1 Corinthians 3:1-3 “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. (2) I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; (3) for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?”
We looked at the above passage of scripture in relation to baby believers, but this same passage can also be used to describe for us, what mature believers are like, for this passage contrasts the baby believer with the spiritual believer. And so, in this passage we see that spiritual believers behave completely opposite to carnal believers. In other words, spiritual believers will not walk in envy, strife and division, but rather in kindness, gentleness and peace. The scripture teaches us that spiritual or mature believers, in a spirit of gentleness, are able to restore brethren that are overtaken in trespasses (Galatians 6:1). The reason that they can do that, is because they have learnt to walk in the spirit, thus displaying the fruit of the spirit.
Hebrews 5:14 “But 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.”
The above passage of scripture describes one of the characteristics of mature believers, for it says that by reason of use, those who are of full age have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. So, what does that mean? The senses that the Holy Spirit is referring to in this passage, are not our five physical senses, but rather the senses of our inner man. The senses of our inward man are our born-again spirits and our conscience. Mature believers have learnt to listen to the combined leading of their spirits and conscience, and to walk in obedience to that, thus avoiding evil and rather walking in that which is good (Romans 2:15). And so, clearly mature believers constantly display the fruit of the spirit and make no provision for the flesh, as they walk through this life.
Romans 14:1-2 “Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. (2) For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables.”
Romans 15:1 “We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves.”
The third trait of the mature believer is their strong faith. We had a look at the above passages of scripture, when we discussed the traits of the baby believer, but these same scriptures also reveal to us truths about mature believers, particularly with regards to the level of faith that they walk in. For we saw earlier, that when the Holy Spirit refers to a believer as being strong, He is referring to their spirits as being strong, and He equates the strength of their spirits, to the strength of their faith. For He strongly infers that the one who is strong in faith, is also a strong Christian. Notice that the Holy Spirit speaks of the Christian, who “believes he may eat all things”. Obviously, the Holy Spirit is implying that the one who believes he may eat all things, is the mature believer. The reason that mature believers believe that they can eat all things, is because they have grown in their understanding of the word of God and can therefore apply their faith in many more areas of life. The example of eating all things, is just one area of the Christian walk that the mature believer has grown in. And so, we see that one who is a spiritual believer, will also be strong in faith.
Michael E.B. Maher
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