Advancing in the SPIRITUAL life........

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Gr8grace

Guest
#1
#1
Bible Doctrine. Simple as that. Bible doctrine. And our positive volition to learn it.

We do not advance in the christian way of life through deeds,morals,cleaning the church,feeding the poor,giving,not sinning and just being a down right good person.


The ONLY way we advance and mature in Christ is through the consistent,daily intake of bible doctrine and being positive to his word. Line upon line,precept upon precept, here a little there a little.

The Christian way of life is a way of THINKING and that thinking is having the mind of Christ.

Bible doctrine is the least publicized, most criticized because it advances the Gospel to unbelievers and it matures believers to Glorify The Lord Jesus Christ.

Bible doctrine...........it does the Spirit Good.
 
O

oldthennew

Guest
#2
#2
you have to find a Spiritual balance in order to 'advance' in Christ, and often this is done
through our WORKS, which the Holy Spirit teaches and convicts us of....

MATT. 16:27. - For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels;
and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

we are REWARDED according to our WORKS...and one star shall shine brighter than another -
one shall be LEAST in the Kingdom, and one shall be GREAT, this is 'according to our Spiritual advancement'...
it is a 'partnership with our Christ'....the more that we become like Him, the brighter we shall shine,
for there are NO SECRETS in the Kingdom of Heaven.....
 
G

Gr8grace

Guest
#3
#3
oldthennew said:
you have to find a Spiritual balance in order to 'advance' in Christ, and often this is done
through our WORKS, which the Holy Spirit teaches and convicts us of....

MATT. 16:27. - For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels;
and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

we are REWARDED according to our WORKS...and one star shall shine brighter than another -
one shall be LEAST in the Kingdom, and one shall be GREAT, this is 'according to our Spiritual advancement'...
it is a 'partnership with our Christ'....the more that we become like Him, the brighter we shall shine,
for there are NO SECRETS in the Kingdom of Heaven.....
Click to expand...
Agreed. BUT, it is not the actual deed that is rewarded, it is the motivation or THINKING behind the deed that is rewarded.

lust of the flesh. Most think that it is always some sexual sin. But the lust of our flesh is also approbation lust. Approbation of men or approbation of God.

If I feed the poor and am seeking approval of men or seeking approval of God, my "good" deed is worthless. But if my feeding the poor came through the motivation of the Spirit and faith.....it is counted as Divine good and it glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ.

So it is not the actual physical deed that is rewarded it is our motivation behind the deed.

And feeding the poor doesn't advance us in the mind of Christ or the unique spiritual life. I could feed the poor every single day and will never learn that it may just be wood,hay and stubble in the end. Only the mind(His word/bible doctrine) of Christ can teach us that.
 
O

oldthennew

Guest
#4
#4
MATTHEW 6:21. - For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also
 
HeRoseFromTheDead

HeRoseFromTheDead

Senior Member
#5
Sep 4, 2012
14,424
689
113
#5
Gr8grace said:
Agreed. BUT, it is not the actual deed that is rewarded, it is the motivation or THINKING behind the deed that is rewarded.

lust of the flesh. Most think that it is always some sexual sin. But the lust of our flesh is also approbation lust. Approbation of men or approbation of God.

If I feed the poor and am seeking approval of men or seeking approval of God, my "good" deed is worthless. But if my feeding the poor came through the motivation of the Spirit and faith.....it is counted as Divine good and it glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ.

So it is not the actual physical deed that is rewarded it is our motivation behind the deed.

And feeding the poor doesn't advance us in the mind of Christ or the unique spiritual life. I could feed the poor every single day and will never learn that it may just be wood,hay and stubble in the end. Only the mind(His word/bible doctrine) of Christ can teach us that.
Click to expand...
A very good post. However, I would disagree that men seeking approbation of men is a lust of the flesh. It is the vainglory of life (technical detail, I know). And I would also say that it is not so much the thought that matters, but the spirit that conceived the thought.

For all that [is] in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the vainglory of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 1 John 2:16​
 
O

oldthennew

Guest
#6
#6
Agreed. BUT, it is not the actual deed that is rewarded, it is the motivation or THINKING behind the deed that is rewarded.

AMEN.....the HEART!
 
crossnote

crossnote

Senior Member
#7
Nov 24, 2012
30,706
3,650
113
#7
His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.
(2Pe 1:3-10)
 
M

mystic7

Senior Member
#8
Jul 27, 2013
289
64
28
#8
My view is "Ones attitude" towards Gods Word for spiritual maturity.
 
G

Gr8grace

Guest
#9
#9
mystic7 said:
My view is "Ones attitude" towards Gods Word for spiritual maturity.
Click to expand...
The application of Gods word is key. It is a way of thinking, thus changes the way we do things.

Being positive to Gods word also includes applying what we know.

I am permanently indwelt by the Spirit, but I can lose the filling of the Spirit. So we have a step that we need to take.......rebound or name and site any sin or human good we have in our life.

I can have a good attitude towards His word and believe that this is true. But if I don't apply it, I am not being positive to His word.
 
Grace777x70

Grace777x70

Banned
#10
Nov 22, 2015
20,436
1,430
0
#10
This a quick thought about how to grow spiritually...

We can know all kinds of bible doctrines and know all kinds of "facts" about Jesus but there is a massive difference between knowing "facts" and knowing Jesus.

We may know a lot of "facts" about Lincoln but his wife really "knew" him.

John 5:39-40 (NASB)
[SUP]39 [/SUP] "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;
[SUP]40 [/SUP] and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.


2 Peter 3:18 (NASB)
[SUP]18 [/SUP] but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
 
PeterJens

PeterJens

Banned
#11
Feb 24, 2015
13,204
168
0
#11
Gr8grace said:
Bible Doctrine. Simple as that. Bible doctrine. And our positive volition to learn it.
We do not advance in the christian way of life through deeds,morals,cleaning the church,feeding the poor,giving,not sinning and just being a down right good person.
The ONLY way we advance and mature in Christ is through the consistent,daily intake of bible doctrine and being positive to his word. Line upon line,precept upon precept, here a little there a little.
The Christian way of life is a way of THINKING and that thinking is having the mind of Christ.
Bible doctrine is the least publicized, most criticized because it advances the Gospel to unbelievers and it matures believers to Glorify The Lord Jesus Christ.
Bible doctrine...........it does the Spirit Good.
Click to expand...
I would disagree but for different reasons than you would think of. When you do things a question pops up in your mind. Why am I doing this? If the reply is not sensible you will walk away.
Let me put it like this. You think nice things about who you are, how you react to people and paint a hollywood idea.
You then start doing something, and the person you are helping is obnoxious, rude, difficult, complaining. Suddenly you get angry, frustrated, want to just junk it, upset, unwanted, uncared for.

To continue you either grit your teeth and carry on as a legalist, or you start to get real about how you actually feel and why.

I remember thinking I was a nice caring person who never got angry. That all went up in smoke when I got very tired and my wife decided to wake me up. I was not a pleasant person at all. Quite a shock to me.

These lessons often only appear when we obey and find out who we really are, and start looking in the mirror.
It is then we begin to see what rebellion, sin and hatred really are and how easily they reside in us.
 
G

Gr8grace

Guest
#12
#12
PeterJens said:
I would disagree but for different reasons than you would think of. When you do things a question pops up in your mind. Why am I doing this? If the reply is not sensible you will walk away.
Let me put it like this. You think nice things about who you are, how you react to people and paint a hollywood idea.
You then start doing something, and the person you are helping is obnoxious, rude, difficult, complaining. Suddenly you get angry, frustrated, want to just junk it, upset, unwanted, uncared for.

To continue you either grit your teeth and carry on as a legalist, or you start to get real about how you actually feel and why.

I remember thinking I was a nice caring person who never got angry. That all went up in smoke when I got very tired and my wife decided to wake me up. I was not a pleasant person at all. Quite a shock to me.

These lessons often only appear when we obey and find out who we really are, and start looking in the mirror.
It is then we begin to see what rebellion, sin and hatred really are and how easily they reside in us.
Click to expand...
It is reacting vs responding. The flesh just reacts, but bible doctrine responds.

I may still grit my teeth and dislike a personality, but through unconditional and impersonal love for all mankind, I can respond rightly through doctrine in my soul.

It is going from reacting wrongly in my flesh, to responding rightly through His doctrine or Word.

Looking in the mirror and realizing that we can't do it, we can't make this flesh any better is one of the FIRST steps a believer needs to make in the Christian way of life. I will ALWAYS react wrong from my flesh. ALWAYS. Even if it looks good to all those around me.
 
F

FreeNChrist

Guest
#13
#13
Some of the most "advanced in the spiritual life Christians" I have met knew little doctrinally, but they would put you to shame with their intimate knowledge of Jesus.
 
J

Josefnospam

Senior Member
#14
May 29, 2014
324
55
28
#14
The way to "advance" is to fear God, love the brethren and give Jesus ALL the glory for his work..............................
 
crossnote

crossnote

Senior Member
#15
Nov 24, 2012
30,706
3,650
113
#15
FreeNChrist said:
Some of the most "advanced in the spiritual life Christians" I have met knew little doctrinally, but they would put you to shame with their intimate knowledge of Jesus.
Click to expand...
Hopefully their intimacy is with the Jesus of Scripture.
 
crossnote

crossnote

Senior Member
#17
Nov 24, 2012
30,706
3,650
113
#17
Grace777x70 said:
This a quick thought about how to grow spiritually...

We can know all kinds of bible doctrines and know all kinds of "facts" about Jesus but there is a massive difference between knowing "facts" and knowing Jesus.

We may know a lot of "facts" about Lincoln but his wife really "knew" him.

John 5:39-40 (NASB)
[SUP]39 [/SUP] "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;
[SUP]40 [/SUP] and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.


2 Peter 3:18 (NASB)
[SUP]18 [/SUP] but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
Click to expand...
This is true but hopefully our 'knowing' lines up with the 'facts' and doesn't contradict them.
 
Grace777x70

Grace777x70

Banned
#20
Nov 22, 2015
20,436
1,430
0
#20
True...but sometimes those "facts" that we thought were true turned out to be a tradition of man and not according to Christ....once we get to "know" Him..

Colossians 2:8 (NASB)
[SUP]8 [/SUP] See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.


crossnote said:
This is true but hopefully our 'knowing' lines up with the 'facts' and doesn't contradict them.
Click to expand...
 
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