This is The Way – Devo Day 26

The Extremes of Spiritual Development

It’s easy to slip into the extremes of spiritual development. The first extreme overemphasizes our role and minimizes God’s role. This position is characterized by the mentality of striving and living for Christ. It emphasizes knowledge, rules, rededication efforts, and human activity, and it undervalues the work of the Holy Spirit. The second extreme (the opposite of the first) overemphasizes God’s role and minimizes our role. This position is characterized by a let-go-and-let-God passivity. It stresses experience, the supernatural, and the person of the Holy Spirit and downplays human responsibility.

The human / Divine Synergy

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

John 14:15–17 (ESV)

The correct Biblical balance is that the spiritual life of a Christ-follower is both human and divine. On the human side, we are responsible to work out, not work for, our salvation. One the divine side, God gives us the desire and the empowerment to accomplish His will and design. This co-labor relationship has one goal but two distinct avenues of implementation – Dependence and Discipline.

When I attended seminary late in my life I quickly realized that my spiritual formation was inadequate for the call of God on my life. There I discovered a richness of relationship with God that I had never known through some of the classic disciplines of the Christian life. My plan for the remainder of this devotional study is to present one of these spiritual disciplines as the “application day” in our three-day cycle.

Dependence

The life and image of Christ (God’s will) can only be reproduced in us by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is an inner work of God in a person’s heart and mind that cannot be achieved by human effort. Apart from Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, we can’t accomplish or even contribute to that work (John 15:4-5). That is why it is crucial for us to adopt a conscious dependence upon the Word of God and the Holy Spirit in everything we do. “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” Galatians 5:16 (ESV) The word for “step” refers to the step-by-step process of daily life. Just as Jesus walked in total dependence on the life of His Father (John 6:57), so we must rest and draw from that same power source.

Discipline

While the work of God in our spiritual transformation is critical, there is, however, no growth in the Christian life without discipline and self-control (1 Timothy 4:7). Spiritual maturity is not instantaneous or haphazard; it must be developed and refined. The New Testament is full of commands to believe, walk, present, fight, reckon, hold fast, pursue, draw near, and of course love. The spiritual life is progressively cultivated in the disciplines of the faith. We do not get up off the altar floor mature in the faith. This is why the Apostle Paul uses metaphors of an athlete (1 Cor 9:24-27), a soldier (Ephesians 6:10-18), and a farmer (2 Timothy 2:3-6).

We grow in godliness as we hear and obediently respond to God’s Word and the Holy Spirit. Spiritual maturity is characterized by the ability to recognize and apply the principles of Scripture to daily life (Hebrews 5:11-14). The Holy Spirit brings the Scriptures to life as we obediently put God’s precepts into practice and none of that happens without human effort. God’s grace is not opposed to effort only to earning. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV)

The Disciplines of the Faith

There is no shortcut to spiritual formation for the follower of Christ. After the initial burst of enthusiasm, we soon discover that launching the process is easier than following through (for the rest of your life). As anyone who attempts to learn a new skill quickly realizes, the early stages can be particularly challenging because nothing is normal – it’s all unnatural. Only those willing to persevere ever reach the point where it “starts to click.” But, in the Christian faith, we never fully arrive. It’s a life-long work and the Scripture encourages us “to continually press on toward the goal” (Philippians 3:12-14). And that requires a life-long commitment to the disciplines that Jesus, the apostles, and early followers of The Way have practiced for centuries. In the days ahead we’ll look into each of these disciplines:

• Solitude and Silence
• Prayer
• Journaling
• Study and Meditation
• Fasting
• Secrecy
• Confession
• Fellowship
• Submission and Guidance
• Simplicity and Stewardship
• Worship and Celebration
• Service
• Witness

The disciplines, however, are never ends in themselves but rather the means to the end of knowing, loving, and trusting God in increasing measure. Consistently implementing them cultivates holy habits. As these habits grow, they guide our behavior in such a way that it becomes more natural for us to live our new identities in Christ. Our habits also shape our character. Our character, in turn, guides the decisions we make in times of stress, temptation, and adversity. In this way, the godly actions of maturing believers are outward expressions of the continuing work of God in our lives.

The spiritual disciplines are the product of a synergy between human and divine initiative, and they serve as a means of grace to bring ourselves under the lordship of Christ and the control of the Spirit. By practicing them we place our minds, heart, and body before God seeking the grace of transformation. In this way, we learn to appropriate the power of Kingdom living.
– This is The Way

APPLICATION – QUESTIONS TO ANSWER

1. What do dependence and discipline look like in your relationship with God?
2. What spiritual disciplines are part of your life? Are you open to adding another discipline to this time? What would be your goal in adding it?
3. When was the most vibrant and/or intimate conversation you have had with God? What was the result? What was the setting (prayer, worship, reading the Scriptures, alone in nature, serving some cause, at the altar)? What discipline might promote that same level of exchange?

PRAY

Wrap up this section of the devotional by combining the Scriptures that we’ve focused on the last two days and your answers to the questions into a prayer. I’m pretty confident that He has been talking to you already so pray it back to Him – what you learned, what you decided, what you committed to, what you need his help with. Then, when you are done, make sure you wait silently, patiently, expectantly for God to speak to you. You might want to have a pad and pen handy to jot notes.

IF YOU ARE JUST STARTING AND WANT TO GO BACK AND READ THE PREVIOUS POSTS IN THIS SERIES