Christian Spirituality

By William R. Cunningham
May 6, 2007

Romans 8:1-5 (NKJV) -- {1} There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. {2} For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. {3} For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, {4} that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. {5} For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.

John 6:63 (NKJV) -- {63} It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.

Introduction

What does it mean to be spiritual and what does that have to do with the Christian faith?  I was reading a book by Watchman Nee titled, “How to Study the Bible” and in it he said that one of the prerequisites for proper bible study is that the person must be spiritual.  We must have the Spirit in order to properly interpret the scriptures and that this proper bible study is more than analytical and scholarly activities.

I also read John chapter six where Jesus explained to the people including his disciples, that he is the bread of life and in order to have eternal life we have to eat his flesh and drink his blood.  Jesus lost many of his disciples that day and caused the religious leaders to grumble among them.  Why didn’t they understand what Jesus mean.

I am reminded of something that Jesus told Nicodemus one evening. 

John 3:3 (NKJV) -- {3} Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Nicodemus didn’t understand what Jesus meant when he told him about being born again.  Jesus alluded to the fact that he didn’t know what he was talking about because only those who were born again would be able to comprehend the things of the kingdom of God.

This brings us to the question of understanding and comprehension as well when it comes to the things of God.  How can we have confidence in what we have interpreted and learned from the bible?  How can we be sure that what we have learned from bible study or from reading the bible is indeed accurate since it is more than analytical gymnastics?

The key to comprehending the things of God and therefore to governing our own life is Christian spirituality and that is what this study is about.  In this study we are going to discuss Christian spirituality and its implications on the life of a Christian.  I hope that you would obtain a deeper sensitivity to the need for Christian spirituality and that you would progress on your road of sanctification as you grow in your faith to become more and more like Jesus Christ.

Definitions

1. Spirit – the word “spirit” denotes the principle of conscious life; the vital principle in humans, animating the body or mediating between body and soul.  It is the incorporeal part of humans (from dictionary.com).  The term “the Spirit” refers to God the Father.
   
   Sometimes the soul and the spirit are used interchangeably and it denotes the animating component of the human being.  Without the spirit then the human being would be simply a mound of flesh.  The spirit animates the human being, but not mrerely in terms of being alive, but also being able to think, communicate, worship, etc.  It is the core component of the human being and we would not exist without it…at least as humans.
2. Spiritual – Pertaining to or consisting of spirit; of or pertaining to sacred things or matters; religious; devotional.  Someone is said to be spiritual when they seem to be very sensitive or operate in a mode that incorporates non-material things.
   
   The bible correlates sanctification with spiritual.  We will discuss this aspect later in this study.
3. Spirituality – The quality or fact of being spiritual; predominantly spiritual in character as shown in thought and life for example.  Immaterial nature.
4. Regeneration – This denotes the point at which a person is born again.  He or she has put his or her faith in Jesus Christ and receive the Holy Spirit within and become new.  We call this point, “being saved.”
5. Justification – This is a judicial declaration by God in that he declares us righteous once we put our faith in Jesus Christ.  Justification comes because of the redemptive act of Jesus Christ and as a result of us being regenerated.  We have been declared righteous and can therefore stand before God as if we had never sinned.  Justification is therefore the act of God of bringing the believer into right relations with him.
6. Glorification – The realization of our salvation when we have received the resurrected body. 

   2 Corinthians 3:18 (NKJV) -- {18} But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

   Romans 8:28-30 (NKJV) -- {28} And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. {29} For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. {30} Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

   Ephesians 5:27 (NKJV) -- {27} that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

7. Sanctification – Being made holy or purified.  This is the process by which we grow in our faith until we reach the stage of glorification or when we are like Christ.  A Christians faith matures during the course of his or her life and he or she becomes more like Jesus Christ.  That process is called sanctification and is a central theme in regards to the Christian lifestyle and especially Christian spirituality.

Aspects of Christian Spirituality

There are at least two aspects of Christian spirituality.

1. Direction for our lives
2. Sanctification

Sometimes the focus of living spiritually is merely for proper direction in our lives.  People seek to be spiritual because they don’t know what the future holds and they want to make the right decisions so that the future is bright for them.  However there are others who simply want to be fulfilled in their life’s journey and become more mature in their faith.  It is for this reason that they seek to be more spiritual, namely to grow as a Christian.

Modes of spirituality

There are at least three modes of spirituality that I would like to bring to your attention.

1. General spirituality
2. Religious spirituality
3. Christian spirituality

General spirituality is simply the desire for someone to be more spiritually minded.  This does not necessitate Christianity, but rather any spiritual foundation.  A person desiring to be more spiritual could just as easy seek a soothsayer, palm reader, or some other spiritual discipline or person.  This does not mean that the person is operating according to Christian beliefs or the Christian lifestyle.

A person who seeks general spirituality may also embrace mysticism.  Mysticism is a belief in the existence of realities beyond perceptual or intellectual understanding and that are accessible through subjective experience.  Mysticism involves those meta-physical things that are outside of the bounds of human understanding and are therefore considered to be subjectively obtained.

A person seeking to live spiritually is not necessarily a person seeking the Christian way.  Anyone can get on a spiritual path, but as Jesus said, there is only one straight and narrow way that leads to life and only a few people find it  (See Matthew 7:13-14).

Religious spirituality is spirituality that is within a religious context.  This too is not necessarily Christian since there are many religious that involve spirituality.  A Hindu seeks spirituality according to the Hindu faith.  A Buddhist seeks spirituality according to the beliefs and practices of the Buddhist faith and so on.  A Christian is therefore one who seeks spirituality in the context of the Christian faith.

So again someone that is seeking religious spirituality is also not necessarily on the Christian path.  He or she is merely in a particular religious context.

Christian spirituality involves living a spiritual life in the context of the Christian faith.  However, we will see that it is a bit more than that.  For now let us just say that Christian spirituality is true spirituality from the Christian perspective.  I say true Christian spirituality in order to distinguish it from a broad spiritual context.  You will understand this as we go on.

Development of Christian Spirituality

How does one become spiritual within the context of Christianity?  What precisely is Christian spirituality?

Christianity Spirituality is the quest to live and operate in a way that is increasingly more like Jesus Christ.  It is a quest for holiness in normal everyday circumstances and lifestyle.  It involves taking the Christian beliefs and values and incorporating them into our lives as we mature in our faith.  This describes sanctification as we alluded to earlier and it involves the whole person.  Consider the following scripture.

1 Peter 2:24 (NKJV) -- {24} who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness— by whose stripes you were healed.

To the materialistically or physically oriented person this scripture would refer to physical healing and that is the way that it is typically taught in the context of the faith movement.  However, this scripture should be interpreted spiritually and is therefore talking about the healing of the whole person from a spiritual context.  It doesn’t mean that we will always be healed or prosperous in material things.  It does mean that the spirit of man would be healed because it is doomed to destruction before one is saved by faith in Jesus Christ.

Another important aspect of developing Christian spirituality is that in involves knowing God.  This should be distinguished from knowing about God from an intellectual level.  It means knowing God from a relationship level.  Your relationship with God matures as you grow more and more into the image of Jesus Christ.  Therefore, Christian spirituality necessitates a maturing relationship with Christ.

Obtaining Christian Spirituality

Consider something Jesus told Nicodemus.

John 3:2-5 (NKJV) -- {2} This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” {3} Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” {4} Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” {5} Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Nicodemus did not understand what Jesus was telling him because he was not spiritual in the context that Jesus was.  Perhaps Nicodemus was spiritual in the context of knowledge of the law (if that is not an oxymoron).  In any case, he didn’t understand what Jesus was saying because he didn’t have the spiritual foundation to comprehend it.  What he lacked, according to Jesus, was regeneration.

We must be born again In order to begin the trek of Christian spirituality.  We obtain spirituality from a Christian perspective by first being justified by faith.  Now we said earlier that spirituality was related to sanctification and that sanctification is a process.  How then can we obtain spirituality?  What we obtain in the initiation of spirituality.  In other words, we find the path to eternal life (see Matthew 7:13-14).  We begin our journey of maturing in the faith.  We start the process of edification.  We can only get to the starting line so to speak by being born again.

So the first step to Christian spirituality is being born again.  This means that we will acquire the Holy Spirit within us and that we will then be able to discern spiritually.  We can now begin to understand the things of God.  We can now begin to comprehend what we read and interpret in the bible.

Human Activity in Sanctification

I want to remind you that Christian spirituality goes hand in hand with sanctification.  Of course sanctification is possible because of regeneration, which places us on the starting line in our journey to glorification (the culmination of salvation).  However, we know the beginning and end, but what do we do in the middle?

One thing is for sure.  We do not have the ability to sanctify ourselves.  We do not have what it takes to get our own lives together.  Humans are incapable of living righteously, which Christian spirituality also involves.  So does this mean that we just throw our hands in the air and “let go and let God” as some suggest?  No.  Consider what Paul says.

Romans 12:1-3 (NKJV) -- {1} I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. {2} And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

James 4:8 (NKJV) -- {8} Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Matthew 7:13-14 (NKJV) -- {13} “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. {14} Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

You will notice one thing that all of these and similar verses of scripture have in common.  They all involve human activity and God’s activity.  We all have something to do in our own sanctification.  Consider something that Paul said.

Philippians 2:12-16 (NKJV) -- {12} Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; {13} for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. {14} Do all things without complaining and disputing, {15} that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, {16} holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.

I’ve underlined the phrase that I want to bring your attention to.  Paul said to work out our own salvation.  That means that we have a part to play in the process of salvation.  The process of salvation is basically the following.

1. Regeneration
2. Sanctification
3. Glorification

We have work to do in the middle.  Our Christian lifestyle involves us doing what we are supposed to do and thus living the way that we should live.

Practical Activities

You may say, Amen to what we just said about our activity.  However, you may also ask, “What specifically should I do?”  That is a very logical question.  We know that we have a part to play during the sanctification process, but we may not know what to do specifically.  It’s one thing to know that you have a part in a play for example and it is another thing to know what part you have and what your lines are.  Likewise, we need to know what our lines are so to speak.

The number one thing that will help you on the road to sanctification and thus Christian spirituality is to develop your relationship with God.  This is a continual process and therefore will last your entire life.  Strive to know God more and more from the context of a relationship as opposed to mere knowledge.  Of course knowledge of God has a part to play, but most importantly we have to build our relationship with God.

We can build our relationship with God by doing the following.

1. Pray to God – Just commune with him and for more than to ask him for things.  Just talk to him and tell him what is on your mind and heart.  Interact with God and remember that he is Spirit.  We therefore interact with God spiritually and not fleshly or mere intellect.
2. Spend time with God – This goes along with prayer and even includes prayer.  However, this may also mean times of meditation, reflection, and quietness.
3. Read and study the Bible – We know God through interacting through him, but in order to interact with him and know him we should know something about him.  For example, you could hardly interact with God if you didn’t know that he was Spirit.  You could not effectively interact with God if you didn’t believe that he is present in all places and could therefore hear you.  So knowing about God is important.

Another thing about the Bible that I found to be very important is that reading and studying the bible is more than an intellectual trip.  Remember what Jesus said.

John 6:63 (NKJV) -- {63} It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.

The word of God is spirit and through God’s word we have life because God is life.  So reading and studying the bible does more than edify our minds with knowledge of scripture.  It also edifies our spirit as we grow closer and closer to the Lord.

4. Do what God says – Remember that what God says can be personal revelation and it will surely involve loving God and loving others.  However, overall we should live what we have gained in our relationship with the Lord.  As we mature in our faith we should live that faith.  James said that he would show you his faith by his works and the same applies to us.  Christian spirituality means that we live spiritually within the Christian context.

Conclusion

Christian spirituality is a quest for mature faith.  It is the journey to becoming like Jesus Christ.  Christian spirituality is to live according to the Christian way.  It involves sanctification and human activity.  It is not broad in that it doesn’t incorporate general or religious spirituality.  A Christian for example will not seek to have his or her palm read in order to hear from God.  We don’t need the so called prophets to tell us something whereas God can speak to us directly (though people will give you constructive criticism from what they see).

Living a Christian lifestyle leads to Christian spirituality.  Getting to know God personally and intimately is necessary for true Christian growth.  The journey begins when we are born again and continues with our sanctification and culminates with our glorification.  Amen.