“Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” – Ephesians 4:13

All life begins with some kind of infancy but usually progresses to maturity – the attainment of a final or desired state; becoming fully developed or ripe. Maturity could be physical, mental, emotional or spiritual. In each case, there are indices that serve as markers, enabling judgement to be made as to whether an individual is mature or immature. For example, physical maturity may be judged by the attainment of an expected physical height or other physical features; mental maturity may be assessed by the attainment of certain academic standards.

Spiritual maturity is maturity that is of the spirit; that relates to the spirit; that consists of the spirit; that is powered by the Spirit. This type of maturity isn’t about age; you can be a Christian for 100 years and still be immature. This type of maturity isn’t about appearance; you can look physically imposing like David’s elder brothers, Eliab, Abinadab and Shammah (1 Samuel 16:6-9) and still be immature. Spiritual maturity isn’t about educational attainment; you can have a seminary degree but be spiritually immature.

Spiritual maturity isn’t about educational attainment; you can have a seminary degree but be spiritually immature.

Jesus is the Plumbline

How should spiritual maturity be measured? Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, said the measure of spiritual maturity is “attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). He said the purpose of God’s gifts to the Church, of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, is to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

In Romans 8:29, Paul also said that “those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers”. In God’s mind, the Son (Jesus) is to be the oldest among a vast family of brothers and sisters who will become just like him. So when God calls anyone to himself for salvation in Christ, he places them in a church community with gifted members, whose work is to bring the believers to the attainment of the full measure of the fullness of Christ. That is maturity. Therefore, the plumb line to use to check your maturity, how far you have come, is not some human somewhere; they may be good examples to follow as they follow Christ, but who you were called to be like, to grow into, is none less than Jesus himself. He is God’s only appointed standard for measuring spiritual growth. In fact, the Bible says, “When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise” (2 Corinthians 10:12). Such comparisons make you feel either inferior or superior to whoever you compare yourself with and is ultimately helpless as it has no bearing with God’s set standard, Jesus.

…the plumb line to use to check your maturity, how far you have come, is not some human somewhere; they may be good examples to follow as they follow Christ, but who you were called to be like, to grow into, is none less than Jesus himself. He is God’s only appointed standard for measuring spiritual growth.

A Lifelong Journey

Spiritual maturity is progressive and incremental. All that you become tomorrow is built on small incremental steps that you take to cooperate with the Spirit’s work in your life. All that you need for this to happen have been graciously availed to you by God: “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness … For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge self-control; and to self-control perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:3, 5-8). “Possess these qualities in increasing measure”, that is growth.

Whereas for physical maturity, an index like growth can be said to have been attained when the bones have fully calcified and stopped growing, spiritual maturity continues all through life. It is a lifelong process of becoming like Christ. Paul said, “Not that I have already obtained all this or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that which Christ Jesus took hold of me” (Philippians 3:12). We will only be like Christ when we see him: “But we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). So while we are here, we keep becoming like him.

It Begins at the New Birth

I have stated earlier that Christ is who all of God’s children have been called to become like. Every journey has a take-off point and so it is with the lifelong journey of maturing into the fullness of the measure of Christ. This journey begins at conversion. Have you made a conscious decision to follow Christ? Only a person who is born can grow into maturity. Likewise, only a person who is born again, of the Spirit, can grow to spiritual maturity. Even though both the lion and the domestic cat kept as a pet can all be classified as cats, they are born different genetically. No matter how well-fed a domestic cat is, it can never grow and mature into a lion, because it wasn’t born a lion. A well-fed cat will only grow into a big or mature cat and not a lion. Anyone who is not born anew, of the Spirit, of Christ, can never mature into the likeness of Christ. ‘Genetically’, the unregenerate person is of Adam and not of Christ; only at conversion does he/she take up the nature of Christ. Everyone begins the Christian life at infancy, their chronological age notwithstanding. If there is no new birth, there can be no growth into the fullness of Christ.

Anyone who is not born anew, of the Spirit, of Christ, can never mature into the likeness of Christ.

The Life of Christ on Display

So how did Jesus live his life so that we can look at him and aspire to be like him or use his life as a plumb line to align our own lives correctly? Examining all of Christ’s life would require volumes to be written and we do not have the space here. Peter says that Christ left us an example, that we should follow in his steps (1 Peter 2:21). Anywhere that you see the life of Christ displayed in scripture, follow him and you will be on the right track. When God appeared on the mount of transfiguration, he introduced Jesus as the one to be followed: “This is my beloved Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5).

Lest you think this is a mere exercise in imitation, it is not. Spiritual maturity is maturity that is of the Spirit. Therefore, whatever is done here must derive its origin, direction and empowerment from the Holy Spirit. Jesus himself was filled with the Spirit without measure and displayed the fruit of the Spirit. All our growing into him must therefore be from the Spirit with his example serving as a physical guide for us to know what the leadings and instructions of the Spirit are to look like when we act them out. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law (Galatians 5:22). All these were in abundant display in Christ’s life. 

In assessing your spiritual maturity, what to do therefore, is to ask: “Have I grown in love?” “Have I grown in peace?” “How about patience; can I say I have become more patient like Christ is?” Do that for all the listed parts of the fruit. And before you compare yourself with yourself or someone else, remember that the standard for comparison is Christ. So how much like Christ have you become in all these virtues? Since you became a Christian, in your life, has the needle moved in any of these measures?

God’s Provision for Your Growth to Spiritual Maturity

“As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.” – 1 Peter 2:2

We could talk about prayer, fellowship, discipleship, God-ordained life experiences and the like, as instruments that God will use to bring you to maturity and we would be right, because they are. But you would find those in the Bible. For example, 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, “Pray without ceasing”; we are admonished, in Hebrews 10:25 to “not give up meeting together” but to do so “all the more as you see the Day approaching”. So, whatever provisions you can think about, they have been covered by the word. Therefore, feasting on the word takes care of your spiritual nutritional needs. Just do whatever the word tells you. The Rev. Selwyn Hughes said: “What is one of the first things we need to discipline ourselves to do if we are to train ourselves for godliness? It is to have a regular (preferably daily) intake from the word of God. No spiritual exercise is more important than reading, studying and meditating on the Scriptures”. Someone else has described this as the first exercise of the soul. I agree. 

In these days of electronics and various broadcast media, and while these do not in any way substitute for the Bible, I would encourage listening to sound teaching and exposition of the word as well. Gone are the days when you could only listen to messages when you went to church; your mobile device can give you access to podcasts, recordings, etc. Maximize them. Our generation has more access to high quality content than previous ones. You do not have any excuse for being spiritually malnourished. I would only caution that you watch who you listen to, so that you don’t stray.

Every believer begins the Christian race at the same point; but you must move from infancy to maturity. God has made adequate provision for this to happen in your life. Take hold of it and grow to maturity.

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