Prodigal Christian

To achieve maturity in the Christian life certainly takes time. Fellowship with God are open and honest before Him, though they vary greatly in their maturity. Commitment to Christlikeness is not a ticket to instant maturity. It takes time to move from carnality to spirituality. Backsliding may indeed be a slippery slope. However, it is a slope and not a cliff. People rarely, if ever, move immediately from spirituality to carnality. The journey is filled with many bad thoughts, words, and deeds. A spiritual person has a number of opportunities to change direction before it is too late. What it means is that only confessing Christians will rule. The Christian who stops confessing Christ (Heb 10:23) and ceases to attend church (Heb 10:23), will not reign should he die or the Rapture occur while he was in that condition. Once a person has become spiritual, he has plenty of room for growth. The more a person grows, the more he distances himself from carnality. Therefore, the aim of the Christian life is to please God more and more. The Holy Spirit would reveal sin to me and that God never asked me to try to discover every sin in my life. Knowing that God merely asks me to be honest with Him has had a liberating effect on my walk. It is much more personal, and much less mechanical. It is great to know that God produces maturity in all believers who are abiding in Christ and in His Word.