What Believers Must Know to Grow

I. What’s So Important About Spiritual Growth?

II. Can I Be Sure Of My Salvation?
• Cease worrying about where you stand with Christ, and start making your life count for Him.
• Begin to grow from there!
• Memorize 1 John 5:11-13

III. When Does God Get Even?
• Accept God’s pardoning love.
• Now forgive yourself. Do that the same way our heavenly Father forgives you-by looking to the Cross.
• Memorize John 3:16 and Romans 8:1

IV. Why Am I Here?
• God’s purpose for you on earth is to know Christ and to make Him known.
• Get to know Jesus personally through His Word, the Bible. This is the most fulfilling relationship you’ll ever experience.
• With the Holy Spirit’s help, seek to introduce others to Christ so that they might know Him personally, too.
• For practical instruction in sharing your faith, enroll in an evangelism training class. These are usually offered in local churches.
• Read one or more of the books recommended at the end of this chapter.
• Memorize Acts 1:8

V. What Do You Mean, Fifteen Minutes a Day Will Change My Life?
• Set aside at least fifteen minutes each day to listen to God’s voice in the pages of Scripture.
• Proceed straight through the Bible, beginning with the New Testament in the Gospel of Matthew.
• Claim God’s promises.
• Obey God’s revealed will.
• Take seriously His warnings against sin.
• Find your wisdom for living in God’s Word.
• Learn from it how to trust the Lord for every problem, trial, and worry.
• Memorize 2 Timothy 3:16-17

VI. I Tried to Live for Christ, But It Didn’t Work
• Surrender yourself to the indwelling Christ.
• Make a conscious commitment each day to be a channel through which the Lord Jesus can bear His own fruit of holiness and love.
• Memorize Galatians 2:20

VII. Why Do I Feel Like a Walking Civil War?
• Feed the new nature and starve the old!
• Be disciplined in prayer.
• Soak your mind and heart in God’s Word.
• Memorize key verses of Scripture.
• Join a small-group Bible study.
• Cultivate fellowship and friendships with other Christians; avoid places people, and things that will interfere with your spiritual walk.

VIII. Aren’t All Christians the Same?
• There are two kinds of believers, the carnal and the spiritual. The carnal Christian is under the control of his old, sinful nature, while the spiritual Christian lives under the control of the Holy Spirit.
• The carnal Christian is dominated by his sinful nature.
• The carnal Christian is not growing
• The carnal Christian is a disappointment to Christ
• The carnal Christian is not a victorious believer.
• The spiritual Christian is fully surrendered to the power of the Holy Spirit.
• The spiritual Christian has the mind of Christ
• Submit to the indwelling Spirit’s control in your life.
• Allow him to dominate your personality.
• Consciously yield yourself every day to His holy influence.
• Memorize Galatians 5:22-23

IX. What’s the Difference Between Temptation and Sin?
• Temptation is a suggestion, and sin is a yielding to the suggestion.
• Christ withstood Satan’s temptations because He was filled with the Scriptures.
• Christ won victory over temptation because He was filled with the Spirit.
• Make use of the two weapons the Lord offers you – the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit.
• The Bible will give you wisdom to see through Satan’s schemes. Read it, study it, and commit parts of it to memory.
• The Holy Spirit will supply you with supernatural power to fight off temptation. So surrender yourself to His control.
• Memorize 1 Corinthians 10:13

X. Why Do My Prayers Seem to Bounce Off the Ceiling?
• #1. Vague requests
• #2. Unclaimed Scriptural Promises
• #3. Selfishness
• #4. Failure To Live in an Attitude of Prayer
• #5. Doubt that God Will Answer
• #6. Resistance to God’s Will
• Prayer is communication with God and therefore vital to your Christian growth.
• Pray specifically, claiming the Bible’s promises.
• Live in an attitude of prayer.
• Expect God to answer.
• Submit to His will.
• Memorize Jeremiah 33:3

XI. I Can Worship God at the Beach…Can’t I?
• The New Testament uses four metaphors to describe the church: the body, the bride of Christ, the branches of Christ, the building of Christ.
• The New Testament uses five metaphors for individual Christians: sheep who need to stay together in one flock, brothers and sisters who belong to the same household, soldiers who are active in God’s army, citizens who make up one kingdom, and priests who serve in the same temple.
• Look for a Christ-centered church that focuses on worshipping the Lord Jesus, not on entertaining the people.
• Look for a church that emphasizes the new birth in Christ.
• Look for a church that teaches and preaches the Word of God.
• Look for a loving church.
• Look for a church with a sense of mission.
• Don’t look for a perfect church – there’s no such thing.
• Become involved in a Christ-centered, evangelistic, Bible-based, loving outreaching church “on the grow.”
• Get to know its pastor and people.
• Support the church with your prayers, service, and finances.
• Memorize Hebrews 10:24-25

XII. Do I Have to Be Committed?
• A committed Christian lives for Jesus; an uncommitted one lives for himself.
• A committed Christian is self-disciplined to spend time alone with God every day in Scripture and prayer; an uncommitted one lacks that kind of discipline, and it shows in his life.
• A committed Christian makes a difference in other people’s lives; so does an uncommitted one, but instead of building others up, he becomes a stumbling block to them.
• A committed Christian grows in faith, knowledge, and love; an uncommitted one sinks into doubts, needless ignorance, and a feeling of indifference.
• Make a solemn vow that Christ will always have first place in your life.
• Pledge to be obedient to the Word of God, submissive to the will of God, and involved in the work of God – nothing less, nothing else, at any cost!
• Memorize Romans 12:1-2



As taken from the book What Believers Must Know To Grow by Tom Carter

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