What Does It Mean To Be a Spiritual Person?

What Does It Mean To Be a Christian?

What Is Christianity All About?

In the Gospel of John,

Chapter 3, we read of Jesus' encounter with a religious leader named Nicodemus. It goes like this: Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him." In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God, unless he is born again." "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."

There are four points to be made when thinking about this passage of Scripture; they are: the Terms of Spiritual Life, the Process of Spiritual Life, the Reality of Spiritual Life, and the Questions of Spiritual Life.

I. The Terms of Spiritual Life

From this passage, we learn that being spiritual and being a Christian are two terms that mean essentially the same thing. We learn this because the religious leader recognized that God was with Jesus ("Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him." ) So, those who are close to Jesus are also close to God. Therefore it is not wrong to consider those people as "spiritual" who are genuine, true followers of Jesus. And, as you know, those people who are followers of Jesus have become known as "Christians" (because they are followers of Jesus Christ.) Therefore, the author of this article uses the term "Christian" and "spiritual" interchangeably.

II. The Process of Spiritual Life

Jesus teaches in this passage that spiritual life is a process similar to that of physical birth. This is obvious because of the fact that the religious man to whom Jesus was speaking started asking questions about how he could go back into his mother's womb to be "born again".

Jesus explained to Nicodemus that He was not talking about physical things, but spiritual things. So, spiritual life comes through a spiritual birth, in a similar manner as physical life comes through physical birth.

There are three typical models for how people come into spiritual life.  One is called the Conversion Model. In this model, the beginning of spiritual life comes through a single, dramatic conversion experience. Oftentimes the person will describe their immoral and wild lifestyle before their spectacular conversion experience. Following their conversion, there is a radical change of behavior and good, steady growth in their Christian life. It might look like this:

Birth----------------------------X-------------------------Growth in Christ

The second model is called the Commitment Model. In the Commitment model, the spiritual life of the Christian has multiple ups and downs throughout his life. Sometimes these ups and downs are dramatic "conversion" type experiences, other times they are calm and quiet resolutions. The difference between the Conversion model and the Commitment model is that the radical change of lifestyle and steady growth in his Christian life is not consistently maintained after a commitment, but is followed by a slide backwards into previous lifestyle patterns. It might look like this:

Birth----------x----------x----------x----------x----------Growth in Christ

The third model is called the Covenant Model. In the Covenant model, parents (usually) make a promise to God (in fancy, theological terms this is called a "covenant") to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord in the Church of Jesus Christ. Often times this child grows up never remembering a day of disbelief, wild living, or a dramatic conversion experience. It looks like this:

Birth-------------------------------------------------------Growth in Christ

In John 3, the passage on which this article is based, Jesus teaches us that the important thing is not that you know when and how the Lord has worked spiritual life in you, but simply that you are certain that he has. As a matter of fact, Jesus even said that the Spirit of God is like the wind: "You hear it's sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." This means that how God works is sometimes mysterious. But, the important thing is that one knows God has worked. How do you know whether or not God has done a work deep in your soul? This leads to the next point.

III. The Reality of Spiritual Life

In the same way that a healthy infant born physically will breathe, cry, and squirm, a true spiritual birth will produce certain manifestations. The Bible calls this "fruit." There are two main types of fruit a spiritual Christian person will produce.

The first fruit a spirit-born man will produce is the fruit of repentance. This term means that a person will experience a change in the way he thinks about certain things.

The Bible teaches that the Christian will repent (change the way he thinks) of his own sinfulness. Most people will admit they have made mistakes, but a truly spiritual person will admit he is not good, not seeking God, and deep, deep down is seeking to please himself, promote himself, and protect himself. Also, he will recognize that this is offensive to God, that he is distant from God, and that he deserves God's wrath.

Not only will a person repent of the way he thinks about his own sinfulness, but the Christian will repent  (change the way he thinks) of making himself his own savior. When people realize they are sinners and separated from God, they typically will quickly try to remedy the situation themselves. From this one needs to repent. Whereas we deserve the wrath of God and deserve to be punished, Jesus took our place. His death on the cross was His standing in our spot - taking the punishment we deserve. Therefore, He "saves" us from receiving the punishment we deserve. This is where the term "saved" comes from.

Not only will a person repent of the way he thinks about his own sinfulness, and who is his savior, but he will also learn that the Bible teaches that the Christian will repent (change the way he thinks) of seeking to be in control of his life. The spiritually renewed person will turn over the steering wheel of his life to Jesus; he will be willing to follow where Jesus leads; he will be willing to do what Jesus says.

As was said earlier, true spiritual life produces the fruit of a change in the way a person thinks about deep, spiritual matters. But not only is it true that there will be a change in thinking, but it is also true that change always produces a corresponding change in behavior. A Christian person, a truly spiritual person, will begin to have a love for others that seems to grow a little bit more each day. He will want to start giving of his time and money to help others, rather than seeking to help only himself. He will find himself reading the Bible and praying - and enjoying it! He will find himself enjoying worship in church with other Christians. He will become more patient with his wife and children. There will be a new and growing peace that replaces anxiety and worry that was so prominent before.

This is the reality of spiritual life. When one is born-again, as Jesus mentions, he becomes a new creature in the way that he thinks and the way that he lives. He is infected with a spiritual power that was absent before.

The final things to consider with this passage of Scripture are:

IV. The Questions of Spiritual Life

What do you do if you are not sure where you are in the process of spiritual life? What do you do if you are not sure spiritual life has taken root in your soul?

First of all, you need to answer the question: "What do I believe?"

• What do I believe about God?

• What do I believe about who Jesus is?

• What do I believe about this concept of my being a sinner?

• What do I believe about Jesus being my Savior?

If you believe what the classic, historic Christian faith has taught regarding these questions, then you are likely a born-again person; or, you are soon on your way to becoming a spiritually new person.

The second question you need to answer is the question, "Where do I want to be?" This means, where do I want to be, spiritually? Do I want to be a person who has given my life to Jesus Christ? Do I want to be a person who has experienced spiritual rebirth?

The final question to answer is, "Why not?"

Why not pray to God:

• Admitting that you have been rebellious toward God, that you have not desired to obey His law, and that you deserve God's wrath.

• Confessing your belief that Jesus is the Son of God and Savior of sinners.

• Communicating your desire to give control of your life to Jesus Christ.

• Asking God to send the Spirit of God to give you spiritual life and new power for living.

No matter where you are in your spiritual journey, the solution is the same to all spiritual problems: pray. Pray as above - admitting your sin, confessing your belief, communicating your desire, and asking God for life.

Talking with the Lord about this matter is just the beginning of your spiritual life. But it is a beginning! Don't put it off. Go to the Lord about this. And then talk with a person you know who exhibits the sort of fruit described above for more help. May God bless you.

For more information, contact one of our pastors, here.