{"id":3464,"date":"2022-09-18T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-18T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/?p=3464"},"modified":"2022-09-17T11:29:06","modified_gmt":"2022-09-17T18:29:06","slug":"spiritual-maturity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/2022\/09\/18\/spiritual-maturity\/","title":{"rendered":"Spiritual Maturity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Sunday Service MVCOG - 1 John 2:12-14 Spiritual Maturity\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qq-HzC7lbDA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\"><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-a649ef1b-256a-4dcb-bcfb-602ab647a5a6\" href=\"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/1-John-2vs12-14-Spiritual-Maturity.pdf\">1-John-2vs12-14-Spiritual-Maturity<\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/1-John-2vs12-14-Spiritual-Maturity.pdf\" class=\"wp-block-file__button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-a649ef1b-256a-4dcb-bcfb-602ab647a5a6\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1 John 2:12-14<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you on account of His name.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>John\u2019s just spent time giving them evidence that they\u2019re saved saying that if they follow God\u2019s commands out of love for Him, then it is evidence that they are saved.&nbsp; If you\u2019re a true believer you\u2019re going to obey the Word of God and have love for and serve their brethren, and so both of these are evidence that someone is truly saved.&nbsp; Buthe knows that none of them will be perfect at doing either of these things.&nbsp; And this imperfection, falling short, and missing the mark in these two things would tend to make even genuine believers doubt their salvation.&nbsp; So, verse 12 is here to pause, and give true believers reassurance that they are saved not through these works, but on the basis of what Jesus has done.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We are all equally redeemed.&nbsp; But now John wants to recognize the fact that not all believers are at the same place in their spiritual walk with Christ, their submission to the will of the Holy Spirit.&nbsp; John asks the question:&nbsp; Where are you at in your spiritual maturity?&nbsp; John is speaking in terms of family, where there are people who are at different maturity levels.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>I am writing to you, fathers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>John begins at the top level, and then will work his way down.&nbsp; When John says \u201cI am writing to you, fathers\u201d, he\u2019s describing those men who were spiritually mature\u2014the spiritual fathers amongst the congregation.&nbsp; These are believers who\u2019s life is characterized by a deep, close, intimate relationship with Jesus as the most important relationship in our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>because you know Him who has been from the beginning.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These have grown in the grace and knowledge of Christ over many years.&nbsp; These are people who have spent many hours in the Word of God, studying, meditating on it, taking it to heart, and letting the Holy Spirit deal with their heart, and mold them into people who are more conformed to the image of Christ.&nbsp; They have learned Truth from God\u2019s Word, and applied it to their daily lives.&nbsp; These are people who have followed Paul\u2019s admonition in Romans 12:2 2 <strong>And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect<\/strong>.&nbsp; It takes time, to be \u201cfully convinced\u201d.&nbsp; Romans 4:20-21 <strong>yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>From the Beginning<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These \u201cfathers\u201d have known God from the beginning of their relationship with Jesus, and continue to know Him and grow in Him.&nbsp; Their lives are characterized by obedience and submission to God over a long period of time, in fellowship with God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>I am writing to You, Young Men<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>John now addresses the \u201cyoung men\u201d among his readers. They have a personal relationship with Jesus, and have walked with Him, but not for as long.&nbsp; This is a level below the Fathers.&nbsp; This Greek word, for young men, Neaniskos (Nay-an-is\u2019-kos) describes a man from 20-40 years old or so.&nbsp; This is a person who as matured into young adulthood.&nbsp; This could be described as the worker stage.&nbsp; You\u2019re no longer a spiritual spectator, but are getting about the business that God has for you.&nbsp; Ephesians 2:10 10 <strong>For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.&nbsp; <\/strong>Those good works are part of what the life in Christ is about.&nbsp; Those who are workers, are laboring for Christ not to earn salvation, it is a free gift, but out of Love for Him.&nbsp; They\u2019re getting to know Him enough to know that He wants their entire life, and they\u2019re surrendering it to Him, piece by piece.&nbsp; When we surrender our hearts to Him, we begin to prioritize what He wants for our life more, and when that happens, we\u2019ll surrender our time and efforts more and more to Him. &nbsp;So, in terms of where you\u2019re at in your spiritual journey with Christ, think about how you prioritize Him in your life In terms of time and resources.&nbsp; How important is Jesus to you compared to everything and everyone else in your life, as evidenced by your calendar, your desires, your passions, and your priorities.&nbsp; This will tell you where you\u2019re at in terms of maturity.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>because you have overcome the evil one.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>John points to another great evidence of gaining some spiritual maturity\u2014VICTORY!&nbsp; Overcoming.&nbsp; John states that a mark of having maturity to this level is overcoming the evil one when we are tempted.&nbsp; John writes this group precisely because he wants to encourage them as victorious Christians. His use of the perfect active indicative form of the word Nikao describes their spiritual status as a victory over evil or \u201cthe evil one,\u201d won in the past and enjoyed in the present. \u201cThe past remains effective\u201d.&nbsp; You can point to things in your life that you used to struggle with, that are no longer an ongoing problem for you, and haven\u2019t been for a long time.&nbsp; You have victory in areas of your life, you are an overcomer, not struggling to win against evil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>I have written to you, children, because you know the Father.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And the last group that John writes to are the Babes in Christ.&nbsp; Do the babes in Christ not know the Lord Jesus? Yes, they do, but they do not know Him in His full character. They know Him as a child knows their parent.&nbsp; They know that He loves them and takes care of them and shelters them, but they don\u2019t know all about their Father\u2019s Business.&nbsp; They know Him as having forgiven their sins, and that is a lot, but it is not all to know about God. Like babies, they are to feed on the pure milk of the Word.&nbsp; How do they do this?&nbsp; By cooperating with the Lord in allowing Him to wash them with the Water of the Word&nbsp; 1 Peter 2 2-3 <strong>2 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, 2 and like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, 3 if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.<\/strong>&nbsp; So, baby Christians will still have a lot to work on-but God can help them grow, just as He did us.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>God holds us responsible for spiritual growth.&nbsp; The author of Hebrews lets his audience know that he is not pleased with their spiritual growth in Heb 4:12-14 12<strong> For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the actual words of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unacquainted with the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to distinguish between good and evil.&nbsp; <\/strong>It is walking with God that matures us, and it is understanding the Word of God in our hearts that lets us know Jesus more and more, an understanding of who God is by fellowshipping with Him.&nbsp; And this means that we don\u2019t need, so much, others to teach us about God, because we learn about Him directly from Him.&nbsp; And because we have been in fellowship with God, we\u2019re not led around by strange doctrines, but discern what is the truth of God\u2019s Word ourselves, and are able to distinguish between the good and evil, the truth and falseness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>14 I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>John uses the past tense here to emphasize our personal relationship with God through Jesus.&nbsp; He\u2019s addressing fathers again to underline that what distinguishes them is their long-term personal, abiding, fellowshipping intimate relationship with Jesus.&nbsp; This has given them wisdom and spiritual maturity needed in their own lives, but also to help those around them grow.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God remains in you, and you have overcome the evil one.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>John emphasizes to the young men that their advantage is their energy and strength.&nbsp; And this is because God\u2019s word is \u201cin\u201d them in the sense that they know it and apply it.&nbsp; It is \u201cenduringly and effectively present\u201d in them.&nbsp; God\u2019s Word, it is influencing them, guiding them through life. And this victory over Satan comes as we live according to God\u2019s Word. They were living out their lives on the basis of an orthodox biblical worldview.&nbsp; And this is why they \u201c<strong>have overcome the evil one.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the forgiven children of God who are imitating Jesus\u2019 walk, our goal should be to daily overcome Satan and grow to the stable faith of the \u201cfathers\u201d more and more in every aspect of our life.&nbsp; None of us can become strong or mature any other way.&nbsp; There are no short-cuts! Spiritual maturity is not automatic. It results from daily decisions to walk with God, to do what is right, to practice justice and mercy, to come alongside others, and especially to get to know Him more and more, and to spend time with Him, and grow in deeper and deeper relationship with Him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>1 John 2:12-14 12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you on account of His name. John\u2019s just spent time giving them evidence&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-services"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":807,"url":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/2014\/01\/19\/i-d-theft-does-it-affect-the-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":3464,"position":0},"title":"I.D. Theft: Does it Affect the Church?","author":"Robert","date":"January 19, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I.D. Theft: Does it Affect the Church? Worldview of Church Legalistic: Matthew 22:36-40; Romans 8:1-2 Hypocritical: Romans 12:9; 1Peter 2:1-3 Money Hungry: Matthew 6:24; Hebrews 13:5 Intolerant: Romans 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:11-12 Buzz Killer: 2 Timothy 3:1-5 Divided: Ephesians 4:1-6; John 17:11 Church\u2019s Three I.D.'s I am a Spiritual House\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Services&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Services","link":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/category\/services\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3886,"url":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/2023\/10\/01\/victory-in-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":3464,"position":1},"title":"Victory in Jesus","author":"Robert","date":"October 1, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtube.com\/live\/wO-EsW8fRpM?feature=share 1st-John-5vs4-5-Victory-in-JesusDownload 1 John 5:4-5 4 For whoever has been born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith.5 Who is the one who overcomes the world, but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 4 For\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Services&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Services","link":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/category\/services\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mvcog.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/FeaturedImage20231001.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mvcog.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/FeaturedImage20231001.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mvcog.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/FeaturedImage20231001.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mvcog.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/FeaturedImage20231001.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mvcog.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/FeaturedImage20231001.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3470,"url":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/2022\/09\/25\/do-not-love-the-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":3464,"position":2},"title":"Do Not Love the World","author":"Robert","date":"September 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/C6LiuYBrf9M 1st-John-2vs15-17-Part-1-Do-Not-Love-The-WorldDownload 1st John 2:15-17 Part 1:\u00a0 15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Do not love the world An obstacle to the spiritual growth which can hinder the progress toward\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Services&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Services","link":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/category\/services\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/C6LiuYBrf9M\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4392,"url":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/2025\/01\/05\/ephesians-414-obedience-keeps-us-on-course\/","url_meta":{"origin":3464,"position":3},"title":"Ephesians 4:14\u00a0 Obedience Keeps us On Course","author":"Robert","date":"January 5, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtube.com\/live\/6vq1GUnYsSE?feature=share Eph 4 vs 14 Obedience Keeps us On CourseDownload The last time that we were in Ephesians, we were talking about our mission as ministers in the Church\u00a0 asEph 4:12 equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ.\u00a0 Until\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Services&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Services","link":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/category\/services\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mvcog.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Featured-20250105.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mvcog.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Featured-20250105.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mvcog.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Featured-20250105.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mvcog.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Featured-20250105.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mvcog.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Featured-20250105.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1853,"url":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/2017\/09\/03\/a-clear-present-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":3464,"position":4},"title":"A Clear &#038; Present Faith","author":"Robert","date":"September 3, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Genesis 28:10-22 Faith = the moral and spiritual quality of people who know and demonstrate a confidence in and a devotion to the revealed truth about God. Hebrews 11:1 Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Jacob started with a generational, not a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Services&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Services","link":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/category\/services\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3413,"url":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/2022\/06\/26\/the-incarnate-word-of-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":3464,"position":5},"title":"The Incarnate Word of Life","author":"Robert","date":"June 26, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/OtdJWqmW_Tg 1-John-1vs1-2-The-Incarnate-Word-of-LifeDownload Authorship-The author of this epistle is John, the beloved Apostle, the author of the gospel of John, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, as well as Revelation.\u00a0 There is no surviving early copy of the epistle that does not attribute it to him in the title.\u00a0 Unanimous attribution of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Services&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Services","link":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/category\/services\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/OtdJWqmW_Tg\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3464"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3464\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}