Steps To Spiritual Growth: Handbook for Believers

By Rev. David R. Wallis

This is an extremely helpful book for believers, as it offers vital keys and essential truths that will help the believer grow in the knowledge of God. It is filled with numerous practical and scriptural guidelines, which pertain to the spiritual development of a believer. The subjects listed below are looked at extensively:

What it means to be saved
The necessity of God’s Word
Water baptism, an ordinance
Prayer, a priority
The importance of communion
The significance of God's grace
Deliverance from bondages
Being filled with the Holy Spirit 

The use of this book is also recommended for pastors, teachers, and church leaders.  The handbook is a comprehensive overview of appropriate topics that will lay a good foundation for believers.  It will also supply you with an organized teaching structure to help you instruct and train all those whom God has entrusted to your care. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Zion Christian Publishers
• Release date: Dec 29, 2016
• ISBN: 9781596656604

Book preview

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INTRODUCTION

GUIDELINES FOR GROWTH

Throughout this handbook are many keys to help achieve Christian maturity. These steps for growth are essential truths that we need in order to sustain us as we continue in the Lord. From beginning to end, the most important key for personal growth as a Christian proves to be our knowledge of the Word of God. This is vital for all believers, for as Psalm 119:105 says, His Word is truly a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our path.

In many ways, serving God requires the discipline and stamina of an athlete, and the path is not always easy. Therefore, we will share many important truths that are essential in preparing each of us as believers.

Steps to Spiritual Growth

Water Baptism

One of the important spiritual truths covered in this handbook is water baptism, because this act of obedience is an outward sign of what is happening inwardly in our hearts. The Word of God commands us to be water baptized. Matthew 28:19-20 tells us: Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you (NKJV).

The Holy Spirit

In this study, much will be spoken about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is so very important to us, for He is actually the Third Person of the Godhead. There is One God, but three Persons in the Godhead  –  the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. While this is a great mystery of God, it is not difficult to understand if we have faith in God’s Word.

There is also a natural example that will help us understand this enigma. If water is heated to the boiling point, it will become steam; but at room temperature that same water would be a clear, cool liquid. Yet, if the temperature is lowered to freezing, that water becomes ice. In all these forms, it is still water, or H2O. In other words, it is the same chemical formula, but in three different forms. In the same way, the Trinity of God shows us three aspects of the personality of God: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. John 14:26 declares that the Holy Spirit is sent from God: But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things (ESV). The Holy Spirit is important because He helps us understand what the heart of God is saying to us in His Word.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is also a vital experience for all believers to receive, and then to continue to flow and progress in. This baptism is initially shown by the evidence of speaking in other tongues. It is crucial in empowering us with boldness to witness for Christ, and preparing us to serve Him through His power and anointing (Acts 2:3-4; Mk. 16:17-20). On the day of Pentecost as the Holy Spirit was poured out, people cried, What shall we do? When Peter gave the answer, he said, Repent! (Acts 2:37-38). This is exactly what happens in a believer’s life at salvation. When we acknowledged that we needed to be saved from sin, and said yes to the Lord in our hearts, our names were written in the Lamb’s book of life (Rev. 20:12; 21:27). Yet, there is so much more to the Christian life than the simple act of accepting Christ at salvation. As we grow and mature in the faith and knowledge of Jesus Christ, we learn what the Lord requires of us so that we may walk closely with Him through this life. These initial steps to maturity and intimacy with the Lord Jesus will also be covered in this handbook.

Deliverance

We will also explore the subject of deliverance. Deliverance occurs when God’s power breaks the bondages in our lives, and sets us free from evil spirits that, perhaps, came down from past generations (Num. 14:18; Mk. 16:17). God wants to set the captives free. In fact, Jesus came to set all of us completely free! The Word of God makes that clear: If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed (Jn. 8:36).

CHAPTER ONE

Laying the Foundation

JESUS CAME TO GIVE LIFE

The decision of salvation is when we turn from sin and choose to ask Jesus to enter our hearts. This decision is the most important one we will ever make, for it has profound implications for our life here on earth and also for our eternity. The Lord spoke to mankind in John 10:10 that He had come to give life, and life more abundantly. This then is His purpose in our lives—He wants to give us peace, rest, joy, and a more abundant life as we continue to live for Him. He also wants us to be with Him in heaven for all eternity (Jn. 3:16)

On the other hand, our adversary, Satan, will try everything to stop us from continuing with our commitment to follow Christ. He will do everything he can to cause us to become complacent, to go back into sin, to backslide, and to get separated from God in hell. We are warned, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Pet. 5:8).

It is so important for us as believers to become firmly established in the foundational truths of the Christian life. In so doing, we learn how to defeat Satan so that he will not be able to thwart God’s wonderful plan of salvation in our lives. It is with this thought in mind that we have compiled this handbook. Our prayer is that it will be a source of strength  in following Christ.

THE NEW BIRTH EXPERIENCE

When a baby is born, he cannot be left alone and unattended. Everyone knows that a newborn baby is unable to properly care for himself. The newborn must be fed, changed, bathed, and completely protected. As it is in the natural, we see this same truth in the spiritual realm. When we are born again into Christ, we need to be taken care of, protected, and fed the right kind of spiritual diet. Thus, another purpose of this handbook for believers is to give proper instruction regarding the right kind of spiritual nourishment, food that will not only protect and feed Christians but will also cause the believer’s soul to prosper in Christ.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE SAVED?

Many things happen when we become  Christians, and there is really no one way to adequately describe the experience. The Bible speaks of this transformation in many different ways. One of the familiar words that the Bible often uses is saved.  In Acts 2:21 we read: Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. What does it mean to be saved? Simply stated, it means that we are saved from something. We are saved from hell (Jn. 3:16-18). Just as heaven is a real place, hell is likewise a real place.

The Bible tells us that hell is a place of weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth (Mt. 13:42; Mt. 22:13). Jesus repeatedly warns us to keep out of it. In fact, Jesus spoke more about hell than He did about heaven. Jude 1:13 speaks about hell as the blackness of darkness forever. In Ezekiel, hell is described as a place that is under the earth (Ezek. 26:20). We know a number of people who have either been to hell or have seen visions of hell; it is a place of horrible darkness. There is a book written by Mary Baxter called A Divine Revelation of Hell, which describes her experience of being in hell for a period of forty nights. Jesus went with her into hell, and there she saw many formidable scenes and talked with people who dwelt eternally in this place of darkness.

Dr. Brian J. Bailey also had visions of hell which he described in his book Heaven’s Glories and the Untold Terrors of Hell. At one time, he was actually taken to hell where he met one of the former kings of England who was surrounded by such darkness that he cried out to him, Show me the light (Bailey 155). There is no second chance after a person dies. The Word of God tells us clearly in Hebrews 9:27 that it is "appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." The good news, however, is that we can be saved from hell! When we become a Christian, we are saved; we can be sure that we are saved because Jesus has come into our hearts.

Being Born Again

The Bible also speaks of this experience of being saved as being born again. Being a Christian and being saved means that we are given a new birth. In John 3, Jesus talks to a man whose name was Nicodemus. He was a religious man, a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews, and a member of the Sanhedrin, which was the highest Jewish council in the first century.

When he saw all the miracles that Jesus did, it caused him to say, No one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him. He was undoubtedly wondering, How can this man do all these miracles? Jesus then replied, You must be born again. Nicodemus was confused, as he asked Jesus, How can a man go back into his mother’s womb and be born a second time? Jesus’ reply is recorded for us in John 3:5: "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born