The Third Stage of Spiritual Development

We now come to a crucial stage in spiritual development: the birth of God's spirit in us. This is crucial because without this stage we cannot say that spiritual development has practically begun. Everything before this has been a preparation for the birth of the spirit in us. Without this birth we cannot talk of any growth in the spirit.

The birth of the spirit in us or spiritual birth happens after a period of conception of the seed of the spirit in us. This seed is the Word of God.

Thus, it is not true to say that after a person believes in Jesus he/she is born again as a spirit. The process takes time, just like in human birth.

Not a Matter of Just Believing in Jesus

There are many Christians who say that they believe in Jesus. They also sincerely think that they believe in Jesus. But their lives show plainly that they have not actually, personally experienced spiritual birth. If they have truly experienced spiritual birth, they would be spiritual beings and they would behave like their Father Spirit. But they plainly show by their thoughts, words and actions that they are still only mere human beings, not yet divine beings, children of the divine Being, God. So a person can sincerely say that he/she believes in Jesus but he/she has not experienced spiritual birth.

Outline of the Process of Spiritual Conception and Birth

The seed or Word of God is planted in the human heart by preaching. This Word of God grows in that heart over a period of time by silence, meditating on it, obeying it. When the Word of God is fully developed in the human heart, it is born as a spirit of God. This is the spiritual or divine birth. This birth is not the direct result of an act of decision for Christ, to follow him. It is the end of a long process.

The process is that after a while the person is convinced of the complete trustworthiness of the Word of God and a word from that Word penetrates his/her heart and he/she surrenders himself/herself completely to Jesus without any reservation. It is like the infant surrendered completely into this world at the mercy of his/her parents, and thus being born physically.

How do we know that we have been born spiritually? Or how do we know that we have been born as a spirit?

Principal Signs of Spiritual Birth

There are three principal signs by which we know that we have been born as a spirit. There are also three secondary or corroborating signs that this has happened in our life.

The first principal sign is an intense desire to read God's Word. It is like a thirst for God's Word. The newborn human baby immediately longs for his/her mother's milk. So also the newborn spirit longs for the Spirit's milk, the Word of God. Sometimes the person finds himself/herself unable to put down the Bible. He/she keeps on reading the Bible, even through the whole night. This is the normal, usual experience of a newborn spirit. He/she wants to read more and more of the Bible because for the first time he/she thinks he/she is able to understand it in a new light, as if the words are personally addressed to him/her. If he/she is not literate she intensely longs to listen to the reading of God's word.

The second principal sign is that he/she seeks companionship with other spirits. The newborn human baby seeks the comfort of his/her mother or other human beings. The same is true with the newborn spirit. He/she seeks other spirits to seek comfort and encouragement from them.

The third principal sign is that there is a change in the attitudes of the person who has undergone spiritual birth. This change in attitudes is not something studied or determined or willed by the person. The change happens naturally without any effort on his/her part. He/she just gets into these new attitudes, sometimes to his/her surprise. He/she has now a forgiving attitude where before he/she was vengeful. He/she is now considerate of others where before he/she was only self-seeking. And there are many other good attitudes which to his/her surprise she has now.

Secondary Signs of Spiritual Birth

Besides these three principal signs, there are three secondary signs. But these are mostly subjective. It is only the person who is born as spirit who knows these. These are corroborating evidences which prove that indeed a spiritual or divine birth has taken place.

The first secondary sign is that the world of creation seems new to him/her. He/she feels that it is springtime, even if it is the height of summer or the coolest of winter. There is a newness in all he/she sees. This is caused by the experience of a new life within him/her, the life of the spirit.

The second secondary sign is that the person has a feeling that something which has been lacking in his/her life is now fulfilled. He/she now feels that there was something he/she was seeking in his/her life which he/she could not even describe before, but how he/she feels that he/she has found this now. That is why in one evangelistic campaign the rallying words were "I found it."

The third secondary sign is that there is a lingering sickness that is now cured. The person may have suffered from a skin disease or ulcer or tuberculosis or other sickness for quite some time. Now the sickness is gone forever. The person may have been an alcoholic for several years. Now, suddenly the taste for alcohol is gone. Or he/she may have been a chain smoker for decades. Now the pull of the nicotine is gone forever. A person may have been attracted to the same sex for a number of years. Now he/she finds himself/herself normally attracted to the opposite sex.

If a person has not experienced these three principal signs and some of the secondary signs, then it is safe to say that he/she has not actually experienced spiritual birth. He/she might have experienced mystical or juridical spiritual birth through some ceremonies, but he/she has not personally, actually appropriated the experience of spiritual birth.

Conception in One Church, Birth in Another Church

It has happened very often that a person hears the Word of God for the first time in the religion he was born into, whether this religion is Christian or not. Then he/she nurtures this Word in another religion or church, through Bible study, for example. And while being nurtured in this other religion or church he/she is born spiritually. The tendency is to depart from his/her native religion and switch to the religion or church where he/she was nurtured in the Word of God.

Thus we have countless cases of Roman Catholics who first heard the Word of God in the Roman Catholic Church through principally the reading of the Bible during the Mass. They later nurtured this Word in another church, through Bible study groups and fellowships. They are born spiritually there. They leave the Roman Catholic Church and despise this Church. They do not realize that without their listening to the gospel readings in the Catholic Church they would have difficulty nurturing the Word of God in the church to which they now belong. The conception of the Word of God has been made easier by this first nurturing in the Catholic Church.

Only the Beginning

But this birth is only a beginning. The newborn spirit has to grow in order to develop spiritually.

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Here are my other blogs which may be of help to you:

http://bit.ly/spiritworld for knowing more about spirituality or spiritual realities

http://bit.ly/alterhealthcare for your health

http://bit.ly/novotrends for learning about the new trends around us

http://bit.ly/bepaidonline for earning some income from the Internet

Here are your links to download the e-books for FREE. To download a copy of A NEW CHRIST by Wallace D. Wattles click this website http://bit.ly/anewchrist. To download a free copy of A NEW EARTH by Eckhart Tolle click this website http://bit.ly/ebookanewearth. I hope that you enjoy reading these free e-books and profit much from them, as I have also profited greatly from them.

The Second Stage of Spiritual Development

The second stage in spiritual development or the development of spirits in us is the germination or conception stage when the seed of the spirit is being conceived in us, grows within us after it has fertilized the image of God in us.

Again we take comparisons from the physical world. After the seed or sperm cell fertilizes the egg cell in the womb of a woman, conception follows with the production of the zygote and the fetus. In the world of the spirit a similar process occurs. The word of God enters the heart of the person and this word grows in that heart until it is born a spiritual being.

Difference in the Duration of Conception

But there are differences. While physical human conception normally takes around 9 months, spiritual conception can take a longer or shorter time than this.

Just like in the animal world there are different durations of conception so also in the spiritual world the period of conception differs from person to person.

For example, rabbits take only a little more than a month before they give birth to their young after fertilization, cats and dogs take a little more than 2 months. One of the longest is that of the elephant which takes about 22 months before birth.

Three Factors for a Successful Conception

The duration of spiritual conception depends on three things, just as in human conception three things make it successful.

In physical human conception there are three things the woman has to take care of so that the baby conceived in her womb would be successfully born. These three are proper nutrition, proper rest and exercise, and proper mental disposition.

So also in spiritual conception or the conception of the spirit in us three things are necessary to ensure success in the birth of the spirit. The first is proper nutrition also. The word of God in us needs proper food. The word of God in us is nourished by the word outside of us, the reading of God's word. And just as eating contraceptive substances may cause human abortion, so also reading materials that are contrary to God's word may result in spiritual abortion. The word of God is not developed but rejected by the person.

In Matthew 4:4 and Deuteronomy 8:3 the word of God is food for us. Thus, to take the word of God as food means that we read it and think of it as often as possible.

Secondly, the conceiving woman needs proper rest and exercise. So also the person conceiving the spirit of God needs proper rest and exercise. He or she needs to devote time to prayer. When we pray we rest from our work. And prayer is the best exercise for the spirit, because in prayer we converse with God who is the source of all strength.

Thirdly, the conceiving woman needs to have a proper mental disposition. If she always worries or is constantly plagued with problems, the child in her womb will be affected. So also the person conceiving the spirit needs a disposition of trust in God. He/she does not worry or have so many problems. He/she surrenders these to God.

How many months does it take before the spiritual birth occurs? It depends on the person carrying the seed of the spirit. It also depends on the Father of the spirit and on his ministers. He takes care of this spirit conceived in human persons through his ministers.

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Here are my other blogs which may be of help to you:

http://bit.ly/spiritworld for knowing more about spirituality or spiritual realities

http://bit.ly/alterhealthcare for your health

http://bit.ly/novotrends for learning about the new trends around us

http://bit.ly/bepaidonline for earning some income from the Internet

Here are your links to download the e-books for FREE. To download a copy of A NEW CHRIST by Wallace D. Wattles click this website http://bit.ly/anewchrist. To download a free copy of A NEW EARTH by Eckhart Tolle click this website http://bit.ly/ebookanewearth. I hope that you enjoy reading these free e-books and profit much from them, as I have also profited greatly from them.

A Primer on Spiritual Development (Part 10)

Yesterday we answered the question why despite its relevance to the different areas of our life, spiritual development has not been given due emphasis in our personal development. Today we discuss how the seed of the spirit is sown in us, how it is conceived and born in us.

23. You said before that the spirit begins as a seed in us and this seed is the word of God. Can you elaborate on this, particularly how the seed of God’s word is implanted in us?

Yes, as we learned in number 12 of this Primer, the spirit has a seed, just like the plants, animals, and human beings. And this seed is the word of God and also the seed of the kingdom of God within us. This seed is normally planted in us through preaching. As the Decree on the Mission Activity of the Church of Vatican Council II says, “The chief means of the planting referred to is the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

(These discussions are from a Christian perspective because I am a Christian, but I do not exclude the possibility that writers of other faiths can also express these truths using their own Scriptures and beliefs.)

It is most wonderful that we find similarities between our physical world and the spiritual world. This enables us to learn of spiritual realities through physical realities, those that we see with our eyes and perceive with our other senses.

In the physical world the seed of the human being comes from the human male. The egg is in the human female. The egg is fertilized by the seed or sperm of the male. In a similar way the egg of the spirit is already in us. It waits to be fertilized by the seed of the spirit, which is the Word of God, and which is planted in us by the preaching of the Gospel or Good News of Jesus Christ.

When the Word of God is preached to us, we notice a certain attraction to that Word. This is the moment when the Word is implanted in us. Just like in the physical body when the sperm fertilizes the egg, conception takes place, so also in the spiritual world when the Word of God is planted in us by preaching, if we receive this Word with open heart, conception of the Word begins in us. That is why Augustine the Bishop of Hippo in his Sermon 293, 3, said: “we must not lose the word conceived inwardly in our hearts.”

After a certain time of gestation this Word is brought forth as spirit, our spirit, just as in our physical body after more or less nine months a human being is born.

But in the world of the spirit the gestation is not measured by the same number of months. Each has his/her own unique length of gestation of the Word in him/her. Some may even take years after the conception of the Word before the spirit of that person is born.

24. How do we know that the spirit is already born in us?

We know this when we are already able to understand the Word of God and are able to pray with meaning. Some Christians say that this birth happens during baptism. Yes, to a certain extent it happens there, but it happens there as a mystery, as a hidden act of God through the ministers. We have to actualize this when we grow.

Here are beautiful words from Leo the Great, Bishop of Rome, in his Letter 31: “But through this wonderful blending the mystery of new birth shone upon us, so that through the same Spirit by whom Christ was conceived and brought forth we too might be born again in a spiritual birth; and in consequence the evangelist declares the faithful to have been born not of blood, nor of the desire of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Notice what Leo says, “spiritual birth”. Our first birth is physical birth. Then when the Word of God has been conceived in us and born in us, we undergo this spiritual birth. We are born as spirit.

Thus the spirit is born in us. As Jesus said in John 3:6, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

Tomorrow our topic is how the spirit in us grows and matures.

Click Here!

Here are my other blogs which may be of help to you:

http://bit.ly/spiritworld for knowing more about spirituality or spiritual realities

http://bit.ly/alterhealthcare for your health

http://bit.ly/novotrends for learning about the new trends around us

http://bit.ly/bepaidonline for earning some income from the Internet

Here are your links to download the e-books for FREE. To download a copy of A NEW CHRIST by Wallace D. Wattles click this website http://bit.ly/anewchrist. To download a free copy of A NEW EARTH by Eckhart Tolle click this website http://bit.ly/ebookanewearth. I hope that you enjoy reading these free e-books and profit much from them, as I have also profited greatly from them.