Stages Of Spiritual Growth #2
Spiritual Infant
This is part 2 of my 5 Stages of Spiritual Growth series. If you haven’t read part 1 you can click here and read part 1 before moving on to part 2.
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Just like human birth, when you are born again into the family of God you are born a spiritual infant. You go from spiritually dead to a spiritual newborn. As you grow in your faith by reading God’s word, praying and being a part of a local Bible believing and teaching church you will begin to grow in your faith. Spiritual Infants need Spiritual Parents to help them grow from the infancy phase to adulthood.
Last week I wrote about the first phase of spiritual growth- the Spiritually Dead. Today I will share about phase #2- The Spiritual Infant
THE SPIRITUAL INFANT/ NEW BELIEVER
This is someone who has newly received salvation in Christ and been born again or who may have received salvation many years ago but was never discipled and therefore has stayed in spiritual infancy. ( Note: It is NEVER too late to grow as a Christian and be discipled). Just like real infants are hungry for milk all the time, most spiritual infants are hungry for God’s word and for more knowledge of God. However, many times they don’t know how to get it. And when they get it, they don’t always know what to do with it! 1 Peter 2:2-3 says “Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.” In 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 the Apostle Paul refers to the spiritually stunted believers of Corinth “as though you were infants in Christ”. Verse 2 says “ I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready”. Paul then goes on to explain WHY they weren’t ready. Paul says they were “ still controlled by their sinful nature” and “ living like people of the world”. ( a.k.a still living like someone who’s life hasn’t been transformed by Christ). Most Spiritual Infants aren’t living this way out of malicious intent. They are usually living this way because they don’t know any better and haven’t learned what the Bible has to stay about living a transformed life. They may still be very hesitant or cynical about what Christ has to offer them. They may have been burned by “religion” in the past. They may see Christians and the church as mostly hypocritical and still not sure they really need to be committed to or part of serving in a church body. They feel they can serve God in isolation and on their own terms.
On the other hand you may see a new Believer who is full of zeal and excitement ( which is so incredibly awesome to see!) who takes the little knowledge they have and wants to boldly share it with their friends and family. Sometimes, however, HOW they share this knowledge is more harmful than helpful. They have the Sword Of The Spirit ( The Bible) and they are wielding it with abandon without knowing how to use it! The slicing and thumping of friends and family can really turn people off the message of the gospel. Sometimes a new Believer can find that they are quickly losing friends and at war with their own families.
If you are a Spiritual Infant you don’t have to stay there! You can keep growing!
THE SPIRITUAL INFANT/NEW BELIEVER’S NEXT ACTION STEPS:
Find a Bible believing and teaching church to attend. Many times the New Believer will attend the church of the person who led them to salvation or where they first heard the gospel. If that isn’t an option you can search for churches in your area and read their Statement Of Faith on their website. The Statement Of Faith tells you what the church believes and what they teach.
Make sure the church teaches that salvation is through faith alone by God’s grace alone!! Baptism and good works do not save you. We cannot earn our way into Heaven. That Jesus is the ONLY WAY to Heaven and rightness with God. That the Bible is the only authoritative, holy and divinely inspired Word of God. Here is a great example of a Statement Of Faith you can compare others to when searching. This is a Bible believing and teaching church. (It also happens to by my church!) Once you’ve found a church to attend- do it faithfully! This is your new church family.
Read your Bible daily and pray. Spend time every day getting to know God’s Word. Talk to God by praying to Him and asking that He will show you what He wants you to learn from the Bible passages you are reading. Great books of the Bible to start out reading are the book Of John, Mark, Romans, Genesis, Psalms and Proverbs.
Talk to your pastor about being discipled and see what discipleship opportunities your church offers. Surround yourself with other more mature Christians and learn from them. Join a weekly small group or Bible study. If they have a Sunday morning Bible class before or after the main service start attending that as well.
THE DISCIPLEMAKERS RESPONSE TO THE SPIRITUAL INFANT:
If you are a more mature believer- invest in a spiritual infant!! Care for them and nurture them!
Part of the job of the local church is to disciple new Believers. Sadly, many do not. Baby Christians are being born and then left to fend for themselves with no real investment in their lives by other Christians. They continue on in their walk with only the bare minimum knowledge of what they believe, why they believe it, how to live it and how to share it with others. They aren’t taught how to study and use the Bible. They become spiritually stunted and never reach full maturity as a Christian. This is tragic! Every new Believer should have another more mature Believer coming alongside them and investing in their spiritual growth. We are at spiritual war. Spiritual Infants will not only have a hard time defending themselves against Satan’s attack but also fighting back. Would we ever send a toddler into an actual war? No!!!
Yet, this is what we are doing as churches when we don’t provide discipleship and training for the Believers in our care. We need gospel seed planters. But we also need cultivators and nurturers. This is the whole of The Great Commission.
Discipleship takes time. It takes investment. It means getting into the real and raw of someone else’s life.
BUT IT’S WORTH IT!!
New Believer, I encourage you to take the next steps in your growth. You will see great results! If you’ve been a Believer for some time but are still in the spiritual infancy stage I encourage you to follow these steps too. If you are part of a church already, join a small group! Talk to your pastor about discipleship.
Seasoned Believer, if you aren’t spiritually parenting a new Believer ask yourself why and talk to your pastor or discipleship leader about ways you can do this.
For the Calling,
Melissa
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