True Spirituality

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The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are not only historical facts and significant doctrines, but they are the personal experiences of every believer through “union with Christ.” As believers, we have each been “baptized into Christ” – spiritually speaking, that means “we died with Christ” and “we were raised with Christ,” that we might walk in newness of life (Rom 6:3-4). The essence of the myster-ious union we have with Christ is this – God’s Spirit spiritually placed us “in Christ” 2000 years ago at the cross, so that when He died, we died with Him. . . and when He was raised, we were raised with Him (Rom 6:5; Gal 2:20; Col 2:20; 3:1). That is the spirituality reality of every believer; they are all “in Christ;” that is their “position” if you will (Rom 6:3-4, 11; 1 Cor 1:30; Gal 3:27; Eph 2:6; 2:10; Col 3:3). Christ “died to sin” in the sense that He bore sin’s penalty (Rom 6:23); as a result sin has no more claim or demand upon us. . . because we died with Him. As Christians we are no longer “alive to sin” and “dead to God” – we are now brand new creations in Christ (2 Cor 5:17); therefore we are “dead to sin” and “alive to God.” We were “crucified with Christ” that our old self might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin – that means we are freed from sin (Rom 6:6-7); we now have the capacity to walk in newness of life (Rom 6:4); we didn’t have that capacity as unbelievers. Because we died with Christ, we have been set free from the law of sin and death (Rom 8:2). In contemporary society, Christian spirituality is generally defined as a set of beliefs, values, and way of life that reflect the teachings of the Bible, the holy book of Christianity. Much research has been devoted to this topic, ranging from practical to academic. But what does the Bible teach on this issue?

Is the supernatural world remote? The answer, very decidedly, is “No.” The supernatural world is not only not far off, but is very close indeed. Perhaps the classic passage on this subject is that found in 2 Kings – here Elisha is surrounded by an enemy, and the young man who is with him is terrified. So Elisha says to him: “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” At that moment, Elisha prayed saying, “Lord open his eyes that he may see.” And the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw – “and behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” (2 Kg 6:16-17). The only difference was that the young man’s eyes had to be opened to see what Elisha already saw – the supernatural was not something far off, it was right there. God gives his faithful children “eyes of faith” to see and understand the unseen world (Jn 16:13; Acts 16:14; 1 Jn 2:27). Little by little, many Christians in this generation find this reality slipping away – the reality tends to get covered by the barnacles of naturalistic thought. Doctrine is important, but it is not an end in itself – there is to be an experiential reality, moment by moment. This is “how” to live a life of freedom from the bonds of sin – not perfection, for that is not promised to us in this life. This is the Christian life – true spirituality. In the light of the Scripture, the “how” is the power of the crucified and risen Christ. . . through the agency of the indwelling Holy Spirit. . . by faith. (60-70) More important, it used to be that faith and spiritual understanding and righteousness were pursued through disciplined lives of devotion and study and prayer. And now the proponents of subliminal therapy-promised holiness can happen to you even while you sleep. Subliminal sanctification and the Charismatic Movement seem to be good partners; they fit together perfectly. From the very beginning, Charismatic Movements – whichever of them – have promised primarily shortcuts to spiritual maturity.

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And so, I want you to look, for a moment, at 1 Corinthians chapter 3. Christians are spiritual; they just do Second, Christian spirituality relies on the power of the Holy Spirit to live according to God's will. The Holy Spirit serves to lead us into all truth (John 16:13), gives joy (Ephesians 5:18), and convicts when we sin (Ephesians 4:30). For example, 1 John 1:5-8 teaches, "This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." True spirituality depends on the supernatural power God gives through the Holy Spirit rather than dependence on human strength. The Bible makes a clear distinction between “temptation” and “sin.” Christ was tempted in every point like as we are, yet He never sinned (Heb 4:15); therefore, there is a difference between temptationand sin. Scripture goes on to tell us that the victory that overcomes the world is “our faith” (1 Jn 5:4). It is not we who overcome the world in our own strength – we do not have a power plant inside ourselves that can overcome the world. The overcoming is the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, as we have already seen. There can be a victory, a practical victory, if we raise the “empty hands of faith” moment by moment and accept the gift. God has promised a way of escape that we might not succumb to temptation (1 Cor 10:13). Whitehead BR, Bergeman CS. Coping with daily stress: Differential role of spiritual experience on daily positive and negative affect. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2012;67(4):456-459. doi:10.1093/geronb/gbr136 Meditation is a shortcut to understanding spirituality. Words cannot come close to describing the feelings that the inner being is able to produce, it must be felt on your own. Meditation helps you remember what has always been.

That’s somewhat like the experience of many. Unfortunately, the Charismatic Movement has divided Christianity into two levels: the zapped and the unzapped. And the zapped believe they are at least a bit more spiritual than the unzapped. Like it or not, the effect has been severely schismatic. Some of the unzapped wonder why they don’t have the experiences that their charismatic friends describe. And it was the only time that I can remember, in my ministry, that I was literally physically pulled out of the pulpit. A man grabbed my arm and pulled me out, and pulled me down in a chair before I was finished. And he got up, and he said, you know, “We’ve got to stop and have prayer for this brother because he’s deceived, and he’s confused.”

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Charismatics argue that unless you have the baptism of the Holy Spirit with tongues, you can’t function the way God really wants you to; you’re missing something. If, on the other hand, you do have the baptism of the Spirit with tongues, you’ve been elevated to a level of spirituality and sanctification. Akbari M, Hossaini SM. The relationship of spiritual health with quality of life, mental health, and burnout: The mediating role of emotional regulation. Iran J Psychiatry. 2018;13(1):22-31. PMID:29892314

To say there is “no real guilt” is futile, for man as he is knows that there is “real moral guilt.” But when I know the real guilt is really met by Christ, so that I do not need to fear to look at the basic questions deep inside myself, then I can see that the feeling of guilt that is left is really just “psychological guilt,” and only that. This does not mean to say that psychological guilt is still not cruel – but nowI can be open with it and see it for what it is. This also does not mean that we will be perfect in this life psychologically any more than we are physically. But thanks be to God, now I can move forward, not expecting to be perfect. We will wait for the second coming of Jesus Christ and the resurrection of the body, to be perfect morally, physically, and psychologically – but there now can be a substantial over-coming of this psychological division in the present life on the basis of Christ’s finish work. It will not be perfect, but it can be real and substantial. Let’s be very clear about this – all men since the fall havehad some psychological problems. It is utter nonsense to say that a Christian never has a psychological problem. All men have psychological problems. They differ in degree and they differ in kind, but since the fall all men have more or less a problem psychologically – that is the essence of “fallen man.” None of us are even close to perfection. If you’re up to your head in drama, involved in a breakup, just moved halfway across the country on a whim – know that it’s OK. The “perfect time to start” doesn’t exist, except the one that starts right here, right now. 2) Look at the Bigger PictureDoes the timeline of Israel’s kings agree with Assyria’s invasion? 2 Kings 15:25, 27, 30, 32; 16:1; 17:1 Our thoughts] end in communion with the infinite-personal reference point who is there, God Himself. And that is tremendous. Then you can worship. This is where true worship is found: not in stained-glass windows, candles, or altarpieces, not in contentless experiences, but in communion with the God who is there—communion for eternity, and communion now, with the infinite-personal God as Abba, Father. 6 Just as our physical lives begin at birth, the Christian life begins with our spiritual birth. There was a day—a moment—in which God “made us alive” (Eph 2:5) spiritually. Physical birth and spiritual birth are the two most important events of our lives. If not for the one, we wouldn’t be alive; and if not for the other, we wouldn’t have become Christians. Spiritual birth marks a new way of life for the believer. Having been made new, we are not just called to live but called to live as a Christian. Once you’ve chiseling away at your thoughts and beliefs, stillness is left. No thoughts to get in the way, life takes on a magical appearance. Life flows. Even the dullest moments turn into moments of bliss and ecstasy. The facade of materialism starts to fade away the older you get. False ideas you believed since a child start to collapse. You start to look within because the external world is no longer capable of bringing you fulfillment.

Spirituality is the most important thing in life. Finding peace, happiness and fulfillment is what this journey is about. He was talking about a life filled with the Holy Spirit. He was talking about an ongoing experience or walk with God through the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who opens our eyes to know the deep things of God more and more (1 Cor. 2:10-13). It is the Holy Spirit who sheds the love of God in our hearts (Rom. 5:5). It is the Holy Spirit who pulls us deeper and deeper into relationship with Jesus (1 John 2:12-14), if we want to grow.In the area of “morality” we find exactly the same thing. Man cannot escape the fact of the notionsof a true right and wrong in himself – not just a sociological or hedonistic morality, but true morality,true right and true wrong. Yet beginning with himself he can neither bring forth “absolute standards”nor keep the “poor relative ones” he has set up. Thus in the area of morality, as in the area of rationality, trying to be what he is not, he is crushed and damned by what he is. Man is thus divided against and from himself in every part of his nature – he is divided from himself because of his rebellion – in rationality, in morality, in his thinking, in his acting, in his feeling. . . by rebellion he is divided from God by true moral guilt, and he is damned by what he is – wanting to be God, which obviously he is not, because he is not infinite. At some level of consciousness man cannot forget the fact that he is “finite man” – surely at some point there will be a cry within him, that there must be a real answer in this life to the “separation from himself.” And the answer is an emphatic, “Yes, thank God, there is!”