A person becomes a Christian after an experience named by the Lord Jesus as ‘being born again’. This experience is the entry point of every Christian into a place where he can then see the Kingdom of God. In John 3, Jesus speaking to Nicodimus, He brings to light that being a true follower of Jesus (who is the only true way to God) begins by this all important step.
(John 3:3 KJV) Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
The subject of a developing Christian is based on the fact that the Lord expects all Christians to start as children or ‘new borns’. Surprisingly some believers feel that they have finished it all when they receive Christ. This indeed is the reason for the large but ineffective ‘body of Christ’ we have on earth today. Few have developed into what God expects them since they were born again.
(Heb 5:12 KJV) For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
(Heb 5:12 MSG) By this time you ought to be teachers yourselves, yet here I find you need someone to sit down with you and go over the basics on God again, starting from square one–baby’s milk, when you should have been on solid food long ago!
Paul was expressing the expectation that God had concerning the development of this group of Christians. As a shepherd of God’s people I have noticed that few people take their spiritual development seriously. There is a time when a believer is expected by God to have developed past spiritual babyhood and childhood into maturity. But just like in the Hebrew Christians; few really pass the spiritual babyhood and childhood stages.
This book is here to help you understand the need to develop as a Christian. Children and babes cannot engage in fighting Satan; hence the devil has had his way in many people’s lives because they are not developed Christians. As you develop in your relationship with God, you will become stronger in the areas which makes you stand and survive the attacks of the evil one.
The rise of many false religions and perversion in the world today is not because God is becoming weaker nor that the blood of Jesus is now losing its redemptive power. No! There are many reasons to this but one of them is that the army of God is poorly trained, poorly armed and improperly mobilized.
The few that are engaged in the real battle with Satan are busy protecting the spiritual babes that they are covering and fighting for in the spirit. This is the reason why the men of God often are too tired or overburdened to do their work effectively. Bible teaches that ministers of God are given to perfect (develop) the saints until they are no longer spiritual children.
(Eph 4:11-13 KJV) And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:
God wants all believers to grow into mature spiritual people. This is why He gave the fivefold ministry gifts to the church to help develop the believers. One lost aspect of the current church is teaching. The untaught believer is often too empty of the Word of God which means they are vulnerable to Satan’s temptations. Jesus did not reason with Satan when He was tempted. He used the Word of God to overcome the temptation. How many scriptures can you quote today? Do you think Satan has changed his strategies of tempting believers? Or you have better methods that Christ’s to overcome Satan? Think about that.
May the Lord grant you a teachable spirit so that you may learn and benefit from the preaching and teaching of the word of God in this book!
The Developing Christian 