One of the things that the victory of Christ afforded us is that it gave us the platform to grow spiritually. Growing spiritually would have been almost impossible if Christ did not win the victory of salvation for us. So, in the kingdom of God, spiritual growth begins with being saved. Please turn your Bibles with me to Colossians 2:6-10. The Bible says:

 

“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord…” So, it is assumed here that the person or the people apostle Paul was talking to are already saved. They have received Christ Jesus as their Lord, Master and Savior. It says further: “so walk in Him…” From here, it is very possible to walk outside of Christ. Apostle Paul said “walk in Him” meaning, he would not have said so if it was not possible to walk outside of Christ. For example. Those who aren’t saved yet are not walking in Christ, but outside Him.

 

The question is: How did we receive Christ and how do we walk in Him?

 

Let us read further: “rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught…” So, here shows us that there is a teaching dimension to spiritual growth. It tells us that spiritual growth does not fall on you like a ripe pawpaw, a believer is taught unto spiritual growth. It means you have to continually give heed and honest attention to teachings and the things you have been taught if you want to truly grow spiritually. Hebrews 2:1 (TPT) says: “This is why it is so crucial that we be all the more engaged and attentive to the truths that we have heard so that we do not drift off course.”

 

See what 2 Thessalonians 2:15 says: “Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.” So, we can see here that the traditions were taught us; either by the word or epistle. Most of the things that we have come to know and embrace today are things that we were taught.

 

NB: Just this week, somebody posted on his WhatsApp status and said there is no need to rinse one’s mouth with water after brushing. I had actually seen this somewhere before now so; it was not as if I am just seeing it on his status for the first time. So, I told him I started doing it just this week anyway and I asked him: Who taught us to even rinse our mouth with water after brushing? He responded; our forefathers and we both laughed and moved on. So, most of the things we know today are things that we were taught actually.

 

Even most of the spiritual truths we also have come to know were taught us by the Holy Spirit. Do we agree? John 14:26 says: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” So, if we will ever grow spiritually, we must give attention to the things we have heard and have been taught.

 

So, the latter part of Colossians 2:7 says “abounding in it with thanksgiving.” Now, we have seen that there is no way to any spiritual growth outside of walking in Christ. The starting point into enjoying spiritual growth is salvation. Paul uses four expressions to convey how to leverage on our victory in Christ for a healthy spiritual growth in the passage we have read. It says:

 

- Rooted in Him

- Built up in Him

- Established in the Faith

- Abounding in Thanksgiving

 

- Rooted in Him

After salvation, the believer’s growth is rooted in Christ Jesus. It is like looking at it from the point of view of a tree. What gives vitality to the growth of a tree is in the depth and spread of its roots. Also, a tree who is deeply rooted in the ground would survive any contrary wind and storm. Therefore, to have a healthy spiritual growth, the believer must be deeply rooted in Christ. When you are deeply rooted in Christ, there is no contrary wind or storm that can uproot you from Him. And this is exactly what apostle Paul was saying in Ephesians 4:14, it says: “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 can only happen in the place of deeply rooted in Christ, because this is exactly what is going on in the world today. People are being deceived here and there by everything because they aren’t rooted.

 

2 Timothy 4:1-5 says:

“I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: ² Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. ³ For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; ⁴ and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. ⁵ But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

 

Colossians 2:8: “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.” The reason it would not be according to Christ is simply because they are not rooted in Him. So, healthy spiritual growth starts from being rooted in Christ.

 

- Built up in Him

After being rooted in Christ, being built up is the next thing. Take for example a house, when the foundation is laid and it has been fastened into the ground, then the step-by-step laying of the blocks begins. Being built up in Christ does not happen overnight and that is why spiritual growth does not and cannot happen overnight. The process of building takes time and it also takes place in the place of abiding with Christ and the energy that the Holy Spirit supplies.

 

“I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing (another way to look at this is that without Christ, you cannot grow). ⁶ If anyone does not abide in Me (in other words, if anyone does not want to go through the process of being built, goes through the intricacies that involves in the process), he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. ⁷ If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. ⁸ By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so, you will be My disciples.”

John 15:5-8

 

- Established in the faith

“For in Him all the fullness of Deity (the Godhead) dwells in bodily form [completely expressing the divine essence of God]. ¹⁰ And in Him you have been made complete [achieving spiritual stature through Christ], and He is the head over all rule and authority [of every angelic and earthly power].”

Colossians 2:9-10 (AMP)

 

“Do not be carried away by diverse and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be established and strengthened by grace and not by foods [rules of diet and ritualistic meals], which bring no benefit or spiritual growth to those who observe them.”

Hebrews 13:9 (AMP)

 

What establishes a man or a woman in the faith is not food. As a matter of fact, food only helps you to grow in physical stature and not in spiritual stature. What establishes a man or a woman in the faith is not different strange teachings. You know recently, I heard a popular man of God in Nigeria said “gambling is not unscriptural and that believers can gamble.” When I heard that, I was shocked and so, I began to search the Scriptures. I concluded that even though the Bible may have been silence about the word “gambling”, it may have been used in another context which closely if not totally connotes the same thing. If one is not going to be swept away by strange teachings, it is absolutely important that one is established in the faith.

 

And why is it important that one be established in the faith? It is so that when tribulations, afflictions and trials come, one would be able to withstand and stand in one’s faith and convictions. 1 Thessalonians 3:1-5 (AMP) shows us. It says:

 

“Therefore, when we could no longer endure our separation [from you], we thought it best to be left behind, alone at Athens, ² and so we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s servant in [spreading] the good news of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you [exhorting, comforting, and establishing you] in regard to your faith, ³ so that no one would be unsettled by these difficulties [to which I have referred]. For you know that we have been destined for this [as something unavoidable in our position]. ⁴ For even when we were with you, we warned you plainly in advance that we were going to experience persecution; and so, as you know, it has come to pass. ⁵ For this reason, when I could no longer endure the suspense, I sent someone to find out about your faith [how you were holding up under pressure], for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our work [among you] would prove to be ineffective.”

 

The devil will come for your faith, I believe we examined this during last week’s meeting. The devil will come for your victory. How you can overcome Him is through faith. See what Jesus said to Peter in Luke 22:31-32. It says: ³¹ “Simon, Simon (Peter), listen! Satan has demanded permission to sift [all of] you like grain; ³² but I have prayed [especially] for you [Peter], that your faith [and confidence in Me] may not fail; and you, once you have turned back again [to Me], strengthen and support your brothers [in the faith].” If your faith isn’t going to fail you in the days of afflictions and tribulations, it is imperative that you are established in the faith. And this is why you cannot joke with your spiritual growth.

 

- Abounding in Thanksgiving

“For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.”

2 Corinthians 4:15

 

Our salvation has nothing to do with our effort at all. It was the grace of God through Christ Jesus that brought salvation our way. Therefore, being rooted in Christ, being built up in Him, and being established in the faith would be solidify as we abound in thanksgiving unto God. So, while we thank God for life, for health and for other things, it is also good we thank God that we are going spiritually. Your spiritual growth would become solidify as you abound to God in thanksgiving.

 

Spiritual Growth Indicators

1. A Genuine Desire That Always Long for God.

My soul yearns for you in the night;
in the morning my spirit longs for you.
When your judgments come upon the earth,
the people of the world learn righteousness.

Isaiah 26:9 (NIV)

You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
where there is no water.

Psalms 63:1(NIV)

 

2. Refusal to Plateau in Your Current Spiritual State.

"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead."

Philippians 3:12-13

 

3. A Genuine Desire for God's word.

"As newborn babies, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby."

1 Peter 2:2

My son, give attention to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings.
²¹ Do not let them depart from your eyes;
Keep them in the midst of your heart;
²² For they are life to those who find them,
And health to all their flesh.

Proverbs 4:20-22

 

In Conclusion: Christ’s victory through salvation has given us the platform to go spiritually and as a child of God, you do not have any excuse to remain the same after salvation. How and what to do to grow has been clearly spelt out in the Bible: Rooted in Christ, built up in Him, established in the faith and abounding in thanksgiving.

Thanks for the gift of your time, I am Obayomi Abiola Benjamin!

Feel free to share your thoughts or testimony in the comment box below. I promise to respond to them as soon as possible!