CHRISTIAN GROWTH

Guest Writer: W. Bruce Tooley

aptism puts an end to one’s life as an alien sinner and begins one’s life as a child of God. And it must be followed by spiritual growth or it was submitted to in vain. If a newborn baby does not grow we carry it to the doctor. If a child has no appetite we know there is a serious problem. The same is true of the spiritual babe. Something is wrong if one fails to develop—grow—into a mature disciple. If he fails to develop there must be a deficiency of faith. Such might be the result of the failure of others to properly teach—feed, edify, nurture—the babe in Jesus. But it must be attended to.

e are commanded to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). This means we must grow in order to be pleasing to the Lord. Christians must continue, “as newborn babes, [to] desire the pure milk of the word that [they] may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2). If we have no appetite for the word of God, we will not grow. Jesus said if we hunger and thirst after righteousness we will be filled (Matt. 5:6). The more we grow the more of God’s word we will desire. The reader might ask, “How can I know if I am growing?” Here are a few questions one might ask himself.

1. Do I pray to God every day? He wants us to communicate with Him (Phil. 4:6,7).

2. Do I read God’s word every day? He wants to communicate with us, and every Christian needs to have a daily diet of Bible reading; God’s word contains all that “pertains to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3).

3. Have I broken at least some of my bad habits? We must put off the old man by making new friends of God’s people (1 Cor. 15:33).

4. Am I involved in good works or have I neglected the needy? We were created for good works (Eph. 2:10).

5. Do I regularly attend all the assemblies and Bible classes of the local church that I can? We are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together (Heb. 10:24,25).

6. Do I love the brethren more and feel closer to them than before? We are to love one another as Christ has loved us (John 13:34).

here are other questions one could ask himself, but these are ample to prove spiritual growth can be seen and measured. Paul told Timothy to grow in such a way that his “progress may be evident to all” (1 Tim. 4:15). Let us look to our spiritual growth and take note of our progress.

[Next week: “The Christian Walk”]

INTRODUCTION

TO THE BOOK OF PROVERBS

Solomon, Son of David

The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:

To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight,

to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity;

to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth—

Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance,

to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;

fools despise wisdom and instruction (1:1-7)

“THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD”

Bob Myhan

he Christian is commanded to “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might” (Eph. 6:10). But if inspiration had ended the epistle at this point, the Christian would be “at sea without a compass” as far as knowing how to “be strong in the Lord” is concerned. But in His infinite mercy, the Holy Spirit proceeded, by the will of the Father, the direction of the Son and the pen of Paul, to give us the key to being “strong in the Lord.”

nly by putting on “the whole armor of God” will we “be able to stand against the schemes of the devil” (Eph. 6:14, ESV]. The word translated “schemes” is the Greek word, “methodia,” from which we get the word, “method.” According to Vine, “methodia” “denotes craft, deceit…a cunning device” (p. 1239). Unfortunately, the devil has many cunning devices with which we might “be outwitted” by him (2 Cor. 2:11, ESV).

irst, he approaches us indirectly by means of his ministers, who “are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men” (2 Cor. 11:13-15); even the Lord’s disciples can be so used (Matt. 16:23).

econd, he appeals to us by way of things that are “in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life”  (1 John 2:15-17; Gen. 3:6).

hird, he “takes away the word out of [our] hearts” (Luke 8:12) by the use of lies (John 8:44; Gen. 3:4,5), worldly wisdom (1 Cor. 1:18-25), and the misuse of Scripture (Matt. 4:6).

ourth, he causes offense, or stumbling (Matt. 13:20,21) through tribulation (Matt. 13:21), persecution (Matt. 13:21) and temptation (Luke 8:13).

ifth, he chokes the word (Matt. 13:22) by means of the cares of this world (Matt. 13:22), the deceitfulness of riches (Matt. 13:22) and pleasures of life (Luke 8:14).

ixth, by his “craftiness,” he corrupts minds “from the simplicity that is in Christ” (2 Cor. 11:3). The word “craftiness” is literally “all-working;” that is, “doing everything…hence, unscrupulous conduct” (Vine, p. 256). In short, Satan will stop at nothing in his attempts to outwit us. We must “armor up!”

ut, in order to “armor up” we must be familiar with the armor to begin with. When a certain boy was about to face a certain Philistine giant, “Saul clothed David with his armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail. David fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, ‘I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them.’ So David took them off” (1 Sam. 17:38,39). Had David tested Saul’s armor beforehand, he would doubtless have felt more comfortable in it. And, while he was able to defeat the giant without it, he would not have been victorious without the spiritual “armor of God.” That armor was his faith in divine providence, as evidenced from the fact he had already “said to Saul. ‘Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.’ Moreover David said, ‘The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.’ And Saul said to David, ‘Go, and the Lord be with you’” (1 Sam. 17:34-37). Faith is also the key to our spiritual armor, as we shall see in future articles.

[Next week: “Having Girded Your Waist”]