John tells clearly that there are three main stages of spiritual growth - little children, young men, and fathers. The implications of the stages of growth are:
- Different levels of maturity - Not all believers are at the same level. Don't treat everyone the same way.
- All start from the beginning stage. There is no shortcut or skipping step.
- We can be stuck at a stage, or even regress to a lower stage.
- Growth is a process that takes time and practice, to move from one stage to higher stages.
- Forgiven & righteous & holy. If we sin, we don't hide it but come boldly to God because we have Jesus who paid for our sins and is our advocate. We are forgiven not because we are great but because God is love. We don't earn or could even work for our salvation. Rebirth is by the grace of God only. (1John 2:1-2, 12)
- Abide in Him - Know Him through Obedience. A key part of this stage is to know Christ through listening to Him and obeying Him - keeping His words. Obedience is the way to growth - the process of perfecting us to be like Christ. His Words for us are simple - love and hate not (2:9-11), stay and walk in righteousness (2:6, 2:29), and truth (2:4).
- Know the Father (2:13). We know the Father through Jesus. The Father sent His Son Jesus for us. Knowing and experiencing the Father's love and presence is the ultimate aim of life. Jesus came to bring us back to the Father. Let the love of our Father so comfort us that we forgive and let go of all bitterness and simply cling on and enjoy His love. The Father's love brings deliverance, peace and joy, and overflowing love to others. Children must grow up in an environment of love so that they can be secure and become strong young men. Focus on the Father alone and not on any other (1 John 5:21).
- Overcomer - Overcame the evil one. We are overcomers through abiding in the Word of God (2:14) and not through our physical or mental strength. The Word of God is internalized in us through our obedience in stage 1.
- Love the Father and NOT the World (2:15-17)
- The world has 3 temptations for us to distract us from loving our Father.
- Desires of the Flesh - There is nothing wrong with having pleasures of life. Our Father wants to give us that. But we are tempted to have pleasures outside the boundaries of God and go on to the extremes and be held in bondage rather than the promised satisfaction. e.g. sexual, drug, gambling addictions, etc. The senses of our flesh are the doors opened to temptations from the world and devils.
- Desires of the Eyes - We see and we want them no matter what. We put our faith in things that are seen (and temporary 2:17) instead of unseen things that are spiritual and of eternal value.
- Pride in possessions and of Life - We put our value and esteem on what we get and possess. We seek glory and power from the abundance of things we own, specifically money. We are distracted from putting trust in God and we want to be our own God. Of course, we can never be God. It is only the devil's lie to us since the time of Eve.
- Do the Will of God - Abide in God (2:17,24)
- Have Knowledge & Discernment
- Know the enemy - the anti-Christ (2:18-23) and deceivers(2:26). There are many anti-Christs, not just one, throughout history and into the future. Know their lies - denying Christ had come in the flesh.
- Know the Truth and our Identity (2:20-25)
- Anointed of God - Holy Spirit within us 2:20,25-27
- Eternal Life (Zoe's, God's kind of Life) 2:25
- Listen to the Holy Spirit within us.
- Know the Heart of the Creator Father (2:13, 14). We have grown up to be a father, spiritual or earthly, and know the responsibilities and heart of being a father.
- True Love : The Father's love for us is true love. It is a love without conditions and is proactive, and sacrificing. There are additional things that we shall study in Chapter 4.
- Considering Paul's concept of "More than Conqueror", in The Meaning of "More than Conquerors", we can perhaps says that 'Young Men' are 'Conquerors' (winning by force of God) and the 'Fathers' are the "More than Conqueror"( winning by the transformation of the heart through the love of God).
- What are the Stages of Growth?
- What are the characteristics of each stage?
- Which stage are you presently in?
- What actions will you take to grow up into the next stage?
What are the obstacles? What help do you need?
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圣经学习约翰一书第2章属灵成长的阶段
成长的阶段
- 约翰明确指出属灵成长有三个主要阶段：小孩子、少年人和父老。
- 这些成长阶段的涵义是：
- 不同程度的成熟度 - 不是所有信徒都在同一水平上，不要同样对待每个人。
- 所有人都从起始阶段开始。没有捷径或跳跃。
- 我们可能停滞在某个阶段，甚至退化到较低的阶段。
- 成长是一个需要时间和实践的过程，从一个阶段迈向更高的阶段。
阶段1 小孩子
- 蒙赦免、义和圣洁。如果我们犯罪，不要隐藏，反而要大胆地来到上帝面前，因为我们有为我们的罪付了代价并且是我们的拥护者的耶稣。我们得到赦免，不是因为我们伟大，而是因为上帝是爱。我们不能赚取或甚至努力为我们的救恩工作。重生只是上帝的恩典。
- （约翰一书2:1-2，12）常在祂里面 - 通过顺服来认识祂。这个阶段的关键部分是通过听从耶稣并顺服祂 - 遵守祂的话语来认识基督。顺服是成长的途径 - 完善我们成为基督样式的过程。祂对我们的话很简单 - 爱别恨（2:9-11），停留且行在义上（2:6，2:29），并行真理（2:4）。
- 认识天父（2:13）。我们通过耶稣认识天父。天父为我们差遣了祂的儿子耶稣。认识并经历父神的爱和同在，是生命的终极目标。耶稣来将我们带回父神那里。让我们父神的爱如此安慰我们，以至于我们宽恕和释放一切苦毒，单单依附并享受祂的爱。父神的爱带来解脱、平安、喜乐以及向他人的满溢的爱。孩子们必须在充满爱的环境中成长，这样他们才能够得到保障并变得强大。专注于仅有的父神，不要追随其他（约翰一书5:21）。
阶段2 少年人
- 得胜者 - 藉着坚守神的话语（2:14），我们通过坚守神的话语而成为得胜者，而不是依靠我们的肉体或智力。
- 爱父神，而不是爱世界（2:15-17） 世界有三种诱惑来分散我们对父神的爱。
- 肉体的欲望 - 拥有生活中的快乐并没有错。我们的父神想要赐予我们这些。但我们被诱惑超越了上帝的限度去追求生活中的快乐，走向极端并被束缚，而不是所承诺的满足。例如：性、药物、赌博等上瘾。我们肉体的感官是敞开受到世界和魔鬼引诱的大门。
- 眼目的贪恋 - 我们看到并想要不顾一切得到它们。我们将信仰放在所见之物（并且是暂时的2:17）上，而不是属灵且永恒价值的不可见之物。
- 物财的傲慢和生命之傲 - 我们把价值和尊荣放在我们获得和拥有的事物上。我们寻求来自我们拥有的丰富事物，特别是金钱，的荣耀和权力。我们分散了对上帝的信任，而想成为自己的上帝。当然，我们永远不能成为上帝。自从夏娃时代以来，这只是魔鬼对我们的谎言。
- 成就上帝的旨意 - 常在上帝里面（2:17，24）
- 拥有知识和辨别力:
- 认识敌人 - 反基督（2:18-23）和欺骗者（2:26）。历史上以及将来会有许多反基督，不仅仅是一个。认识他们的谎言 - 否认基督以肉身降临。
- 认识真理和我们的身份（2:20-25）
- 被上帝膏立 - 圣灵在我们里面2:20，25-27
- 永远的生命（Zoe，上帝的生命）2:25
- 听从我们内心的圣灵。
阶段3 父老
- 认识造物者父神的心（2:13，14）。我们已经成长为父亲，不论是属灵的还是肉身的，了解做一个父亲的责任和心态。
- 真爱：父神对我们的爱是真爱。它是无条件的爱，积极主动的，且是为人牺牲的爱。在第4章中，还有其他一些内容需要我们深入研究。
- 考虑保罗关于“超越胜利”的概念，在《'超越胜利'的意义》一文中，也许我们可以这样说，'少年人'是'征服者'（靠上帝的力量获胜），而'父老'则是“超越胜利者”（通过对上帝的爱心来转变而获胜 - 把敌人变为朋友）。
思考问题：
- 什么是成长的阶段？
- 每个阶段的特点是什么？
应用问题：
- 你目前处于哪个阶段？
- 你将采取什么行动来进入下一个阶段？
- 有什么障碍？你需要什么帮助？
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