Being a Christian is
one thing but experiencing the transformation power that bring Christian maturity
is another.
I suppose we all know
that as Christians we are meant to grow up, to mature. We begin as infants in
the faith and need to develop into adults. The New Testament writers insist
that we must all make this transition from milk to meat, from the children’s
table to the grown-up’s feast. And yet even though we are aware that we must go
through this maturing process, many of us are prone to measure maturity in the
wrong ways. We are easily fooled. This is especially true, I think, in a
tradition like the Reformed one, which (rightly) places a heavy emphasis on
learning and on the facts of the faith.
The Bible is the means
God uses to complete us, to finish us, to bring us to maturity.
When Paul writes to
Timothy, he talks to him about the nature and purpose of the Bible and says,
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof,
for correction and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete,
equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). That word complete is
related to maturity. Paul says that Timothy, and by extension me and you and
all of us, is incomplete, unfinished and immature. The Bible is the means God
uses to complete us, to finish us, to bring us to maturity.
But what does it mean
to be a mature Christian? I think we tend to believe that mature Christians are
the ones who know a lot of facts about the Bible. Mature Christians are the
ones who have their theology down cold. But look what Paul says: “That the man
of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” Paul does not say, “That
the man of God may be complete, knowing the books of the Bible in reverse
order,” or “That the man of God may be complete, able to explain and define
supralapsarianism against infralapsarianism.” He does not say, “That the man of
God may be complete, able to provide a structural outline of each of Paul’s
epistles.” Those are all good things, but they are not Paul’s emphasis. They
may be signs of maturity, but they may also be masks that cover up immaturity.
When Paul talks about
completion and maturity, he points to actions, to deeds, to “every good work.”
The Bible has the power to mature us, and as we commit ourselves to reading,
understanding and obeying it, we necessarily grow up in the faith. That
maturity is displayed in the good works we do more than in the knowledge we
recite. And this is exactly what God wants for us—he wants us to be mature and
maturing doers of good who delight to do good for others. This emphasis on good
deeds is a significant theme in the New Testament (see Ephesians 2:10, Titus
2:14, etc) and the very reason why God saved us.
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