It is not uncommon to hear preachers and evangelist exhort Christians to “surrender” to God or to “lay it all on the altar.” These phrases are not bad or unbiblical per se, but they tend to paint a picture of a passive approach to spiritual growth. The Apostle Paul (who was clearly “surrendered to God” Gal 2:20) used much different language in describing how a Christian should live out his discipleship. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one … [Read more...]
Attitudes of the Heart – Growth
In the last two lessons we dealt with two foundational attitudes – faith and obedience. The Christian’s entire walk with God can be summed up as a daily exercise of these two attitudes. This lesson naturally flows from the previous two. When a Christian consistently exercises his faith in God through obedience to God, he will inevitably progress in his Christian maturity. This increasing maturity is what we call spiritual growth. Growth is our next attitude of the heart. 2 Thessalonians 1:3 We … [Read more...]
Attitudes of the Heart – Obedience
In our last study we looked at the the foundational heart attitude of Faith. We learned that faith is trusting God based upon His revelation of Himself. Faith is standing firmly on the promises of God as found in His word. It is then trusting Him to fulfill those promises, based upon what we know about His character (Hebrews 11:6). Because our faith rests on the promises of God, it is not accurate to say that ours is a “blind faith.” What we will see in this study is that faith does not stand … [Read more...]
Attitudes of the Heart – Faith
As we learned in the last study, spiritual growth is an inward work of the Holy Spirit in the life of God’s people. God is not concerned with men conforming outwardly to some religious system of rules, but rather that they be transformed inwardly by the Holy Spirit into the image of His Son (Rom 8:29; Gal 4:19). This progressive work of transformation takes place as we learn more about God the Father and submit ourselves to His word. Although the Holy Spirit is responsible for producing these … [Read more...]
Attitudes of the Heart – God’s Work is an Inside Job
God’s work in the life of a believer is an internal work. At the moment of salvation, God sends his Holy Spirit to dwell inside the unworthy sinner. From that time forth, God begins the life-long process of making that man more and more like Jesus Christ. This increasing Christ-likeness begins on the inside but overflows into outward evidences. Over time, affections, attitudes and actions are transformed by the Holy Spirit of God. Whereas many religions of the world demand good works in order to … [Read more...]