The challenge of growing in the Spirit
Faustino de Jesús Zamora Vargas
SUMMARY: Spiritual growth in the Christian life is essential and can only happen through the work of the Holy Spirit. It begins with a genuine new birth in Christ and a deep conviction of salvation. The new identity in Christ allows for growth in all areas of the Christian life, which is manifested in the fruit of the Spirit. To grow, believers must abide in Christ, just as Christ abided in his Father. The Christian life is lived in Christ, and there is no other way to live it.
Nothing and nobody can grow without being born first. It is the natural cycle of life: one is born, grows, develops and finally dies. In the spiritual context it happens in the same way, only that the development of the Christian depends on the Spirit and that Spirit gives us life, because when we bear witness to Jesus, we pass from death to life. Spiritual growth can happen when the conversion experience is anchored in the new birth in Christ and we begin to walk on paths that were previously unknown to us. The way is Christ and the paths are those small arteries and paths of the believer, who inevitably and despite setbacks and obstacles, converge in the one who is the Way. Growing in Christ is not an option. The Christian who decides to abide in Christ and yearns to approach his stature must gird his life with the belt of holiness. No one can aspire to holiness without the desire each day to become more like Christ. There are no methods, no principles, no norms that govern the growth of the Christian, but obedience to the word of God. Examples abound in the Bible of men and women who became spiritual giants through God's work in their lives. But our model is Jesus.
To begin to grow, the first thing is to have a deep conviction and assurance of your salvation, to have the certainty that your conversion has not been a mere emotional experience, but a step of faith in Christ, a birth in the Spirit. “What is born of the body is the body; what is born of the Spirit is spirit ”. (John 3: 6). Jesus was the incarnate Word, born of a woman, but by the work of the Holy Spirit. We are born of women, but our new birth comes from the Spirit. We are spiritual not because of a sensitive character and a moral and subjective quality, but because we are born in the Spirit. Without a genuine spiritual new birth, growth in the Christian life could go through strong storms, because through much effort, commitment and desire for consecration, growth, in all the spiritual meaning of the word, is only given by the Spirit of God.
To begin to grow, the first thing is to have a deep conviction and assurance of your salvation, to have the certainty that your conversion has not been a mere emotional experience, but a step of faith in Christ, a birth in the Spirit. “What is born of the body is the body; what is born of the Spirit is spirit ”. (John 3: 6). Jesus was the incarnate Word, born of a woman, but by the work of the Holy Spirit. We are born of women, but our new birth comes from the Spirit. We are spiritual not because of a sensitive character and a moral and subjective quality, but because we are born in the Spirit. Without a genuine spiritual new birth, growth in the Christian life could go through strong storms, because through much effort, commitment and desire for consecration, growth, in all the spiritual meaning of the word, is only given by the Spirit of God.
