Philippians 3:17-21: Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.
Philippians 3:15-16: Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.
Expository preaching is always an adventure and surprising, just like you and I also don’t realize what will come next. Sometimes we may think there is not much in the verse, but suddenly an ocean-deep truth opens before us. That is my experience for the last many years going through different books, and the same is true here in the book of Philippians. I never thought there was so much in this book when I started. Paul starts the epistle with greetings, so joyful even in jail. The gospel was spreading because of his witness, and he called the Philippians to live a life worthy of the gospel. In chapter 2, he specifically tells them how as a church they should live worthy of the gospel by striving for unity. How does unity come in a church? By humility and selflessness, and he sets Christ as the great example who, though He was God, humbled himself to the cross. He then shows practically how we display humility in daily life: “Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.”
If you ask, “Paul, how can anyone live like that without murmuring?” He points to himself as being “poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice,” even in jail and even ready to die. If you say, “You are a great apostle,” then he brings two other examples of the great Timothy who is “my child. For I have no one like-minded, for all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus.” Then Epaphroditus, “my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, but your messenger and the one who ministered to my need.”
After this, when we moved to chapter 3, he warns the Philippians against false teaching in vigorous language: “beware of dogs, evil workers, mutilators.” The great concern of a pastor is to guard his sheep from false teaching because our lives are nothing but a reflection of what we believe. A small wrong idea and life can completely go wrong, so it is important we believe right things and avoid wrong teaching by every means. So he warns them against the influence of the old ritual Jews which will completely destroy their Christian progress, it will blind them from seeing the glory of Christ’s great salvation and blind them from seeing the importance of the church.
How does he warn them? First, in verse 3, he gives a contrast between Jews and true Christians. Those Jews who are still sticking to old rituals are not the true circumcision. Like most things in the Old Testament, circumcision was an outward shadow and it was fulfilled in God’s great work of regeneration. He says, “we are the true circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.”
Then he completely exposes them, “You think all this Jewishness, rituals, tradition, tribe, nation, and religion is greater than Christ? I had all that, but compared to knowing Christ, all that is garbage.” He lists his seven Jewish qualifications as a loss, even dung, and then lists his seven gains from the surpassing knowledge of knowing Christ. Three are experiential justification blessings, three are experiential sanctification, and one is the final glorification blessing, “I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
Though he is fully satisfied in his position in Christ and enjoying his acceptance with God by the perfect righteousness of Christ, he is not satisfied with his condition. He has not attained perfection. On one side, he denies perfection, but on the other side, he uses very strong Olympic athletic language telling how he pursues perfection. Remember DDIS.
So far it is all teaching from his testimony. Now as the wise master teacher Paul, he’s going to apply all of this teaching in a practical way to the Philippians and to us. Now it is an exhortation to the Philippians, because you notice verse 15 begins, “Therefore let us…” He is not content that we know the danger of false teaching and know how Paul is pursuing perfection. He wants us to take all this learning and use it in our lives. There should be a practical effect of all that we have learned. So based on all that I taught you, here is the application.
As an application, I have grouped them into four principles to progress in Christian life:
- Double exhortation to be mature-minded (15-16).
- Follow the apostle’s example (17).
- Know your enemies who can lead you astray (18-19).
- Hope on the climax of your redemption, glorification (20-21).
Each of them is a very crucial element for a progressive Christian life. Let us look at the first, the double admonition to be mature-minded (15-16). You will notice three thoughts in verses 15-16. There is an initial admonition and a promise sandwiched in between to make this admonition tasty, and a final admonition. That is why I call this a double admonition to be mature-minded. We see this in three headings: First Exhortation, Promise, and Final Exhortation.
The key is a call to be mature-minded. Every change starts with the mind. If we change our mind today, everything else in life will change. Paul says we have to be mature-minded. A mature mind is one that is self-aware and self-composed, knowing where he is, where he has to go, and what the priorities are. That maturity allows the person to process all circumstances and opportunities in a proper way, control their feelings, handle stress and conflicts in a healthy and proper way, and streamline all thoughts, efforts, and energy to progress in life and develop himself. If there is anything you and I need this morning, we need a mature mind. Let us learn from Paul.
First Exhortation
First of all, we have an initial exhortation in verse 15: “Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind.” This exhortation is given to a particular group of Christians, not to the entire Philippian church, but a group he calls them “mature,” and some translations have “perfect.” Who are they? Just now Paul himself said, “I have not attained perfection,” but who are these whom he calls “perfect”? Many big preachers try to explain this by saying Paul is using irony or being sarcastic. He is talking to those who, by the influence of the Jews, may think they have become perfect. But when you do a deep-dive study of the word using a proper Strong’s or Young’s concordance, you will realize the word “perfect” is used in two ways in the Bible. One is final perfection, a state of sinlessness which will happen when Christ comes, as Paul used in verse 12 and says, “I have not attained.”
But in many other places, the word “perfect” is used for Christian maturity as opposed to a state of infancy or immaturity. It is used to describe grown manhood in contrast to babyhood. You have that in 1 Corinthians 14:20: “do not be children in understanding; but in understanding be mature/perfect.” We know the difference; children think in a very foolish and irresponsible way, one thing one day, a different thing the next. In Ephesians 4, Paul, speaking of the purpose for which God gives pastors and teachers to his church, namely for the perfecting of the saints and the building up of the body of Christ, says in verse 13, “we all become perfect man.” What kind of perfect man? Verse 14 is the contrast with children: “that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting.”
This means today you hear this teaching and you believe it, and then tomorrow you hear something else and you go that way. You move according to every wind; there is no stability. That is a sign of instability and immaturity. God gives pastors and preachers in the church so that you should learn proper foundational truths, become mature, which means you should be established in the truth of God’s word. You don’t get carried away in the 101 things that come on YouTube and the internet, all of man’s trickery and cunning craftiness, which are so deceitful. You see the contrast.
You see the same thing in Hebrews chapter 5:13 and 14. “Those who are still drinking milk are babes, but solid food is for perfect, mature, grown men.” So you see the contrast. “Perfect” does not mean they have attained final perfection, but they have matured and are no longer babes in Christ.
This is how you compare how the Bible uses a word and gives it meaning. Why do I emphasize this? Thousands of cunning false teachings have come because people can take a word and say, “See, perfect means perfect.” “Christ died for all means all.” “World means world.” No. “Perfect” means we have to see how the Bible uses the word “perfect.” People just throw verses around, “See, this verse says that and this…” It’s so silly and pitiable. They never studied anything in context and think they have understood everything. They think they have arrived. Earlier, I used to keep giving so many detailed explanations, but now I realize all that will not convince. First, we need to teach how to study the Bible. You have to understand the LAC principle for every verse: what is the literary style, analogy (comparing with other Scripture), and context. Without all that, taking verses here and there is wrong.
So we see Paul is not contradicting and not using any irony. The way he uses “perfection” in verse 12 is final, sinless perfection. Here in verse 15, when he says, “those of you who are perfect,” he talks about those who are mature, not babes, not in a state of immaturity. It is a relative term. Compared to babes, you are matured.
So this exhortation is to those who are matured in Philippi. The same Paul who denied he has attained perfection, notice he includes himself in that group: “let us, as many as are mature.” Paul assumes there are some matured like him in Philippi. In Ephesians’ language, they are not babes, still not grown in truth, still not tossing here and there like children with every wind of doctrine, not fascinated with the novelties of Judaizers, but they have come to a place of a settled maturity in Christ.
The first stage of a matured mind is when you arrive at a settled conviction of truth. “This is the truth, and I will stand on this truth.” Only this firmness will never allow us to be affected by all kinds of new seductive false teachings. Otherwise, we will keep tossing to and fro. So we say the first step to progress in the Christian life is to be established in truth. See if you are tossing here and there, still with 101 doubts. Initially, it’s okay if you are a new believer; you have to grow in truth. But after 20 or 30 years together, still in that state, it is very sad. You can never progress. If you don’t settle, how will you be grounded and bear fruit? Still tossing to and fro… life will be over before we bear fruit. So matured people are those who are established in truth.
Paul, as a realistic pastor, knows everyone in Philippi has not attained that maturity. There could be some new believers who are still learning and there could also be exceptions, some even after many years have not grown. Sadly, some people, like we have in our church, just come on Sunday, hear on Sunday, and go. They never make any attempt to grow in truth and mature, never attend weekly studies, no self-study, just a ritual Sunday church attendance. Hindus go to the temple on Friday; Sunday Christians go to church. It’s very sad. This admonition Paul is giving is not for you if you are still immature. He marks a group of people in Philippi: “let us, as many as are mature.”
Now, what is the admonition? See verse 15: “Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind.” The literal rendering would be, “Let us keep minding this thing. Be intent on this, or set your mind on this one thing.” What thing? What he said in the previous verses: “I have not attained, but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
As many as are mature, you have to have this same mind, because this is a truly mature mind. You have to see your life as a Christian race and pursue the prize with the same intensity as Paul. If you want to grow in Christian maturity, He invites us to join him in this race. Don’t keep playing around with childish things. Grow up. “Same mind” means, “Think as I do of yourselves.” How can you be so joyful in your position in Christ, but fully dissatisfied? “I have not attained, and do as I do in your daily life: forget what is behind, and I press on, move on forward to the goal.” DDIS.
“Pastor, we understood that. Tell us a new sermon. Give us a new mind.” No, no, Paul says, “have the same mind.” Keep thinking the same thing. Don’t just say, “All this is a nice explanation,” and forget it, but grasp this, take this home. Like David, “I will meditate on thy commands, I will contemplate on your ways,” focus constantly on this until you have the same mind.
Be regularly and constantly conscious that you are dissatisfied with your state; this is the root for all progress. The farther we get up the hill, the more we see how far it is to the peak or the horizon. The more we know, the more we should realize our ignorance. Someone said, “The measure of our perfection will be the increasing consciousness of our imperfection—a paradox, but a great truth.” The more conscious of sin we are, the more our conscience speaks to us loudly than it used to. It is a sign of growing holiness. If we allow any satisfaction, that is death to all progress. So be dissatisfied with the goal.
See the desired goal: Increase your desire to know Christ, to become like him, make it a passion. Imagine what a blessing your life will be if you pursue this. No limit can be put on what we may receive from God if this is the goal of our life. What prayer will God refuse if this is the goal of our life? How much closeness with God, the fullness of His presence, and the beauty of holiness, which may pass from Him into our poor characters and irradiate our homely faces. See, there are unlimited possibilities to the unattainable fullness of the divine life. Realize there are so much better things stored for us in Christ. May it become a consuming passion like mine, compared to which everything else is dung.
Put intense efforts, go with single-mindedness toward progress. How vigorous, almost vehement, is his language: “I follow after,” “I press toward the mark,” and that picturesque “reaching forth,” “stretching forward every muscle to the max.” Onward, press on. Constant striving after a further advance. Like in a race, every part of the body is forward, all the current of his being is pushing him forward, eagerness in every strained muscle, the eye outrunning the foot by 10 miles, and hope clutching the goal already. So have the mind of DDIS.
Change has to start with the mind. Paul says, “You keep minding the one thing.” To mind means more than simply giving a little mental attention to something. “Minding” means, set the mind and the concentration of all of your being upon this same perspective. You have the thought and the life regulated by a given perspective. It’s the word used in Romans 8:5: “They that are of the flesh do mind the things of the flesh.” They just don’t give an occasional mental concern to fleshly things. The entire being is taken up with fleshy things. Paul says, “Let us mind this one thing, let us set our minds and give our lives to this one thing.”
Paul exhorts the mature to manifest that maturity by sharing precisely the same views, attitudes, and disposition which he described in the previous section. So that’s the first exhortation, and it is given not to all, but only to the mature, because only mature men can grasp and do this.
So that’s the first admonition. Second, there is an encouraging promise to the matured in this verse: “Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.”
Paul says, “By God’s grace you have matured, and settled in Christ, no longer babes.” Then, Paul assumes, “If in any of you, you are thinking some other way, you are minding something else, you have a different perspective that does not line up perfectly with Paul’s own expression of his maturity in Christ.” He assumes that those things can be present in someone but they can still be in a state of spiritual maturity. They are minding some other way. Notice Paul doesn’t rebuke them, but he gives one of the most wonderful promises in all of the Bible.
“Even this shall God reveal unto you.” Ah, this is a glorious thing, a mouth-watering blessing which I call spiritual illumination. I don’t mean God revealing new truth not in the Bible, but God revealing the glory of revealed truth in such a way that it affects our heart and transforms us.
Paul says when we want to progress in the Christian life, as a matured person, you have not gone out of the race. Otherwise, you are not in the matured list. You are still in the race. If for some reason, your pace is slowed down, we don’t have this earnest, pursuing mindset like Paul. For some reason, you are discouraged by struggles with the flesh, circumstances of life, living in a complacent illusion, and you don’t see as Paul sees, don’t see the glory of our desired goal enough to push you and encourage you to move forward, you need more illumination. Here is a marvelous promise: Paul says, “Brother, don’t worry. As long as you are in the race, God comes and illuminates your mind and reveals to you the glory of the prize in such a way that you also end up pursuing like Paul.”
What a wonderful promise. If you look below the surface of this simple promise, you see infinite depth—a promise of eternal security. “He who began a good work in you will continue and complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” It is grounded on the unchangeable purpose in redemption: “whom he called, justified, he will also glorify.”
Paul asserts his confidence: “Oh, my matured believers in Christ, if you don’t see the surpassing value of Christ as I saw, by which I counted all things as loss, and the blessings of justification, sanctification, and glorification are so marvelous to me, and all this made me pursue like an athlete, you cannot echo the sentiments of verses 4 to 14. Be not discouraged. God will not leave you in darkness in your growth. He will reveal this to you, enlarge your perceptions by the secret influences of His Spirit and providence. God will enlighten your minds and give you this same mature-mindedness.”
This is a wise and tactful word of consolation. It is easy to get discouraged by looking at Paul’s maturity. Even among us, some of us see this and think, “Oh, we are so far. I can never become like this.” I see this man Paul’s growth, his desire, his longing, his pursuit… I see myself and I can get very discouraged, even doubt whether I am truly a believer. I don’t see this surpassing glory of Christ as Paul sees. I am in the race, but how slow I am running, getting so distracted. I am not running as fast as Paul. Every time I go one step forward, I take two steps backward; sometimes, I even fall.
Paul says, “My dear believer, if you are in the race but not able to see all that I see, don’t worry, here is a wonderful promise. God will reveal this to you and make you have the same mind that I have, encouraging you to run like me.” God, like a wise coach, will be next to you in the race and show you the way. He will encourage you, cheer for you, and reveal the goal, making it so attractive to you that you will pick up your speed. Isn’t that a wise encouragement? He doesn’t rebuke them, but assumes that condition exists and then gives a marvelous promise, and this promise is only for the matured.
Paul knows a true, matured believer’s heart, and this is a great, great encouragement: “I have this promise. God will give me illumination. I will run, press on, and strive.” This is not for spiritual babies and false believers. You know they usually take God’s promises and pervert and abuse them by saying, “God will reveal, so I will relax. Let him reveal when he will, then I will run the race.” So it is not for those babies and the immature, but for those who are matured.
So, we have seen the first admonition, a wonderful promise, and then the final admonition.
The Final Admonition
“Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.”
The conjunction “nevertheless” is a warning: “Don’t abuse this promise like the immature. ‘Oh, God’s promise is there, let me relax.’ No, that promise has a condition. Yes, it is true, God will illuminate you and give you the vision and motivation to run the race, but nevertheless, He does it when you continue to run, only if you go on as you have begun.”
So we see his final admonition in a literal rendering: “Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule.” This is a military word. “Let us strictly keep in line, walk or march in the same rule.”
What does he mean? While on the one hand it is a warning against being turned aside by novelty, new ways, and new teachings that promise a higher life, on the other side he says, “You have grown and have come to a stage of maturity. What brought you to that state of maturity? Was it the Judaizers with their teaching of Jewish rituals or laws, or was it the gospel message and growing in the knowledge of Christ? What brought you to Christian maturity?”
“Was it the new, false attraction of these Jews and their old systems of teaching, or was it my preaching to you that Christ was enough, that we are justified by the death and resurrection of Christ, and that we have complete salvation in Christ? You are justified by believing in Christ’s death and resurrection. You are growing in maturity. If we want to progress, let us walk by the same rule. The same rule I have taught you so far. Make this a creed, a principle of your life.”
So many Christians are concerned about what God hasn’t given them, but Paul’s concern is about Christians not living up to what we’ve already got. We are forgiven of all sins, justified in Christ, adopted in Christ, and have access to God as His beloved children. We must live up to what we have attained. He is emphasizing a very important principle: we grow in faith, maturity, and perfection by the same way we are saved. Do you know that? We grow in sanctification by the way we are saved. You are saved by believing in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Our confession says we are sanctified by the same way we are justified. Justification is the fuel that drives the vehicle of sanctification. You continue to exercise faith in the same death and resurrection of Christ, and you grow in sanctification and perfection.
Faith is like a muscle; the more you use it, the stronger it becomes. Initially, it is weak, but the more your muscle of faith grows, the more you grasp the benefits of Christ’s death and resurrection. You trust in the death of Christ, so you are conformed to His death, and you die to sin. Your faith in the resurrection grows, and you may know His resurrection power in your life to live a new life, a resurrected life, and to live victoriously. That is why in Romans 6, Paul says the more you exercise faith in His death and resurrection, you will reckon yourself dead to sin and alive to the resurrection. Paul says, “Don’t be sidetracked. It’s the same spiritual principles which have been operative in bringing you this far to maturity that will take you further on the path of perfection.”
He says, “Let us walk by the same rule with the same mind.” We must progress. “By the same rule you should walk life.” It is sad that most of us don’t have any rule for how we live. We live according to circumstances and inclination, and we give our life’s control into the hands of impulses, passions, desires, tastes, or even habits. Paul says, “You will not progress like this. This should be your rule: pursue perfection in Christ. Live by the rule.” This is the condition for growing illumination. When we act upon a belief, the belief grows.
It is a military word: marching in the same line with no deviation. “Keep the road.” There are a great many temptations to stray from it. There are nice, smooth, grassy paths where it’s a great deal easier to walk. You might think, “Just a foot to that side or this side will not make a difference, we can easily come back.” We don’t realize the angle of divergence and the trajectory. A deviation, when we begin, may be scarcely visible, but if you draw a line from that trajectory, the sharpest angle and the least deviation will mean that we will completely land up in a different world. So, let us take care of small deviations from the plain, straight, narrow path, and give no heed to the seductions that lie on either side. “Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.”
Paul says, “You have progressed in the race. Yes, it was difficult, but you will reach the goal only when you continue on the same path. Don’t be diverted. Press on. By the same rule, keep on running, fixing your eye on Christ, fixing your eye upon the goal.”
So, we see a double exhortation to be mature-minded, with a wonderful promise sandwiched in the middle.
How Do I Apply This?
Can I apply this in two ways? Just like Paul, let me first apply this to those of us who are matured. I know some of us are not just Sunday churchgoers, but you are growing in truth and your life is changing. You are growing and maturing and settled in this truth. You are making slow progress, but you are progressing.
God says to you this morning from this passage that He is happy about your growth. He wants you to have the same mind as Paul in progress. See your Christian life as a Christian race with dissatisfaction, a desired goal, intense efforts, and single-mindedness. This is how you become mature-minded. Go home, deeply meditate on this passage, and contemplate it. Like David, “I will meditate on your statutes, contemplate your ways, till God fills my heart with delight.” See what a blessed way to live a life like this. If we pursue this goal, which of our prayers will God not answer? How marvelously useful and blessed a life you will live. There are 101 other useless ways you can live, but to become more and more like Christ, to grow in maturity and perfection with a matured mind, you will know how to deal with all situations.
If you are not encouraged enough, see what a wonderful promise you have. Plead with God for illumination.
Don’t relax with that promise. Don’t abuse that promise. Whatever you have attained so far, “to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.”
The further revelations of Christ to a believer come in the path of implicit obedience to the word of Jesus Christ. John 14:21 says, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” Further revelations of Christ come on the path of obedience.
As you progress on that path, beware of the new trends. People can come and say, “Brother, what growth have you achieved so far? Always reading the Bible, still trusting Christ, growing in truth, holding to the old confession of faith. You don’t have to strive, killing sin, and use regular religious means of grace. You don’t understand the trend. I have a secret for you. This glorious, secret teaching was discovered and experienced by thousands of people, and they have attained a higher life and victory over sin.” There are new trends and new teachings sprouting everywhere, showing the way, every new fad. No, no, don’t give them any room. Continue with the same rule you have grown by so far.
We do not look for a new secret to bring us more quickly and easily to our goal. We do not look for a new doctrine to liberate us and to make the race easy and avoid serious, agonizing endeavor. We are not searching for truth; we have arrived at the knowledge of truth. We have already obtained it. We need to walk by the same rule. We do not look for new revelations; we know the truth, and we want God to illuminate that truth to our hearts and transform us.
We have to progress. Every year we set goals. Why? Is that a ritual? No, we want to have that same mind. We want to press on and grow on. Yes, we don’t achieve what we set out to, but we make progress. The visionary who attempts something great and accomplishes little is a far nobler person than one who sets low-level goals or no goals at all and hits them completely.
For the maturing, some are reading the Bible calendar, which is very good. See how your prayer life is, how your understanding of the Confession of Faith is. Can you read some books? We are learning the four disciplines of David.
Can I bring a word of application to the immature among us, to the people who are not progressing? You know who you are.
Why did Paul not say anything to them in this passage? The word of God is silent to us; it is not a good sign. Initially, when you are new to Christ, you will be immature, and God doesn’t rebuke that. But there are people who have been in Christ for 2 or 3 years and they grow so much in maturity, and there are people who have been in Christ for 20 or 30 years and are still little, whimpering, thumb-sucking babies. It’s tragic. It’s tragic, but Paul knows there are spiritual babies in Philippi, just as we have spiritual babies in our church.
What is God’s word to you this morning? First, silence should rebuke you. Though Paul didn’t say anything in this passage, it is implied. “If I say something, will you change? From now on, you must.” He has said it in other passages. God, through Paul, actually rebukes you for your immature, non-progressive stage. In 1 Corinthians 3:1, “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal.” Because of your immaturity, all kinds of sins are in your life. There is envy, anger, strife, lust, pride, and divisions among you. All kinds of other sins, all immaturity. Immature Christians have conflicts within the church, hurtful words and actions. They are always a hindrance to church unity and growth. The dangers of immaturity are that many sins will grow in your life, preaching will make you worse instead of progressing you, you will be susceptible to false teaching, and your life will not witness to the Gospel and the Church.
The writer to the Hebrews again sharply rebukes them in Hebrews 5:12, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God.” Then he points out the danger of not progressing in the Christian life. If you are not progressing, you are going back. It is only a matter of time. If you don’t realize your danger and wake up, soon you will fall away and prove yourself an unbeliever. Wake up before that state comes.
Hebrews 6:4-6: “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.”
What should you do to come out of this immature state? Like newborn children, crave the milk of the word so you may grow up. God’s word, regularly reading, meditation, and understanding of God’s word and His truths. Like Paul, set a goal: devote time each day to read the Bible. Start following a Bible calendar. Meditate: ponder the verses you read, allowing them to sink into your heart and mind.
Stop being a Sunday-ritual Christian. Whatever you learn, don’t just go and forget it; there’s no use in attending. Don’t stop with Sunday. Attend the regular Confession of Faith study on Tuesdays at 8 pm and the Friday prayer meetings. Consistent prayer is also key. Remember, spiritual growth takes time and effort. It doesn’t come automatically. All who grew, just like Paul, made a determination to pursue the goal and put in the effort.
Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Bangalore 