Some time ago I had the occasion to sort of “bare my soul” and relate the circumstances of my own spiritual conversion seventy-three years ago in a soccer camp. Not that it is typical of the manner and circumstances in which all people come to conversion. Different ones will come to it in a large variety of circumstances. Yet there is, after all, one way to real conversion, regardless of individual circumstances. But is it a single sudden experience one undergoes once in a lifetime—and then he is “saved,” as it is often expressed, once and for all—or is it a gradual experience of change continuing throughout a lifetime?
At times I have expressed the idea I think many millions have come to believe and on which they are staking their eternity. It is this: You are on a journey on a railway train. It is your life’s journey, whether long or short. At the end of the line, because of Adam’s sin, the switch is automatically thrown to send you directly down to hell, where you will be burned alive—constantly burning, yet never burning up because you are an immortal soul that can’t die. Or, as millions also believe, it will shoot you directly to “purgatory.” But, if at any point in your life during the journey you “accept Christ as your Savior,” then at the instant of that sudden experience, in whatever manner such experience takes place, the switch at the end of the line is suddenly thrown to shoot you immediately up to heaven. And there you shall live forever in idleness and ease, in glorious surroundings of splendor, with nothing to do—no responsibilities anymore—nothing but to be enraptured with the delight of gazing continually on the face of Christ your Savior.
Years ago, a friend said to me: “Let me see if I can define your belief as contrasted to what you claim many millions of others believe.” Then he explained the belief of the many approximately as I have stated it just above. “But you believe,” he continued, “that after one is initially converted, accepting Christ, he must then live a life of obedience to God’s way, struggling against himself to overcome all wrong ways and growing spiritually in Christ’s knowledge and in grace—thus training himself and qualifying to carry an important responsibility in the next life. You believe that when he dies, he is dead, will not go to heaven or hell, but will come to life again by a resurrection from the dead, and he will be here on Earth. Then he will have immortality, and he will be rewarded according to what his works were in this life—the biggest reward being to have conferred on him the heaviest and most important responsibility. Is that what you believe?”
Well, not exactly, I replied, “but you are not too far off.” Well, he said, “I want the first way with the other millions. I don’t want to have to carry any responsibilities—if indeed there is any life after death. I’d rather go to heaven and be free from work and responsibility. I prefer the idleness and ease forever.” Today, many years later, now in his late 70s, this man has been given his wish—so far as the idleness and ease is concerned. He long ago retired. He has nothing to do but just sit, sit, sit all day long in his small and modest living room, morbid with gloom, frustrated with inactivity, wishing to die, but unable to die. He was sent to the hospital with cancer; the doctors did not give much hope he would survive the operation. But he did, and they sent him home to die. But he didn’t die.
A couple years later he was rushed to the hospital with an acute gallbladder infection. Peritonitis began to set in; the doctors gave him almost no chance to survive the operation—yet it was sure death in less than 24 hours unless they operated. But again, his sturdy constitution survived, and he was sent home and recovered. At a funeral of a relative which we both attended some two years ago, he said to me, “I’d give anything to have a responsibility such as you have that keeps you busy traveling all over the world.” He had discovered that idleness and ease for eternity would be indeed a poor “reward” of conversion.
Just what is this thing we call “conversion”? What does “salvation” mean? Apostle Peter said, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38) A Bible “scholar” sought to catch me off guard and expose what he supposed was my ignorance of the Bible by heckling me. He said, “May I ask you a question? Have you been saved yet?” I replied, “If you know your Bible, you know that Jesus said, the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 24:13).
So again, I ask: “Is conversion a sudden experience, or a lifelong process ?” I had to ask myself, if we humans are destined to live an eternal life in hellfire because of what Adam did unless we “accept Christ” at some time during this life’s journey, then why were we ever put on Earth in the first place? If we then get the “reward” of idleness and ease and nothing to do for all eternity in heaven, then why did God put us here?
That belief made no sense at all to me. But I read in Psalm 8 the question: “what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” (verse 4). Yes, what is a mere man? Why should God even consider us; have His mind on us? Of what importance are we? Why did He put us humans on Earth? Was there any reason—any purpose? This same question is asked in the book of Hebrews, where it is more fully answered. “It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking.” (Hebrews 2:5) The context here is speaking about the world to come. The implication is that there was a time when the world was in subjection to the angels.
But the world to come will not be in subjection to angels. “What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” (Psalm 8:4) Why should God be concerned about us? Even though man possesses the capacity to invent intricate machines and fly to the moon, he is really not much now. Puny man is filled with evil, always fighting, struggling, doing evil, bringing suffering on himself. “You made them a little lower than the angels; you crowned them with glory and honor” (verse 7). What does “the works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy” include? (Psalm 111:7) The whole vast universe—the physical universe and the spiritual universe!
Jesus is the pioneer who has gone on before, the captain of our salvation, the first to be born of God of many brethren! (Romans 8:29) Angels will not be in power over it. Angels were on this Earth. The Earth was in subjection to them before the creation of Adam (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6; Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:12-17). The angels sinned and became demons. Lucifer, then king over the Earth, the super great archangel, became Satan. And now, God has placed man on Earth and given to them the potential that was the angels’ if we “make the grade” where they failed. The angels turned from, rebelled against, and rejected the government of God which then ruled the Earth and the angels that inhabited it.
What about mankind? They have also rebelled—sinned! Upon real repentance, turning to God’s law of love and faith in Jesus Christ, being baptized in His name, we be reconciled to God, from whom our sins have cut us off, and we then receive the gift of His Holy spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of understanding—the very mind of God which, with our spirit, opens our minds to understand God’s knowledge as He reveals it through the Bible. But we are not yet born of God—not yet possessors—only heirs; not yet born—only begotten, as we once were begotten in our mother’s womb before we were born.
And just as we were first an embryo and a growing fetus in our mother’s womb, so now we must grow in the knowledge of Christ and in grace (2 Peter 3:18). We start out the Christian life like newborn babies. Why were we put here on Earth? To learn to overcome and completely turn from the way the sinning angels went, (2 Peter 2:4) and to let Christ develop in us His holy, righteous, spiritual character—God’s way of love!
When we are “born again”, we receive the Holy Spirit who seals us for the day of redemption (Ephesians 1:13; 4:30). Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would lead us “into all truth” (John 16:13). Part of that truth is taking the things of God and applying them to our lives. When that application is made, the believer then makes a choice to allow the Holy Spirit to control him/her. True Christian spirituality is based upon the extent to which a born-again believer allows the Holy Spirit to lead and control his or her life.
The apostle Paul tells believers to be filled with the Holy Spirit. “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). The tense in this passage is continual and therefore means “keep on being filled with the Spirit.” Being filled with the Spirit is simply allowing the Holy Spirit to control us rather than yielding to the desires of our own carnal nature. In this passage Paul is making a comparison. When someone is controlled by wine, he is drunk and exhibits certain characteristics such as slurred speech, unsteady walk, and impaired decision making. Just as you can tell when a person is drunk because of the characteristics he displays, so a born-again believer who is controlled by the Holy Spirit will display His characteristics. We find those characteristics in Galatians 5:22-23 where they are called the “fruit of the Spirit.” This is true Christian spirituality, produced by the Spirit working in and through the believer. This character is not produced by self-effort. A born-again believer who is controlled by the Holy Spirit will exhibit sound speech, a consistent spiritual walk, and decision making based on the Word of God.
Therefore, Christian spirituality involves a choice we make to “know and grow” in our daily relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ by submitting to the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives. This means that, as believers, we make a choice to keep our communication with the Spirit clear through confession (1 John 1:9). When we grieve the Spirit by sin (Ephesians 4:30; 1 John 1:5-8), we erect a barrier between ourselves and God. When we submit to the Spirit’s ministry, our relationship is not interrupted (1 Thessalonians 5:19). Christian spirituality is a consciousness of fellowship with the Spirit of Christ, uninterrupted by carnality and sin. Christian spirituality develops when a born-again believer makes a consistent and ongoing choice to surrender to the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Spiritual journey is a phrase used to mean the natural progression of a person as they grow in understanding of God, the world, and himself. It is an intentional lifestyle of growing deeper in knowledge and wisdom. But what is meant by a spiritual journey toward Christ likeness is vastly different from a journey toward some kind of “spirituality” that does not include, and is not based upon, the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
There are several differences between the Christian spiritual journey and the New Age version. New Agers says to chant mantras for several hours a day. The Bible says to have daily conversations with God through prayer (1 Thessalonians 5:17). New Agers believe that people can choose their own path in their journey and that all paths lead to the same destination. The Bible says that there is only one path—Christ (John 14:6). New Agers believes a spiritual journey will result in harmony with the universe. The Bible teaches that the universe is at war (Ephesians 6:12) and part of the journey is fighting for other souls and our own walk (1 Timothy 6:12).
Another difference is that the Bible actually talks about a spiritual journey and the steps through it. A Christian starts as a child (1 Corinthians 13:11), still seeing the world through naïve eyes, still influenced by the flesh, and in need of basic education about God and their position with God (1 Corinthians 3:1–2; 1 Peter 2:2). And new Christians are given work in the church appropriate to their position as young in the faith (1 Timothy 3:6). As Christians grow in understanding about God and the world, they learn more about how to act and how to relate to the world (Titus 2:5–8). A person further along in his spiritual journey becomes an example to the younger (Titus 2:3–4) and, sometimes, a leader in the church (1 Timothy 3).
At the heart of the spiritual journey is the understanding that it is a journey. None of us are perfect. Once we become believers, we are not expected to achieve instant spiritual maturity. Rather, the Christian life is a process involving both our attention (2 Corinthians 7:1) and God’s work in us (Philippians 1:6). And it has more to do with opportunity and intentionality than with age (1 Timothy 4:12). Author John Bunyan, in his book The Pilgrim’s Progress, pictured the spiritual journey as a road full of trials, dangers, and blessings, starting with the cross and ending at the Celestial City.
A spiritual journey filled with empty chanting will only lead to an empty heart. A journey filled with studying the Bible, obedience to what it says, and trusting God is a lifelong adventure that will bring true understanding of the world and a deep love for its Creator.
China - in His image 