As we continue through the book of Romans, I’ve been posting about the spiritual growth process. In the last article, I talked about the childhood phase. The Lord wants us to move on from there.

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs — heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Romans 8:16-17

We share in His glory when we walk as mature sons and daughters of God. There are many verses that talk about what this level of maturity looks like. Here are a few.

…until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Ephesians 4:13

Becoming like Christ is the goal. Our desire should be to minister, love, and encourage as He did. Obviously, we need the ministry gifts for this level of maturity.

Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

James 1:4

Maturity doesn’t just happen. It’s something you have to persevere and strive for. The struggle, however, is worth it. Scripture teaches that when you’re mature, you’re complete and don’t lack anything.

We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.

James 3:2

The word, perfect in this verse is the Greek word for mature. When I’m walking in maturity, my speaking and doing are in line with God’s Word. That’s a big indicator. We know that our mouth speaks out what’s stored in our hearts. So, clean speech shows a clean heart.

We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.

Colossians 1:28

This was Paul’s goal. He wanted everyone under his influence to walk in the maturity of Christ. That should be our goal as well.

Unfortunately, we don’t seem to know what maturity is in this generation. Many of us are like little kids looking up at their teenage brothers and saying, “I want to get there!” We need to go beyond that point.

It’s all wrapped up in the progression of sonship. The Holy Spirit wants to bring us from the initial adoption papers to the glory of revealed sons.

What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father.

Galatians 4:1-2

We think that just because we have the spiritual position, we can do whatever we want. No, not if you’re a child. We need the walk of maturity to open up a new world of spiritual freedom.

In this section of Romans, Paul is getting us ready to learn adulthood. That’s why this teaching is so important. The next section of Romans is the key to operating on the level of a revealed son or daughter of God.

Question: How mature do you see yourself right now?

© 2021 Nick Zaccardi