1. Growing in godliness is predominantly about desiring God above everything else.
Blaise Pascal one said, “All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end.” By nature we live for what we value. Therefore, the battle ground of the Christian life is about what we desire. We are called to fight, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to value Jesus above all other things – then we’ll choose Him. As Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
DESIRING GOD BY JOHN PIPER, PSALM 16:11; PSALM 43:4; PSALM 119:103-104, 1 SAMUEL 12:21
2. Believers MUST memorize chapters and books of Scripture!
God’s Word says, “Blessed is the man who delights in the law of the Lord and on His law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither” (Psalm 1:2-3). You cannot meditate on Scripture day and night without having it committed to memory! Paul wrote “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (3:16) which requires reading and memorizing God’s word!
A CALL TO SCRIPTURE MEMORY BY SUSAN HECK, DEUT 6:6; DEUT 11:18, PSALM 119, ROMANS 12:2, AND SO MANY MORE!
3. You respond to the Gospel through repentance and faith for both justification and sanctification.
You will grow in Christ the same way that you came to Christ: Repentance and Faith. You must continually see and confess that you are a more wretched sinner than you thought, yet through faith in Jesus, you are more loved and accepted than you could have ever imagined! This is the Gospel – never move past it! The Gospel both immediately justifies and continually sanctifies you. This is why you need to preach the Gospel to yourself every day.
THE SLOPE OF REPENTANCE & FAITH FROM THE OAKS, THE CROSS CENTERED LIFE BY C.J. MAHANEY
4. You must constantly repent to yourself, to God, and when necessary to others.
Pervasive, all-of-life repentance is the best sign that you are growing deeply and rapidly into the character of Jesus. You must be resolved, as Jonathan Edwards was, to confess frankly to yourself, all which you find in yourself, either sickness or sin; and also to confess the whole case to God, and implore needed help [the Holy Spirit and the accountability of brothers and sisters in Christ].” You must ask yourself every night and every week: What sin have I repented of? Is there anyone I need to repent to or any sin that remains unconfessed?
ALL OF LIFE IS REPENTANCE BY TIM KELLER, THE RESOLUTIONS OF JONATHAN EDWARDS, ACCOUNTABILITY QUESTIONS
5. Do not give authority to your feelings; they often arise from your flesh, which is totally depraved.
Martin Luther wisely said, "All natural inclinations are either without God or against him; therefore none are good.” The desires of your flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, so you must choose to walk by the Spirit. You cannot blindly trust your feelings. They often arise from the flesh and are therefore sinful. Always take your thoughts captive, question their aim (God or self), and reinterpret them through Scripture.
SEEING WITH NEW EYES BY DAVID POWLISON, FLESH CARTOON BY JOSHUA HARRIS, ROMANS 7, GALATIANS 5:16-24
6. You will live most freely when you believe that dying is gain.
Christ came to set you free, so that sin and death no longer have power over you (Galatians 5:1). “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 15:54-57). Christ bought your freedom, but you must now live in it. Look to Paul’s words in Philippians 1:20-26 as an example, primarily “For to me to live in Christ, and to die is gain” (v. 21). Do not allow yourself to be content with the level of your surrender to Christ until you learn to cry out as Esther did, “If I perish, I perish!” (v. 4:16).
DOING MISSIONS WHEN DYING IS GAIN BY JOHN PIPER, GALATIANS 5:1, 1 CORINTHIANS 15:54-57, PHILIPPIANS 1:20-26
7. Discipleship is a Biblical command so that our lives do not bring shame to God’s word.
Live as a Titus 2 Woman: “Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women … that the word of God may not be reviled.” Scripture commands that women be discipled by qualified older women and disciple younger women, so that the word of God may not be despised.
TITUS 2:3-5, FEMININE APPEAL BY CAROLYN MAHANEY
8. Learn to treat the church like Jesus Christ’s beloved bride.
The local church is not meant to be treated with a critical, me-centered, non-committal, two-timer attitude. The Church is Christ’s bride and we must treat it as such - love it, speak well of it, serve it, give to it, and become a part of it. Joshua Harris writes, "The greatest motivation we could ever find for being passionately committed to the Church is that Jesus is passionately committed to the Church." As Christians we are called to be imitators of God (Eph 5:1) and to be conformed to the image of His Son (Rom 8:29). Therefore we must love the Church and put that passion into action by thinking globally and loving locally. Briefly put, stop dating the church and commit!
STOP DATING THE CHURCH BY JOSHUA HARRIS, WHAT IS A HEALTHY CHURCH MEMBER BY THABITI ANABWILE
9. When committing to a local church, you cannot afford to unwisely asses its healthiness!
Therefore, we cannot afford to unwisely asses the health of a church! We need to Biblically consider the crucial, deal-breaking, qualities of a church. Mark Dever writes that the 9 marks of a healthy church are: 1) Expositional Preaching 2) Biblical Theology 3) The Gospel 4) A Biblical Understanding of Conversion 5) Evangelism 6) Church Membership 7) Biblical Church Discipline 8) A Concern for Discipleship and Growth 9) Biblical Church Leadership.
9 MARKS OF A HEALTHY CHURCH AND WHAT IS A HEALTHY CHURCH BY MARK DEVER
10. Please, read wisely.
A. Invest in a study Bible and learn how to use it. Don’t settle for a diet of predigested truth (Christian books). Read your Bible more than you read anything else. 2 TIMOTHY 3:16, HEBREWS 4:12
B. The New Testament is written to an audience well versed in the Old Testament; therefore you cannot compromise your time reading and understanding the Old Testament.
C. Know the authors of the Christian books you read. Find-out their beliefs, publishings, reputation and legacy. If their life isn’t worth emulating, read a different book. HEBREWS 13:7, 3 JOHN 1:11
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