Christian Maturity

A believer has been given wisdom by God so that they may know the things of God and apply it to their lives (1 Cor. 2:10, 13). But even though they (believers who have been given God’s wisdom) are called to maturity, at times they act worldly, under the control of the world and the flesh (cf. the Corinthian believers whose actions were antithetical to those given God’s wisdom; 1 Cor. 3:3-4). Keep in mind, “while all believers are alive in the spirit, not all believers’ actions and attitudes conform to the status of being alive in the Spirit (Samra, p. 66). Seeing that believers are no longer slaves to sin and are now “sons’” because “God sent his Spirit within our hearts” (Gal. 4:6), it is expected that they should live in freedom, to walk in their new status, not enslavement to the law, the world, nor the enemy.

With Christ as the standard for maturity, the apostle Paul defines maturity as “displaying attitudes and actions befitting the kingdom of God” (Samra, p.59). The range of meaning for Paul’s use of the word τελείοις/ teleiois/ mature include “complete, blameless, righteous, fully developed, fully devoted to God, holy, and without defect” (Samra, p. 61). Essentially, to be mature means to be conformed to Christ’s image(Rom. 12:2. My personal favorite is the use of teleiois in 1 Cor. 14:20 – “Stop being children in your thinking. Be teleiois!” (paraphrased). Believers in community become teleiois when they gain proper perspective of their standing and identity in the kingdom of God.

 Through the mutual exchanges of being in community, believers can experience character development as they walk in the Spirit (Gal. 5:25). An example provided by Paul is that of the community urging spirit-conformity to the one that is fallen (Gal. 6:1 – restore him/her). Left alone, the fallen may continue to live worldly/in the flesh;  “not behaving in accordance with his status as one who has crucified the sinful nature and lives by the Spirit” (Gal. 5:24-5)[Samra, p. 65]. 

While there is the individual responsibility to “work out your own salvation” (Phil. 2:12), community comes alongside the fallen/weak individual to provide the nutrients necessary to “bring a person’s character aligned with their status as having the Spirit” (Samra, p.65). Therefore, within community, individually and corporately, the mature believer “is someone who does not conform to the world, but offers himself to God,” moving towards purity, perfection and blamelessness, the hallmark of sanctification (Rom. 12:1-2; Samra, p. 67). Also, note that there is the responsibility of the individual within community to participate in the maturity process. The “working out of your own salvation” is “work.” It is a process, not achieved in isolation or disconnected from community. The apostle Paul said he pursues in order to attain. This is effort. There is a prize to win. There is action and progress (Phil. 3:12-15). Reciprocal exchanges within community is a source of encouragement. Community is therefore an ecology in which Christ is displayed - a place of “living demonstration” of Christ followers in the process of conformity to Christ/transformation. Under the New Covenant, both individuals and whole community can visibly demonstrate the righteousness of Christ  because ‘the transforming power of God’s presence is made available to all believers through the Spirit and in-Christ” (Samra, p. 101). And it is within community, that participation in Christ is possible, and “participation” is what makes transformation possible (Samra, p. 109).

Reference:

Samra, J. (2006). Being conformed to Christ in community. New York: T&T Clark. 

Written by Kevin Hall (06.2019)

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