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Tim 3:16, ESV). Of course the personal reading of Scripture must become a priority for anyone who wants to grow in Christ. This must be done with humility, recognizing the inherent authority of the Bible over our lives. We read it with an eye toward transformation, not simply information. So we should read it methodically and reverently. We should commit verses and passages to memory. But we should also read the Bible in community, with fellow saints in the Body of Christ. The Bible is the book of the Church, not just the individual. Reading it together is a wonderful way to grow in our understanding.
Along with personal and communal reading of the Bible, we should seek to place ourselves under the authority and leadership of Pastors who faithfully teach and expound the Word of God. Romans 10:17 says, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17, ESV). Scripture is the principal food for our growth in the faith.
The second part of application is mortification of sin. That may sound archaic, medieval, or like something you saw in “The Da Vinci Code”! The principle is that we need to deal ruthlessly with the sin in our lives. We have been freed from the dominating power of sin but we still struggle with its persisting presence. Too many Christians live with passivity on this issue. Listen to Colossians 3:5-10:
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
Colossians 3:5-10
Because of our union with Christ, we have died to sin and been raised with Him to new life. Therefore we are called to fight mightily against the various sins with which we struggle. We reject our human tendency toward rationalization, comparison and fudging of the truth about ourselves. Our goal is to have our thoughts, words, and deeds, drawn into deeper into Christ and seek to imitate Him in our lives. 1 Peter 2:21 says, “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.” (1 Pe 2:21, ESV)
Lastly, our growth in Christ is found by fellowship with His Body, the Church. Again, Sinclair Ferguson is helpful on this point when he says, “The fellowship of the Church is the context in which sanctification matures, and in this sense is also a means for its development. For sanctification involves our attitudes and actions in relation to others.” (Some Pastors and Teachers, p549) Authentic Christian growth develops in community. The New Testament knows nothing of “Lone Ranger” Christianity. It is in the Church that we discover the richness of fellowship, the power of prayer, hear the Word taught, learn to bear with one another, to forgive, and to serve. All of these are habits of growing Christian maturity.
So do not despair if God seems distant from time to time or your spiritual growth seems to come in fits and starts. Take a long view. The Lord will continue to work in you and to grow you into maturity. Remember who you are in Christ. Dive deeply and humbly into his Word. Examine your life and seek to “put to death” those sins that easily trip you up (Hebrews 12:1). Commit yourself to the local community of faith, the Church.
Keep trusting. Keep learning. Keep seeking. Keep walking.