Outgrowing Spiritual Adolescence

When is one’s salvation complete? That is, when is one’s whole person—spirit, soul and body—wholly transformed into the image and likeness of God, so as to be fit for eternity in his presence? For most of us, it is not likely that we will see our salvation completed in this life. But that is not, ultimately, the “big question.” God will accomplish his plan for each one of us, for his Church, and for the whole creation in his time, according to his eternal will and purpose. We live in joyful expectation of being made complete in this life even if, in the end, that expectation is not fully realized until the life to come. Likewise, we look daily, and with great anticipation, for the coming of Christ, the parousia, when all creation will be restored and God’s kingdom fully consummated. But the real question is not, “When will all things be completed?” but, rather, “How will all things be completed?”

To this question, God has already provided his definitive answer in "The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place" (Revelation 1:1a).

The Greek word "apocalypse," translated in the above verse as "revelation," means, literally, "unveiling." Therein lies the key difference between prophecy in the Old Testament and prophecy in the New Testament. In the Old Testament, prophecy was hidden, that is, "veiled." In the New Testament, prophecy is revealed, that is, "unveiled" in and through Jesus Christ.

Paul says, "Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 2:12-18).

In the Old Testament, the outcome of history was "sealed" until the time of its fulfillment (cf. Daniel 12:9). In the New Testament, specifically in Revelation, the "seals" are opened (Revelation 6:1-8:5) and John is specifically instructed, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near" (Revelation 22:10). In other words, the outcome of all of history, under the New Covenant, is an open book because, no matter when or where it is fulfilled, it is fulfilled in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit to the glory of God the Father.

Salvation, then, is not complete until we are reformed in the perfect image and likeness of Christ, who is "the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation” (Colossians 1:15). Jesus says that in order to see his kingdom, we must be “born again” (John 3:3). To be "born again" is to be "born" after the manner of Christ himself, "not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but born of God" (John 1:13).

Unfortunately, many in the Church today believe that being "born again" is the be all and end all of Christian experience; that once we are "born again," our salvation is complete. But this is not consistent with biblical teaching. Peter writes, "Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God" (1 Peter 1:22-23).

In other words, you have been born again. Now, grow up!

There are many who claim to be "born again," but precious few who truly want to "grow up.” Yet, Scripture is quite clear that this is precisely what is expected of us.

And he [Christ] gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 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 fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (Ephesians 4:11-16, ESV)

The picture Paul paints here is one of growing out of what might be called “spiritual childhood” or “spiritual adolescence” and into “mature manhood,” reflecting the image and likeness of Christ “in every way.” This is not, contrary to popular concepts, an instantaneous, one-time experience. Just as “growing up” physically is a life-long process, so, too, is “growing up” spiritually.

For each one of us, the experience of being “born again” varies. However, once we have made the initial decision to become a Christian, most of us probably go through what might be called the “fundamentalist stage” of spiritual development. At this early stage in our growth into Christ, we have to have the “fundamentals” or the “basics” spoon-fed to us. During this period, we tend to think of God and his plan of salvation in terms of abstract concepts. We crave the “mother’s milk” of the faith, the “five fundamentals” which lay its foundation: the inspiration of Scripture, the Virgin Birth, the vicarious atonement, the resurrection, and the second coming.

Yet, the more we become aware of the truth of God’s Word, the more we begin to realize just how far we have fallen from his favor. Ultimately, such a conceptual understanding of the faith only serves the same purpose as the Old Covenant law. It makes us acutely aware that we are sinners in need of a Redeemer who far transcends our attempts to pigeonhole him in a few “basic” tenets.

It is in coming to this point in our walk with Christ that we must make a very crucial decision either to go further or to fall back. If we choose to fall back, the path of rebellion, we will soon find ourselves either rejecting everything we have learned thus far or remaining trapped indefinitely in a state of spiritual adolescence, knowing the “fundamentals,” but being afraid to venture beyond our comfort zone.

If we choose to go further, however, we will, by yielding to the Spirit, be led into an understanding of the faith which is higher, deeper, and of greater substance than we could have ever imagined when we thought of it only in conceptual terms. Faith becomes more than a concept; it becomes a reality. Christianity becomes more than a religion; it becomes a Person, and that Person is the One who has been, all along the way, beckoning us, “Follow me.”

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. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. (1 Peter 2:21-25, ESV)

These words from Peter ought to bring great comfort to those who are truly “growing up” into Christ. For, as the Apostle makes clear, following Christ means following the path of suffering, enduring the scorn of the world. It is not an easy path, but it is the only path to true perfection.

If we choose instead to reject the “fundamentals” or remain static in our understanding of them, we will inevitably fall into any number of theological and doctrinal aberrations, all of which will make our faith less real and Christ more distant, even seemingly absent.

What is sadly lacking among most high profile Christian leaders today is precisely the kind of spiritual maturity which Peter, Paul and other New Testament writers said was an absolute prerequisite for exercising spiritual leadership. “Fundamentalists” chose at some point in their lives to remain in their comfortable “system” and not to venture further into life in Christ. “Liberals,” on the other hand, chose at some point to reject all they had learned about the faith. As a result of their respective decisions, neither “fundamentalists” nor “liberals” have the strength “to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that [they] may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:18-19).

The embarrassing public squabbles which often erupt whenever representatives from these two groups appear on television is to be expected when two overgrown adolescents are put in the same room. They start fighting over who gets to play with the toys. They scream at each other, hurl insults, and call each other names until the “parents” come in and take the toys away from both of them. The writer of Hebrews indeed has “much to say” about this sorry state of affairs among Christian “leaders.”

About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits. For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they then fall away, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned. (Hebrews 5:11-6:8, ESV)

Note what is included in “the elementary doctrine of Christ.” Such “fundamentals” as “the resurrection of the dead” and “eternal judgment,” not to mention some other rather important ideas, such as “repentance” and “faith toward God.” What the writer is saying is that “grown up” believers do not need to keep being reminded of how important such doctrines are. They are the building blocks of the faith, but once the foundation is laid, it must be built upon. This does not mean that we “outgrow” the basics but, rather, that we grow in our understanding of them and, thus, begin to comprehend the deeper reality of life in Christ.

Peter echoes this same truth.

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:1-5, ESV)

Paul also adds his agreement.

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:19-22, ESV)

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. (Colossians 2:6-7, ESV)

What, then, is the end result of a decision to “go deeper” and “grow up” into Christ? Paul's expression of Christian maturity can only be made by someone who has long since passed the early stages of being "born again.”

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 2:19b-20)

If being "born again" is the entry point into life in Christ, then dying with Christ is the passageway into a deeper experience of union with him. For only if we share in Christ's suffering and death will we also share with him in his resurrection. As Paul says elsewhere:

For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith--that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:8b-11)

Paul sees "the resurrection from the dead" as the end, that is, the outcome, of his relationship with Christ--a relationship in which Paul shares in every aspect of Christ's salvific work, from being born of the Spirit to suffering the scorn of the world, to being nailed to the cross and, finally, being raised from the dead. Even Paul could not, or would not, claim to have been made whole in this experience at the time he wrote to the Philippians.

Not that I have already obtained this nor am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. (Philippians 3:12-16)

But how is this relationship brought to completion? The Bible tells the story of God's relationship with humankind through the establishment of two covenants: the covenant of the law and the covenant of grace. The covenant of grace is the superior covenant and is, in fact, the eternal covenant God established from the foundation of the world. It alone leads to salvation. Yet, we call it the "New Covenant" because, within human history, it is revealed after the covenant of the law, that is, the "Old Covenant." Both covenants, however, do serve a purpose in God's plan of redemption. The Old Covenant convicts us, that is it makes us aware, of our sin and our fallenness. The New Covenant brings salvation by grace through faith to all who believe. The words of an old Gospel hymn sum this up very well.

By God's Word at last my sin I learned
Then I trembled at the law I'd spurned
Till my guilty soul, imploring, turned to Calvary!
Mercy there was great and grace was free!
Pardon there was multiplied to me!
There my burdened soul found liberty at Calvary!

So, what we have is, as Paul says on several occasions, a mystery. The "New Covenant" is actually older than the "Old Covenant." If our relationship with God is on the basis of grace through faith, we are thus to become, under the New Covenant, the people we were before the law (Old Covenant) was necessary to reveal to us the people we are. Under the New Covenant, we are restored to the state of perfection which was lost in the fall. We are back where we were in the beginning, that is, with God for all eternity. Yet, it can only be said of Christ that "He was in the beginning with God" (John 1:2). So, if human beings are to be restored to that relationship whereby they can be "in the beginning with God," they must be "in Christ." That is what life under the New Covenant of grace is all about!

"And if I go and prepare a place for you," Jesus says, "I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also" (John 14:3).

Where is Jesus? He is "in the beginning with God." Thus, his promise to "come again," in the context of John’s Gospel, is a promise to restore us to the perfect relationship with God which was “in the beginning.” The “end” of our faith is complete salvation, which John sees as perfect union with God in Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit.

So, as members of God's New Covenant community, the Church, we look not to world events for the "fulfillment" of some ancient prophecy, but to Jesus Christ, God's ultimate revelation ("unveiling") of himself, the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End; and the ongoing fulfillment of the eschatological kingdom which is the consummation of all of history. In him, we find our rest.