How do We Grow in Our Faith?

(By Raymond Isbell)

Question: How do we grow in our faith? The Bible refers to walking by faith and renewing our minds. How do these factor in? Is there more to it?

Answer: Growing in faith is an important concept, and is an essential part of the Christian life.  Before answering “how,” I’d like to define the “what,” of growing in faith. To state it simply, growing in faith is to move from spiritual babyhood to spiritual maturity. Paul uses some interesting language to describe these two states of growth, and uses human food to help us understand the difference between the two. Babes in Christ are said to be able to grow only by feeding on milk and not solid food. We are told by Peter in 1 Peter 2:2, “as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.” The milk of the word is defined in Hebrews 5:12 as the, “first principles of the oracles of God.” Spiritually mature believers, on the other hand, like human adults, are nourished with solid food. Hebrews 5:14 tells us that, “solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

As an aside, there’s a lot more to good and evil than most people realize. In fact, the worst forms of evil are spiritual in nature and take the form of deception in Christian doctrine. An interesting and revealing passage on deception and how it takes an evil form is 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 where it says, “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.” Speaking falsely about Christ or in the name of Christ is the worst of sin, and the strongest condemnation in Scripture is proclaimed by Paul against those who proclaim a false gospel (Gal 1:8-9). This is a meaty subject (solid food?) that the believer should learn as soon as possible.

Back to growing in faith. Given that there are different states of maturity for believers, and that spiritual food (God’s Word) is the nourishment that enables growth, a good part of the answer to your question regarding how we grow in our faith is tied to learning God’s Word, which Paul tells us is the, “mind of Christ” (1 Cor 2:16). Paul tells us in Romans 10:17 that, “faith comes by hearing, and hearing from the word of God.” Paul again tells us, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Rom 12:2, NKJV). If you focus your efforts on learning God’s Word, you will grow in your faith, assuming you deal properly with sin in your life which will be discussed shortly.

Learning Scripture alone, however, will not get you there. God also throws in a hefty amount of testing in our daily lives. As we say in the military, you become skilled in the warrior profession only after significant field training, practice, and testing (Jas 1:2-4, 1 Pet 1:6-7). Testing allows us to see repeatedly God’s faithful and gracious provision for us under fire, and to live out what we learn from Scripture. The testing helps to build and strengthen our faith. Peter reminds us in 1 Peter 1:7, “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ (KJV).” Every believer will eventually be taken to the Red Sea where he/she is boxed in and the Egyptians are charging with no human way out. God takes each of us to that place so we can, “stand still and see the salvation of the Lord” (Ex 14:13).

James also notes regarding the testing of our faith, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (Jas 1:2-4, NKJV).

Just as military training and testing are designed to toughen up soldiers so that they can bear up under fire, God’s testing of us is designed to teach us how to use the spiritual tools he has provided. Our use of these tools enables God to show the, “exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (Eph 2:7).”

In the military, we learn how to operate and employ weapons and equipment of various sorts to keep the soldiers performing in top form so they can be effective against the enemy. On the spiritual side, God provides a variety of tools to help us in our growth in the midst of spiritual war.

Two of these tools should be mentioned at this point, and should be mastered early if spiritual growth is to be achieved. The first is confession of sin. As believers, we still have our sin nature which gets the better of us continually as we grow. When we sin, we lose fellowship with the Lord and grieve the Holy Spirit. If we are to be led by the Lord and Holy Spirit, we must be in agreement with them. Sin in a sense is non-agreement. It is like a soldier not agreeing with his Commanding Officer, and disobeying an order. The soldier cannot function in his role in his military unit without being in agreement with his leadership.

In the spiritual analogy, the believer who sins has disobeyed an order and is in non-agreement with the Lord. Given that all of us have a sin nature and are prone to disagreeing with the Lord (e.g., accepting that our worldly wisdom is better than the Lord’s), the Lord has provided a quick way to recover by letting us acknowledge or confess our sins (1 Jn 1:9). This allows us to regain fellowship so that we can continue to grow. Understanding why confession is important is tied to the Atonement which is briefly discussed on this website here. Readers are encouraged to review this important doctrine because it enables believers to understand why their relationship and engagement with the Lord takes the form it does.

The second essential tool God has provided to the growing believer is prayer. Prayer is the means by which God enables us to communicate directly with Him and make requests for help both for ourselves and others. Prayer literally brings to bear the power of God to solve the Christian’s problems, and provide the support needed to win the spiritual battles they are experiencing. Remember to be in fellowship with the Lord when you pray. This is accomplished immediately when confession is made, so always start your prayers with confession of sin if appropriate. There is both “milk” and “solid food” involved in learning this important doctrine, and believers are encouraged to dig into it early and learn it well as they begin their spiritual journey.

To sum up, the short answer to the question, “How do we grow in our faith?” is learn God’s Word, stay in fellowship through 1 John 1:9, and pray effectively. You may be thinking, “What does God expect to achieve through our growth in the faith?” I’ll let Scripture answer the question:

Ephesians 1:17-19

that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power (NKJV).

Ephesians 3:16-19

that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God (NKJV).

Ephesians 4:11-16

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry,  for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love (NKJV).