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Our Maturity As A Church
Brian Mashburn
September 24, 2017
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Our Maturity As A Church
Hear this: God takes pleasure when we become more like Christ. With every inch of ground we take in our own spiritual maturity, like a parent does when they see maturity growing in their children, God beams with joy.
This one truth alone is enough for me to want to take my next step towards the Kingdom way of life. I love thinking that I can bring God pleasure!
But another reason for me to find and take my next step in godliness is equally motivating. It is the absolute best way to live! The deep things my heart longs for come rushing in as I align my life according to God's design.
There is one reason, however, that you are NOT allowed to use as motivation to be more like Christ: to be saved eternally. This because no amount of spiritual maturity - inwardly received or outwardly performed - will be enough to earn you a spot in Heaven. If you slip into this common mistake, you will get tired, bitter, frustrated, and eventually, despair will set in, because your heart is not rigged to have confidence based on our performance.
The good news, remember. Heaven is secure. Jesus' performance assured that.
Up to now, we have only discussed spiritual maturity in terms of the individual Christian. Today we speak of spiritual maturity in terms of the church. Without ever shortchanging our need to become more like Christ individually, Ephesians describes what it looks like for a church family to be mature as a group. Pray that God makes us, the Southwest family, a mature church that is ever looking for our next step towards even more maturity.