What Does A Spiritually Mature Jesus Follower Look Like?

What does a spiritually mature Jesus follower look like? Great question, right? If we are asking — ‘what does a mature believer look like? — it stands to reason that there must be a picture somewhere that we can compare to. How else would you be able to measure yourself? In the physical world, a tape measure is a must when you need an accurate measurement. How long is that bolt that you need? About 4 inches? Maybe 5? If you need one that is exactly 4 inches, you’ll need an exact measurement. If you’re trying to set a piece of furniture in your house, do you just wing it or do you measure? A random measurement is not effective when you need to be precise. Take this idea over into our spiritual life. Do we live our live’s randomly? Are we just coming to church and winging maturity? Is there a way to measure our maturity in Christ accurately? There must be — after all, we’re talking the Creator of the Universe here. The one who according to Job [26:7], stretched out the north over the empty places and hung the world on nothing. God never wings anything so a random measurement is simply not His style. So in the Bible, God laid out for us how we are to gauge spiritual maturity. What are the fundamentals of Christian growth? In Hebrews, God gives us six elementary precise principles all tied up for us in chapter six. Throughout the rest of the Word of God, we are given other benchmarks like, a thankful heart for example, or your body as a house of prayer, or the joy of the Lord as a measure of strength. There are other bull eyes to hit of course. We may get into some of them later on. These measured pictures are in place so that we can lift our eyes and look upward. The images of maturity are available — God took the guess work out of it for us.¹ So in this podcast, we are going to take a walk on the mature side of the Jesus life as we endeavor to answer the question, ‘What Does A Spiritually Mature Jesus Follower Look Like?’ All on this week’s Light on Life.

What is Carnal Minded and How to Grow Out of It?

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Being spiritually mature is the destination on the ‘yellow brick road’ of Holy Spirit life. Have you located where you are on the road to growth?

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Testimony is vital to a believer’s life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11). Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony.
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Question: Share a story from your life that can encourage others to grow to be spiritually mature. Leave your story in the comments section below.

Episode Resources:

If you would like to know more about growing in faith, see the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

We are currently teaching in the book of First Corinthians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 47 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. He and his wife Sharon of 42 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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Prayer

Well, again welcome.
Let’s pray.

Father God, thank you for your goodness and your mercy. We so desire to grow into the image and likeness of Jesus for that is good and pleasing in your sight. We so desire to live in this manner — good and pleasing in your sight. Thank for the Holy Spirit whom you provided to help us in this endeavor and for Jesus who sits at your own right hand praying on our behalf. Thank you that Jesus ever lives to make intercession for us.

Podcast Notes

Spiritually Mature Jesus Follower: In First Corinthians

We are in the book of First Corinthians chapter two.
Let’s pickup at verse six.

1 Corinthians 2:6–10 (ESV) — 6 Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. 7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— 10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.

Well, to start out, take a look at verse six.
Paul starts right out with the phrase, ‘among the mature’ which indicates that there are levels of growth and development in Christ.
There must be.
I mean if there are mature Jesus followers then there must be immature believers as well.
And there must be levels in between these two.
So, what we want to do in this podcast is identify this concept — let’s call it ‘spiritual development’ in the New Testament and come to understand what the process of growth looks like.
Defining terms will help us here.
What does mature mean? — with that thought here is the Definition of the Day.
The Greek word ‘mature’ means full grown, complete, fully developed, or perfect.
If you are full grown or fully developed that automatically shows us this is a growth term.
In other words to be full grown, one must grow from a lower level to this higher level which means at one point you weren’t full grown.
At one point, you were not fully developed right?
But you understand maturity is what’s ahead.
It’s the destination on the ‘yellow brick road’ of Holy Spirit life.
But let’s establish this growing into spiritual maturity concept from God’s Word.
Now, there’s a principle of Bible interpretation that goes ‘in the mouth of two or three witnesses’ things are established.
We can’t just build the case for the concept of spiritual development from this one verse in First Corinthians two.
There must be other corresponding witnesses and thank God, there are.
In fact, there are more than two or three witnesses.
Let’s take a look at some of them.

Spiritually Mature Jesus Follower: In Ephesians

There’s a passage in Ephesians four for example.

**Ephesians 4:11–16 (ESV) — 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

In verse thirteen and fourteen, we can see that among Jesus followers some are catagorized here as ‘children’ and some are listed as being in the ‘mature’ manhood class.
Simplifying what Paul said.

until we all attain… mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children,

Did you hear the word ‘attain?’ — until we all attain mature manhood.
The Greek word ‘attain’ means to reach a condition or a goal.
Maturity is the goal in Christ.
Saying it a different way.
So that we no longer be the children is the goal in Christ.
We want to be mature — we don’t want to be children.
Of course there are levels of growth all in between — that’s implied.
We don’t want that either — we want to be fully developed believers.
So, Ephesians four along with First Corinthians two witness to the concept that spiritual growth is a process in God.
While we are here let’s define the opposite end of maturity — you know maturity is being full grown — being fully developed.
What about being children or a child?
What does that mean?
Well, it must be the opposite end of the spectrum.
Children are immature Jesus followers.
If you hop over to the book of Hebrews now, you will find there’s another witness there.

Spiritually Mature Jesus Follower: In Hebrews

We mentioned Hebrews six in the intro to this podcast.
These set of verses adds a little more detail to the picture of growing up to be a spiritually mature believer.
You’ll have to back up into chapter five to get the full flow.
We must remember that the Bible was not written in chapter and verse.
So start at Hebrews 5:11 and then continue reading into chapter six.

Hebrews 5:11–14 (ESV) — 11 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

Did you hear the terms of distinction that point to spiritual maturity?
You’ll hear the same set of words as the passage in Ephesians four and what’s implied in First Corinthians two.
You’ll hear the word ‘child’ and the word ‘mature’ set against one another.
So, that’s three witnesses that illustrate the concept that spiritual life is about growing.
Now, there are several other passages.

How Does One become a Spiritually Mature Jesus Follower?

We will reference a few more before this is done today but at this point we need to ask the Question of the Day.
So, here’s the question: how do you grow spiritually?
How does one get from being an immature child spiritually to becoming a mature full grown believer?
Obviously, there is a process.
We have children and we have manhood, two opposites ends.
No one goes from one to the other in one step.
No one is born full grown in God.
There is some growing that must take place.
So put this phrase, ‘growing up spiritually’ in your vocabulary.
So, how does one ‘grow up spiritually?’
Well, how does one ‘grow up naturally?’
You’re already pretty familiar with the natural process.
After all, you went through it!
Here you were, one day born a cute little baby.
Yes, you were cute — just ask your parents.
You came flying down the chute with no directions on what to do next.
There you are bang!
Now, what?
Well, Mom and Dad knew what to do to get little Johnny to grow into big Johnny.
It’s not like it’s a big secret or anything, — just stick the bottle in his mouth.
What was in the bottle? — some magic potion?
Some mystical something or another — some secret formula that you had to travel to the Andes Mountains and buy this formula off some wise man who had a beard nine miles long that you had to pay an exorbitant amount to to make little people grow?
No, just some plain old — everyday milk — mother’s milk.
Just shove that bottle in the babies mouth and bang, wonderful growing things took place.
No big secret, right?
After a while, milk won’t cut it any more and you must go a little bit more stout.
We have to feed them that nasty tasting to adults Gerbers baby jar food.
What happened when you did that?
Well, Johnny grew some more.
His progress was rather evident.
You could see it and you could feel it in your pocket book.
This process just kept going on.
Feed the kid, watch Johnny grow.
Feed the kid, watch Johnny grow.
Johnny just kept on growing and the price of food kept growing along with Johnny.
Until we said, ‘man, Johnny is eating us out of house and home.’
He really wasn’t, we just said that.
So, this is how growing works physically.
Of course, there are mental and social aspects that follow a similar pattern.
Well, it works that way spiritually as well.
You may have heard the commercial ‘milk is a natural.’
Well, milk is a spiritual also.
One chapter over from our main text in First Corinthians two, you find this.

1 Corinthians 3:1 (ESV) — 1 But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready,

Some of the Corinthians were choking on milk.
Remember, milk is a spiritual.

1 Peter 2:2 (ESV) — 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

How do you grow spiritually?
It tells you right here — drink the milk of God’s Word.
What’s the milk of God’s Word?
I’m glad you asked.

Hebrews 6:1–2 — 1 Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

Elementary doctrine of Christ is the milk of God’s word designed to help spiritual infants in Christ grow.
The word ‘elementary’ in the Greek means ‘the beginning.’
The milk of God’s word — The beginning doctrine of Jesus is found in six areas.
Repentance from Dead Works
Faith toward God.
Baptism’s
Laying on of Hands
The Resurrection of the Dead
Eternal Judgment
Feed on the Word of God in these areas and you will grow, period.

Why Some Never Develop Spiritually Maturity

The reverse is also true.
If you don’t feed, you won’t grow.
In fact, in Peter’s letter, right in plain sight, the Lord by His Spirit gives us another reason why some of His kids don’t grow and develop as they should.
Let’s take a look at it again.

1 Peter 2:2 (ESV) — 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Did you hear that? — if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
Have seen the kind of person that never seems to progress?
They’re continually in the same place.
Year after year they sit up in church with no movement.
They always seem to need counseling.
Handling life in God or life in general is overwhelming for them.
They’re always asking for prayer for themselves or their loved ones * Never able to contact God for themselves or pray for others who are struggling.
You get the picture?
Maybe you know such a person — maybe you are that person.
In either case, remember what the writer of Hebrews said.

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God.

With the passage of time must come the aptitude to teach others.
I’m not talking formal class here but a one on one teaching of the things you’ve learned and put into practice.
Teaching others — sharing what you know and have grown in is the normal path of spiritual maturity.
You are growing if you can teach and disciple others also.
That’s the Great Commission after all: go into all the world and make disciples.
Disciples are learners.
And because they learn, they are able get out of the mess instead of jumping from one mess to another.
Disciples are learners who both learn and teach.
They continually work with the Word.
That thought gets us to what Peter said.

if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Tasted, my isn’t that insightful.
Right there’s, one reason why some don’t grow.
They only took a taste, that’s it.
They got a whiff of the things of God — that’s all they got was a whiff.
The Greek word ‘tasted’ means to experience or to partake of.
These dear ones got a taste, they had an experience with the goodness of God.
Maybe they experienced the new birth — that’s wonderful — it’s a terrific step — it’s an essential step — it’s a ‘getting to heaven’ step.
But, we’re not talking about getting to heaven — we’re talking about getting other folk to heaven.
We’re talking about developing, growing, and walking out God’s plan.
Using our gifts and talents hooked with a practical knowledge of the things of God so we can usher in Jesus return.
Not just saying the sinners prayer and stopping in the middle of the road.
Babies grow because they are feed milk continually, not just taste it once in a while.
‘Desire the sincere milk of the Word that you may grow.’
If you feed natural babies milk, they grow.
If you feed spiritual babies milk, they grow.
If they are not growing, well you can do the math.

A Spiritually Mature Jesus Follower Is One Who Understands the Press

So, up to this point we understand that spiritual growth and development is a Bible concept.
We’ve got verses to prove it.
We understand that we have to continually feed on God’s Word to mature.
Our understanding has also been enlightened on some reasons why people don’t grow.
With all that being established, let’s look at some traits of the spiritually mature Jesus follower.
We can call these traits ‘signposts’ on the way to maturity.
Signpost number one, a spiritually mature Jesus follower understands the press.

Philippians 3:14–15 (ESV) — I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.

Spiritual life is ‘pressing for the goal.’
The word ‘goal’ is the ESV translation — KJV has press towards the mark.
Mark, goal — same thing.
Paul links this pressing to maturity.
Now, I’m not just making that up.
Listen to what he said again.

‘I press toward the goal — let those of us who are mature think this way.’

Spiritually mature folk think in certain channels — in a certain way.
Can you see that there are some who don’t think this way?
And, since they don’t, can you see that means that they have some growing to do?
Because mature believers think about their life as ‘pressing toward the goal.’
Maturity, then, is evidenced by our thinking patterns.
It’s the same in the natural right?
If you see a physically full grown person but he acts childishly, what do we say about that person?
We say he is immature.
Same thing in God — same thing!
Isn’t that right?
The Bible helps us so much because it shows us the target we should shoot at for our souls.
Mature Jesus followers press toward the mark.
Immature believers don’t get that yet.
What does that mean, pressing towards the goal?
I’m glad you asked.
The Greek word ‘press’ — means to move rapidly and decisively toward an objective, hasten, run, press on.²
Decisive and rapid means you’re locked in like a heat seeking missile.
There’s nothing casual about the believer who presses for the goal.
He’s like a hound on a trail.
Now, the Greek word ‘goal’ means what I seek to achieve’ or ‘what I wish to accomplish.’³
Putting it together — Paul said, ‘I run rapidly and decisively toward what I seek to achieve’ or ‘what I wish to accomplish.’
Can you see that goals can speak towards value system?
Spiritual maturity is about having God’s value system.
Meaning, you look at life like God looks at life.
Goals, maturity, pressing, value system, all of it is in the same arena but growth is the key catalyst.
And with that thought, here is the Quote of the Day.
This quote is from the pen of John Maxwell.
Listen to it now, I think it will help you.

If you focus [only] on goals, you may hit your goals but that doesn’t guarantee growth. If you focus on growth, you will always hit your goals.⁴

So, focus on growing spiritually, focus on feeding on God’s Word and, along the way, you will pick up this ‘pressing towards the mark’ mindset.

A Spiritually Mature Jesus Follower Is One Who Won’t Quit

Let’s look at another signpost on the road to being spiritually mature.
Do you recall the prophet Elijah and his interaction with Elisha, who at that time was his servant, in the Old Testament?
Let’s read it.

2 Kings 2:2 (ESV) — 2 And Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.

Elijah said to Elisha politely, “Please stay here.”
Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.”
Paraphrasing this into modern lingo.
Elijah, “I want you to stop at Gilgal.”
Elisha said, “I ain’t stopping.”
Mature folk refuse to stop.
There was no stopping, no quitting in Elisha.
He stuck with the man of God — he stayed right on his hip.
Mark it down and don’t forget it.
All of Planet Earth grows.
All of Planet Earth moves forward.
Even when things in hibernation, they are moving forward.
There are no vacations from growing in God.
The day you stop growing is the day you start dying.
Mark it down.
There are times to physically rest.
Jesus rested but He never stopped chasing God.
Elisha refused to stop.
Starting and stopping are indicators of an immature mindset.
The man of God always presses forward ever with his eyes upward.
Some of Jesus’ words on this topic are fitting.

Luke 9:62 (ESV) — 62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

John 4:31–34 (ESV) — 31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.

Luke 9:51 (ESV) — 51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.

The phrase ‘set his face’ is comprised of two Greek words.
‘Set’ means to fix firmly in place.
‘Face’ means countenance.
Put together ‘set your face’ is a Semitic idiom that emphases finality and means ‘to decide firmly, to resolve, to make up one’s mind definitely.’⁵
Rapidly and decidedly running forward is the mindset of maturity.
Do you possess this mindset?
If you don’t, growing up spiritually is in your bright and promising future.
I have more to say to you along this line but I’m out of time.
We will pick this up in a future podcast.

Now Father God, thank you for being patient with us and kind to us while we are growing. I thank you for the Holy Spirit, who is our leader and our guide. Thank you that He accompanies us on our growth journey.

What Does A Spiritually Mature Jesus Follower Look Like?
You guys have a great God week and we will see you next time for another edition of Light on Life.

One Necessary Component You Need for Spiritual Growth in God

__________
References:

Adapted Leadership Ministries Worldwide, Practical Illustrations: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians (Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide, 2001), 91. ↩
William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 254. ↩
Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 722. ↩
John Maxwell, 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth, (New York: Hachette Book Group, 2012), 2. ↩
Louw Nida ↩

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What Does A Spiritually Mature Jesus Follower Look Like?

Podcast: Light on Life Season Eleven Episode Fifty

by Emery Horvath

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Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Episode Resources:

If you would like to know more about growing in faith, see the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

We are currently teaching in the book of First Corinthians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Prayer

Podcast Notes

Spiritually Mature Jesus Follower: In First Corinthians

Spiritually Mature Jesus Follower: In Ephesians

Spiritually Mature Jesus Follower: In Hebrews

How Does One become a Spiritually Mature Jesus Follower?

Why Some Never Develop Spiritually Maturity

A Spiritually Mature Jesus Follower Is One Who Understands the Press

A Spiritually Mature Jesus Follower Is One Who Won’t Quit

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download |Subscribe to PlayerFM

Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Episode Resources:

If you would like to know more about growing in faith, see the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

We are currently teaching in the book of First Corinthians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Prayer

Podcast Notes

Spiritually Mature Jesus Follower: In First Corinthians

Spiritually Mature Jesus Follower: In Ephesians

Spiritually Mature Jesus Follower: In Hebrews

How Does One become a Spiritually Mature Jesus Follower?

Why Some Never Develop Spiritually Maturity

A Spiritually Mature Jesus Follower Is One Who Understands the Press

A Spiritually Mature Jesus Follower Is One Who Won’t Quit

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