New Audio: The Full Grown Man - Part 2

I had the opportunity to teach the second part of my series on The Full Grown Man last Sunday. You can download the full teaching from the Resources tab on my blog and hear the message below. I hope it encourages you.

The Full-Grown Man - the Sermon (part 1)

I had the opportunity to preach part of my message in the "Full-Grown Man".  It also includes a short message from my daughter Kirstie. You can hear the audio here:

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David Robison

The Full-Grown Man - A Man of Piety

Part of the work of grace is to help grow us up, to help us to become full-grown men and women of God, to grow us up to share in the inheritance of the saints.

"And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified." (Acts 20:32)

This grace, or favor, from God expresses itself in many ways, but one key way is in teaching us how to live.

"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds." (Titus 2:11-14)

This is consistent with the ministry of grace working through the apostles' lives.

"We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me." (Colossians 1:28-29)

Some have viewed grace as simply a pass, a pass from sin, but grace is much more than that. It is by God's grace that we are forgiven of our sins, but it is also by His grace that we are taught how to live free from sin. God desires that we would be free from sin, free from the patterns in our lives that keep leading us back to sin, and one of the greatest tragedy in our lives is that, with each time we sin and repent, we never learn how to live differently and how to avoid sin in the first place. We fall and get up only to fall again and we never learn to stand; stand in the face of temptation and sin. Grace has appeared unto all men to teach us how to live; to teach us to live differently, to teach us how to live a life that is free from sin and pleasing to God.

To live soberly, righteously, and godly is what it means to live piously. The full-grown man and woman of God is a man and woman of piety; they live a life that is pious before God and man. One aspect of piety is to live a life that is pleasing to God. This was the kind of life Jesus led,

"And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him." (John 8:29)

This is also the life the apostles lead,

"Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him." (2 Corinthians 5:9)

And it is the kind of life we are encouraged to live.

"Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more." (1 Thessalonians 4:1)

One of the maturing processes of a child is to learn what is pleasing to their parents, and in this case, for us, it is to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.

"Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord." (Ephesians 5:7-11)

We could spend an entire life learning what it means to please God, but here are a few things we know for sure.

"For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God." (Romans 8:5-8)

One of the ways we can please God is to become increasingly more concerned about heavenly things than earthly things. While we live in the earth, our true home is in heaven and we should live like it even on this earth. We should live our lives always with eternity in mind; not living for temporal gain but living for what has eternal rewards. Those who live for the things of this earth cannot please God but those who live for the true rewards of heaven please Him and find favor with Him.

"No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier." (2 Timothy 2:4)

We can become so consumed with the cares of this life that they can actually choke out the life of God within us. There are so many things competing for our time and attention. However, if we let those things steel our attention and affection away from Christ then our lives will be spent in the pursuit of the worthless and we will miss the blessings of Christ. Even worse, we will find ourselves unable to please Him as all our time and effort is spent on the things of this world rather than on the things of His Kingdom.

"And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." (Hebrews 11:6)

Its not faith that pleases God but the works of faith. When we refuse to live by what is seen and live by what is unseen then our faith pleases God. Living by faith is living according to the revelation of God, both in how we look at the world, in what we believe and hope  is possible with God, and in how we respond to the commands of God. When we live life like it is all true, in our confidence and obedience, then we are living by faith.

"and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight." (1 John 3:22)

Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." (John 14:15) What pleases God is when we respond to His love by loving Him back. Obedience is one act of love we can show God for all the love He has shown us. Jesus is not just looking for people to be born again but people to be born again to a virtuous life. Tertullian put it this way,

"For it was not merely that he might live the natural life that God had produced man, but that he should live virtuously, that is, in relation to God and to His law. Accordingly, God gave him to live when he was formed into a living soul; but He charged him to live virtuously when he was required to obey a law." (Tertullian, Against Marcion, Book 2, Chapter 8)

Obedience is not only our duty but also our love-response to God.

"And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased." (Hebrews 13:16)

Finally, to love God's children is to love Him and to serve God's children is to please Him. Jesus Himself said, "Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me." (Matthew 25:40) Serving and preferring others is a mark of the full-grown life and brings pleasure to God.  Even God, in being born a man for our salvation, did so without regard to His own needs, wants, and desires (as if God could want or need for anything). His salvation was focused on our needs and wants, it was a selfless act to save those who could not do it themselves. As God proved Himself to be selfless, so should we.

A life of piety may no longer be considered "vogue" but it is one of the hallmark characteristics of a full-grown man and woman of God. In closing I want to consider what Clement wrote describing a life of piety.

"Let us therefore earnestly strive to be found in the number of those that wait for Him, in order that we may share in His promised gifts. But how, beloved, shall this be done? If our understanding be fixed by faith towards God; if we earnestly seek the things which are pleasing and acceptable to Him; if we do the things which are in harmony with His blameless will; and if we follow the way of truth, casting away from us all unrighteousness and iniquity, along with all covetousness, strife, evil practices, deceit, whispering, and evil-speaking, all hatred of God, pride and haughtiness, vainglory and ambition." (Clement of Rome, Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 35)

If we learn to do this, then we will learn to do well.

David Robison

The Full-Grown Man - A Man of Brotherhood

Paul wrote to the Corinthian church rebuking them that, at least for some of them, they still remained carnal.

"And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men? For when one says, 'I am of Paul,' and another, 'I am of Apollos,' are you not mere men?" (1 Corinthians 3:1-4)

The situation at Corinth had reached a fevered pitch. The jealousy and competition among the members had lead to division and quarrels that threatened to tear the church apart. Paul chides them for their behavior and reminds them that those who behave such are yet infants and immature in their life with God. Paul's admonishment is that they would grow up and put away such division and strife.

Unfortunately, such envying and quarreling would once again resurface in Corinth. After Paul's death, those in Corinth would once again begin dividing themselves over party lines. However, this time it was not over honorable men, such as the apostles, but over worthless men who sought to draw away the church after themselves.

"Hence flowed emulation and envy, strife and sedition, persecution and disorder, war and captivity. So the worthless rose up against the honoured, those of no reputation against such as were renowned, the foolish against the wise, the young against those advanced in years. For this reason righteousness and peace are now far departed from you, inasmuch as every one abandons the fear of God, and is become blind in His faith, neither walks in the ordinances of His appointment, nor acts a part becoming a Christian, but walks after his own wicked lusts, resuming the practice of an unrighteous and ungodly envy, by which death itself entered into the world." (Clement of Rome, Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 3)

It is clear that such behavior is a mark of immaturity and is not consistent with the full-grown man and woman of God. Clement reminds the church that brotherly love one for another is a gateway to righteousness in our lives.

"Let us therefore, with all haste, put an end to this [state of things]; and let us fall down before the Lord, and beseech Him with tears, that He would mercifully be reconciled to us, and restore us to our former seemly and holy practice of brotherly love. For [such conduct] is the gate of righteousness, which is set open for the attainment of life, as it is written, 'Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will go in by them, and will praise the Lord: this is the gate of the Lord: the righteous shall enter in by it.' Although, therefore, many gates have been set open, yet this gate of righteousness is that gate in Christ by which blessed are all they that have entered in and have directed their way in holiness and righteousness, doing all things without disorder. Let a man be faithful: let him be powerful in the utterance of knowledge; let him be wise in judging of words; let him be pure in all his deeds; yet the more he seems to be superior to others [in these respects], the more humble-minded ought he to be, and to seek the common good of all, and not merely his own advantage." (Clement of Rome, Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 48)

Righteousness begins with brotherly love. We cannot compete, envy, and quarrel with each other and, at the same time, claim to have fully passed through the gates of righteousness. Love of the brethren is a mark of true righteousness.

Brotherly love is also a gateway to godly love as Peter said, "and in your brotherly kindness, love." (2 Peter 1:7) and in this Clement agrees.

"Love beareth all things, is long-suffering in all things. There is nothing base, nothing arrogant in love. Love admits of no schisms: love gives rise to no seditions: love does all things in harmony. By love have all the elect of God been made perfect; without love nothing is well-pleasing to God." (Clement of Rome, Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 49)

Clement goes on to identify two things that will help us grow in our love for one another. First is that we put the needs of others before our own.

"Who then among you is noble-minded? who compassionate? who full of love? Let him declare, 'If on my account sedition and disagreement and schisms have arisen, I will depart, I will go away whithersoever ye desire, and I will do whatever the majority commands; only let the flock of Christ live on terms of peace with the presbyters set over it.' " (Clement of Rome, Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 54)

This is not to say that, whenever a problem arises we should leave the church, but rather that, in each case, we should put the needs and health of the church above our own. We must think of others before ourselves. Brotherly love will compel us to love others before we loves ourselves.

The second key to growing in brotherly love is to learn to submit to one another.

"Let our whole body, then, be preserved in, Christ Jesus; and let every one be subject to his neighbour, according to the special gift bestowed upon him. Let the strong not despise the weak, and let the weak show respect unto the strong. Let the rich man provide for the wants of the poor; and let the poor man bless God, because He hath given him one by whom his need may be supplied." (Clement of Rome, Letter to the Corinthians  Chapter 38)

Submitting to one another does not mean letting others tell us what we should do; it not the blind obedience to others, but it is the recognizing that we are only a part of a greater whole and that we need the other parts; we all need each other. It's the eye realizing that it needs the hand and the hand realizing that it needs the foot. It's the prophet realizing they need the apostle and the pastor realizing they need the teacher. It's the poor realizing they need the rich and the rich realizing they need the poor. We submit to one another according to the special gifts God has given them. We don't have all the gifts, we need what God has given others, we need what they have to give and supply, we are dependent on each other. The full-grown man and woman has learned to live in such submission with their brothers and sisters.

Finally, this can all be summed up in the words of Christ.

"But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ." (Matthew 23:8-10)

Jesus reminds us that we are all brothers. Many of our problems arise when we desire to be more than brothers or we lift others up to be more than brothers. When we do this we make distinctions between ourselves and sow the seeds of division, sedition, and strife. We need to realize that the greatest relationship we can have with each other is one of brother and sister. The full-grown man and woman has learned to live as brother and sister to all. They have learned to live and cherish the brotherhood. They are men and women of brotherhood.

David Robison

The Full-Grown Man - A Man of Imitation

John describes our progress in God as follows,

"I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name's sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father.  I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one." (1 John 2:12-14)

We are born anew as children in Christ. As children we have come to know the Father and to receive and experience His forgiveness. Our sins are covered and we begin a relationship with God our Father. As we grow into young men and women of God we grow strong in His word and this strength helps us to overcome the evil one. Not only have our sins been forgiven but we are learning to live holy and righteous lives; His word is helping us to avoid sin and defeat the evil one. As we become mature in God we come into a greater and fuller knowledge of Him whom is from everlasting to everlasting. Our knowledge of Him grows to where He becomes our all-in-all and fills every part of us. We become satisfied, not with the things He has to offer, but with Him alone.

Full-grown men and women of God know God, but what does it mean to know God? God describes Himself this way in Jeremiah.

"Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things." (Jeremiah 9:23-24)

Those who know God have come to know His character and nature, that He is a god of lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness. However, later on God adds,

" 'Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. He pled the cause of the afflicted and needy; then it was well. Is not that what it means to know Me?" Declares the Lord." (Jeremiah 22:15-16)

To know God is not only to know about Him but also to imitate Him in His nature and character. It is evident that the man that God was describing above knew God because he imitated God; God is a God of justice and he did justice, God is a God of righteousness and he did righteousness God is a God of lovingkindness and he demonstrated lovingkindness by pleading the cause of the lowly. To know God is to imitate God. We can claim all the knowledge of God we wish, but if our lives do not imitate His then our claims are hollow.

Jesus, in reminding His disciples to love one another said,

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34-35)

It was not that they were just to love one another, but they were to love one another as Christ had loved them. Their love for one another was to be in imitation of His loved for them. This is how the world was to recognize them as His disciples, not that they loved, but that they loved as Christ loved; that the disciples had become like their teacher and had learned to love.

It is God's will and purpose that we might be remade, or renewed, into the image of His Son. Paul reminds us,

"For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren." (Romans 8:29)

God desires, not one Son, but many sons and daughters all made in His image; many sons and daughters all imitating His Christ. God's desire is to fulfill His original intent for mankind.

"Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness' ... God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." (Genesis 1:26-27)

We are all made in His image in that we are all rational and creative beings and that we bear the same nature as our creator, a nature that longs for righteousness, justice, and lovingkindness.  However, we have all come short of His likeness.

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23)

Many of the early christian writers distinguished between the image and likeness of God. One we have by birth and the other that we are regaining by re-birth. Clement of Alexandria writes of this when he says,

"It is time, then, for us to say that the pious Christian alone is rich and wise, and of noble birth, and thus call and believe him to be God’s image, and also His likeness, having become righteous and holy and wise by Jesus Christ, and so far already like God. Accordingly this grace is indicated by the prophet, when he says, 'I said that ye are gods, and all sons of the Highest.' " (Clement of Alexandria, Exhortation to the Heathen, Chapter 12)

The full-grown man and woman of God is one who truly know God and one who, in that knowledge, imitates God in both his character and actions. The full-grown man and woman of God has come full-circle to find what had once been lost and to regain what had once been taken, to find themselves renewed into the likeness of God, to become "gods and all sons and daughters of the Highest."

David Robison

The Full-Grown Man - A Man of Knowledge

When writing to the Corinthian church, Paul addressed a problem that was going on in their church regarding speaking in tongues. He reminds the Corinthians to be mature in their thinking.

"Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature." (1 Corinthians 14:20)

An he directly applied this to their thinking about the scriptures and how they applied the word of God to themselves and their church.

"In the Law it is written, 'By men of strange tongues and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people, and even so they will not listen to me,' says the Lord. So then tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophecy is for a sign, not to unbelievers but to those who believe." (1 Corinthians 14:21-22)

Paul's exhortation to them was that, when it came to the scriptures and their understanding and knowledge of them, they should no longer be babes but rather mature in their thinking. He exhorted them to grow up in their cognitive abilities to perceive, judge, and know the things of the scriptures and what they really say, not just what others have told them they say. They needed to grow up to the place where they could know and understand the scriptures for themselves, and that in a mature and rational way.

Paul, in his letter to the Ephesian church, tells us why it is so important that we become mature in our thinking.

"As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming." (Ephesians 4:14)

The English language does not do this scripture justice in bringing out all the wonderful color of the words Paul used to express his thought. Be that as it may, Paul was concerned about three types of deception that, if we remain as children in our minds, we might fall prey to.

First is the doctrine of the day. There will always be the latest thing, the newest idea, the present fad. However, if we follow after every "wind" of doctrine that comes around we will end up being tossed to and fro and will never make real progress in our walk in the Lord. Jumping on the latest bandwagon may get us into the "in crowd" but may also get us a ride where we do not want to do.

Secondly he warns us of the trickery of men, which literally means the fraud of dice-playing men. A fraud, in terms of doctrine, is purporting something to be true when it is in fact false or purposely twisting what is true so that it becomes false. Often this comes when someone purposely misrepresents or reinterprets the scriptures, replacing one word for another, in an attempt to make God's word say something that it does not.

Thirdly, he warns us of the craftiness in deceitful scheming, which literally means to fall prey to the sophicity of men as they work their plan to deceive. This is often the case, in reference to doctrine, when they present an explanation for the scriptures which seams plausible  yet their explanation fails to find agreement with the rest of the scriptures, the message of Jesus, and/or the teaching of the Apostles.

In all these cases the goal is to deceive. The word used here by Paul us a very interesting word. It is the same word from which we get our word for Planets. The early astronomers watched the sky and notices that each star carved its assigned arc through the sky. There were, however, a handful of other luminaries that would not keep to their assigned arc. Their traversal was erratic  out of line, departing from the way. These were called planets because they wandered from the truth. The goal of all deception is to get us to wander from the truth, to wander from truth into error. 

Paul's warns us that we might become mature in our thinking; that we might guard against such deception and keep ourselves in the right way. However, such maturity of thought does not come overnight nor without effort, discipline, and practice. The writer of Hebrews reminds us,

"Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil." (Hebrews 5:11-14)

Again, Darby renders it "solid food belongs to full-grown men." Becoming a man or woman of knowledge does not just happen, it takes concerted effort and time to develop the faculties of our mind to receive and understand the "solid food" of the gospel. Notice that the writer says first that developing our minds takes practice, or literally, use or habit. It is something that we must commit to. Knowledge rarely comes through serendipity  but rather is sought out, forged, and is the result of much work. We must also train our senses, that part of our mind where we form perceptions and judgments. The word for "train" is the Greek word from which we get our word "gymnasium" and latterly means to practice naked. We must exercise and train our minds towards righteousness; to discerning or judging between good and evil; we must practice thinking. Finally, notice that the entire context is in regards to the "word of righteousness." In the very next verse the writer says, "Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity." (Hebrews 6:1) again with a reference back to the word of righteousness and the teaching of the Christ. It is through this pursuit of knowledge and the training of our mind that we grow in our abilities and help to make ourselves mature that we might begin to partake of "solid food" and not just "milk".

One final thought, I've used the term knowledge meaning more than just static information, but rather knowledge that is made comparable with behavior, character, and thought. It is not enough to know truth, but we must live the truth for the truth to have any power and effect in our lives. Jesus, speaking of laying a foundation of truth in our lives says,

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell — and great was its fall." (Matthew 7:24-27)

Notice that the only difference between the two groups of people was not what they heard but what they did with what they heard. Laying a foundation is not found in hearing truth but rather in living truth. True knowledge cannot exist outside of obedience. Knowledge, without incorporating that knowledge into our lives, is dead; it has not the power to change, equip, or strengthen us; it has become powerless in our lives. As we pursue knowledge let us always remember that we are pursuing more than just information, we are pursuing knowledge that we might live in the ways of truth.

David Robison

The Full-Grown Man - Introduction

Paul reminds us to "put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. " (Ephesians 4:24) When we come to Christ we are made new; our old self passes away and all things become new. "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." (2 Corinthians 5:17) The Apostle John, in the apocalypse, also quotes Jesus as saying, "Behold, I make all things new." (Revelation 21:5 NKJV) As believers we are new creatures in Christ, yet Paul encourages us further to,

"Put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him." (Colossians 3:10)

So here's the question, if we have been made "new" then why do we need to be "renewed"? Why did God give us something new that was lacking and required to be renewed? If our new man was created in righteousness and holiness, then what more renewing must be required? What more must we be lacking? The answer is found in what it means to be made new and to be renewed.

The Greek word used in Colossians for "new" means to be recently born, young, or youthful. The word used for renew can also mean to cause to grow up. The understanding is that we are made new in Christ as babes; born again as babes that still need to grow up into the things of God. At our conversion, our new man is created in righteousness and holiness, yet is still remains for us to grow up into those things; to see them become realities, not just potentialities, in our lives. We can squander the gifts of righteousness and holiness given to us and remain babies all our lives, or we can grow up into the men and women God always intended us to be. We have been made new, yet Jesus still wants us to grow up.

The hope of Christ is that we would not always remain babes. Paul, speaking of the equipping ministries that God has given to the church, says that their ministry is to this end,

"For the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ." (Ephesians 4:12-13)

Darby translates this as, "until we arrive... at the full-grown man". God wants us all to be full-grow men and women of God; fully grown "to a true knowledge" of Him. So what does it mean to be a "full-grown man" or a "full-grown woman" of God. Over the next several posts we will look at what this means.

David Robison