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Maturity 3 - Mature Faith ...

Wednesday, Sept 30, 2009. What is a mature faith? That is an important question. And it reaches right into the heart of the New Testament. It is addressed by Jesus and by the apostle Paul many times indirectly and directly. They want us to come to faith and then develop our faith. A mature faith is a developed faith. But what is it that makes it mature? Where does it start? Where does it go to? What is the final goal of maturity?

Christian faith starts with Jesus Christ. He is the origin and center of faith. His life and his death, his resurrection and the new life which he brings is in the very heart of faith. Paul describes the first steps of faith: discovering the salvation which the cross of Jesus provides. Discovering the purity and honesty of God, discovering that we are lost when we are not taking part in his eternal life. Faith starts when I discover the love of God in Christ, that he wants me to be as pure as he is, as fresh and original, as innocent and bright. Faith starts when I realize that the cross of Jesus is for me, that I can find new access to God when all my lost life is forgiven and restored. When I put my life into his hands, I enter a new world. Paul calls these discoveries the “baby food” of faith. It is for people who are just at the point to be born afresh in the spirit of Jesus.

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But faith does not stop with the baby food. It will continue to grow, just as an infant grows into a child, into a teen and into an adult. God wants us to grow in faith. Growing in faith means that we develop or mind, our heart and our actions. Growing into maturity is a key point of this development. What is a mature Christian? It is one who is more like Jesus than an infant Christian. When we are connected to him by his spirit, we are supposed to become similar to him in our heart, with our thoughts and actions, with our whole existence. Maturity for Christians means “being more like Christ”. We are part of his body, we are a part of him. He will shape and transform our life - step by step.

The biblical idea of a Christian life is that of a process. With the point where we come to faith in Jesus, we start a transformation process. The bible argues on two levels. On one level we are completely transformed immediately. We become a part of Christ, of the “body of Christ”. We are a new creation. On the second level the transformation takes a whole lifetime. God does not change all our habits immediately. He does not immediately change our past, our character, the way we are. These things are changed, but using our own will, our own decisions, our upcoming experiences and history. Maturity means that we progress on this path of transformation. We change, because a wonderful God lives in us and with us.

Becoming mature does not mean that everything will be done easily. God will give us challenges into our life, which are adequate to our current state. He might give easy challenges to some people, very difficult ones to others. But we can be sure that there are challenges for everyone. Humans tend to hold on to things, which they should let go free. We tend to hold on to money, to worldly securities, to all different types of goals. But not all of this is good for us. There is no other security than the love of the eternal God. There is no other sustainable goal than the joy of being with the source and center of life. All other things will be challenged when the time is right.

It is a real joy to search for maturity in faith. I have not found more liberating things than the maturity of the Holy Spirit. Imagine everyone in our environment would act like Jesus did. We would live in heaven on earth! Maturity in faith, in behaviour, in thoughts and words, is just a wonderful experience. The adventure of faith is an adventure of maturation - it is a challenging adventure, but unbelievably fantastic at the same time! [R.W.E.P., jesusnetwork.eu]

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