Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
Philippians 2:12-13
Bottom Line
Spiritual maturity isn’t an obligation but a gift God wants to grow in us.
“Although they were the Christian church in Corinth, an inordinate amount of Corinth was yet in them, emerging in a number of attitudes and behaviors that required radical surgery without killing the patient.”
— Gordon Fee
“Each of the community problems Paul needed to address grew out of the Corinthians’ inability to let the gospel message fully reshape their gentile, Greco-Roman lives, whether because they misunderstood that message or because they rejected it outright. They were Hellenists through and through, and this eschatological, cross centered, body affirming Jewish sect called Christianity demanded that they enter another theological and ethical world…The Corinthians were simply trying to be Christians with a minimal amount of social and theological disturbance.”
— Lyle D Vander Broek
Breaking Down Spiritual Maturity
- Head Knowledge
- Bone Knowledge
- Practical Imagination
- Action
- Desires
- Cumulative Effect
- Investing in Others
You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
James 2:19
But knowledge puffs up while love builds up.
I Corinthians 8:1
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
Matthew 22:37
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
James 1:22
When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
Matthew 14:14
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.
I Corinthians 9:24-25
Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church.
I Corinthians 14:12
Action Steps
Prayer
- Where do you feel strong in spiritual maturity? Where do you feel weak?
- Where do you sense God inviting you to grow in deeper maturity?
Practice
- Read I Corinthians this week
