THE CONCEPT OF SPIRITUALITY

Last week we were able to detect what manner of man we were and also we understood what manner of man God ultimately plan for us to be. Which is a state where we become not natural nor carnal but Spiritual. This week we shall learn what it takes to get to that state.

Genuine spirituality involves three factors.

The first, REGENERATION: No one can be spiritual in the biblical sense without having first experienced the new life that is freely given to all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Saviour (2 Cor 5:17). Spirituality without regeneration is Reformation.

The second, The HOLY SPIRIT: The Holy Spirit is preeminently involved in producing spirituality. This is not to say that the other Persons of the God-head do not have a part in it, nor that the believer himself has
no responsibility, nor that there are not other means of grace, but it is to affirm His major role in spirituality. The ministries of the Spirit involve teaching (John 16:12-15), guiding (Rom. 8:14),
assuring (Rom. 8:16), praying (Rom 8.26), the exercise of spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12:7) and Warring against the flesh (Gal. 5:17). All of these depend for their full manifestation on the filling of
the Spirit (Eph. 5:18).
To be filled with the Spirit means to be controlled by the Spirit. The clue to this definition is found in Ephesians 5:18
where there is contrast and comparison between drunkenness and
Spirit-filling. It is the comparison which gives the clue, for just
as a drunken person is controlled by the liquor which he consumes, so a Spirit-filled Christian is controlled by the Spirit. As a result he will act in a manner unnatural to him-not an erratic or
abnormal manner, but one contrary to the old life. Control by the Spirit is a necessary part of spirituality.

The third factor involved in spirituality is TIME. If the Spiritual person judges or examines or discerns all things (1 Cor 2:15), this must involve time in order to gain knowledge and to acquire experience for discerning all things. The Amplified Bible elaborates on the verse in this fashion: “He can read the
meaning of everything, but no one can properly discern or appraise or get an insight into him.” This could not be accomplished overnight; it is something Which is true only of a mature Christian.

That word maturity seems to hold the key to the concept of spirituality, for Christian maturity is the growth which the Holy Spirit produces over a period of time in the believer. To be sure, the same amount of time is not required for each individual, but some time is necessary for all. It is not the time itself which produces maturity; rather, the progress made and growth achieved are all-important.

Rate multiplied by time equals distance, so that the distance to maturity or spirituality may be covered in a shorter time if the rate of growth is accelerated. And it will only be accelerated if none of the control which ought to be given to the Holy Spirit is retained by self. Remember, the spiritual man is one  who His spirit has gained the  ascendancy over his intellectual processes. And his spirit has gained the l ascendancy over his body and his physical senses.

Apostle Paul encourages us in Gal 5:25
"If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit"

#REVEALED BY: AN ENVOY

Enjoy God's Grace in the rest of the week. Shalom