A true Christian is like a fetus growing in the womb, preparing for birth. And like that fetus, we must keep growing spiritually, never stopping until we are born.
Herbert W. Armstrong often used this analogy. In Just What Do You Mean … Born Again? he quoted 2 Peter 3:18: “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” He then wrote, “Yes, even as the unborn, but begotten, human baby must grow from its beginning size no larger than a pinpoint, fed on physical food, so once we are impregnated by God’s Holy Spirit—His life—we must grow spiritually, fed on the spiritual food of God’s Word the Bible, and by prayer, and what fellowship is possible with truly begotten brethren in God’s truth” (emphasis added throughout). It is a potent analogy.
In The Missing Dimension in Sex, Mr. Armstrong wrote, “As the physical fetus must grow physically large enough to be born, so the begotten Christian must grow in grace, and in the knowledge of Christ (2 Peter 3:18)—must overcome, must develop in spiritual character during this life, in order to be born into the Kingdom of God! And as the physical fetus gradually, one by one, develops the physical organs, features and characteristics, even so the begotten Christian must gradually, continually, develop the spiritual character—love, faith, patience, gentleness, temperance. He must live by and be a doer of the Word of God. He must develop the divine character!”
Are you growing, gradually and continually, on your way to spiritual birth?
God created this process to teach us something invaluable spiritually. A fetus is a growth machine. Four weeks after conception, it is the size of a poppy seed. Just three weeks later, it has ballooned to the dimensions of a blueberry. Two weeks after that, it is grape-sized. After three more weeks, it has the dimensions of a lime; all vital organs are in place and many are functioning. A girl 13 weeks old in the womb already has ovaries that contain more than 2 million eggs! The astonishing growth continues through the second and third trimesters: Bones harden, muscle control becomes more coordinated, the senses mature. The whole process is an inspiring picture of how God wants us to develop throughout our lives.
Mr. Armstrong then made this profound point: “And unless we do continue to grow in spiritual character development, more and more like God, we become like the unborn babe that miscarries—or like an abortion! And such shall never be born of God!” (Born Again, op cit).
We must grow—or we die. Grow all the way to birth, or we won’t be born!
Improve or Regress
Anders Ericsson is a scientist who studies excellence: how people become elite in their field, be it music, sports, math or professional skills. His book Peak: Secrets From the New Science of Expertise (coauthored by Robert Pool) makes the point that unless we are deliberately working to improve in a skill, we plateau.
When you are learning something, you tend to improve at first, then level off. You might assume you are a better driver after 20 years of driving than after five years, or that a doctor who has been practicing for 20 years must be better than one after five, or a teacher with 20 years’ experience is better than one with five. In fact, “Research has shown that, generally speaking, once a person reaches that level of ‘acceptable’ performance … the additional years of ‘practice’ don’t lead to improvement. If anything, the doctor or the teacher or the driver who’s been at it for 20 years is likely to be a bit worse than the one who’s been doing it for only five, and the reason is that these automated abilities gradually deteriorate in the absence of deliberate efforts to improve.” Improvement does not happen automatically. You must work at it.
The same is true spiritually. We tend to start strong: The new member is flush with excitement. But over time, growth slows. And if we are not careful, it levels off. Unless we are actively, deliberately trying to grow spiritually, we will go backward.
That is a deadly mistake. Character development must be continuous. We cannot afford to stand still spiritually.
Our spiritual condition never remains static. We are either growing spiritually, or we are regressing. Why? Because our human nature is always pulling us down. We must constantly battle, bringing our thoughts, attitudes and human nature into control and striving for growth.
It is believed that 10 to 20 percent of pregnancies end in miscarriage. Spiritually, the rate is far higher! In this Laodicean era, it is close to half! And it would be significantly higher if not for the Great Tribulation: So many people will make it to the birth only after intervention and severe correction from God.
In a physical pregnancy, the first six weeks mark the highest risk of miscarriage. A woman can miscarry in the first week or two without even realizing she is pregnant. The risk drops after week six and even further after week 12. Four out of five miscarriages occur in the first trimester. You see that sometimes spiritually: Someone starts strong and then quickly peters out. This is why God’s ministers are so conscientious in baptism counseling, aiming to give a new convert the best start possible.
Sadly, though, you also see people who have been around for decades fall away. Why is that? At some point, they stopped growing spiritually.
Grow in Grace
The admonition in 2 Peter 3:18 to grow “in the knowledge” of God is clear enough. But what does it mean to “grow in grace”? Mr. Armstrong answered this question in his 1985 Pentecost sermon: “[G]rowing in grace means growing in the character that comes through God’s Spirit. Are you growing in character day by day? Are you growing in the knowledge that God has? In other words, are you a good student? Are you learning? Are you going to be able to teach others? Are you qualifying to be a teacher and to go out and teach others? If not, you are wasting your time! You don’t belong in the Church.” That is a strong statement: If we stop growing, we don’t belong here!
A physical fetus grows naturally unless something catastrophic happens. Spiritually, though, growth does not happen naturally. We must work every step of the way. But the importance of continual growth is the same.
Peter also wrote about growth at the beginning of this same epistle: “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord” (2 Peter 1:2). The more you gain this precious knowledge, the more these qualities multiply. Verses 3-4 show that God enables evil human beings to actually put on the nature of God!
In verses 5-8, Peter then details this spiritual growth process. It is not automatic: You must give “all diligence” to it, working to add godly virtues. Peter tells us to add to our faith moral excellence; and to that, knowledge (insight and understanding); and to that, self-control—after all, what good is knowledge without self-control? Then add steadfastness, or endurance; and to that, godliness—really directing your heart toward God. Finally, add brotherly kindness and the love of God. In the end, you will be more and more in the image of your Father—just like a child in the womb who grows to look like his or her parents!
“[A]s these qualities … are increasing in you as you grow toward spiritual maturity, they will keep you from being useless and unproductive …” (verse 8; Amplified). But if you don’t grow in this way, you will be spiritually blind and forgetful (verse 9). We must keep growing in these virtues throughout our lives—give diligence to them and “do these things” until we are born (verse 10). Continuing to grow and overcome is the only way to make it to the birth (verse 11).
Abortion
Satan will do all he can to interrupt that growth process.
In the world today, Satan is pushing abortion. Americans in particular love abortion.
In the first full calendar year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, an estimated 1,037,000 abortions occurred in the formal health-care system—the highest number and rate in the U.S. in over a decade. A recent Pew poll shows 25 percent of Americans believe abortion should always be legal, no restrictions; another 38 percent say it should be legal with some restrictions; and 28 percent say it should be legal in special circumstances, such as when the life of the mother is in danger. That amounts to about 91 percent! Only 8 percent say that killing a child is always wrong! Even prominent “conservative” leaders fight against laws restricting abortion and condemn states that try to protect life!
At one time, people could claim ignorance and say a fetus was merely a “clump of cells.” With scientific advancement, we absolutely know just how miraculously intricate and human that fetus really is.
Satan wants to prevent those children from making it to birth. This gives a glimpse into how much the devil wants to abort us spiritually. Physically, though, if a child is born, Satan can still attack and even kill that person. Spiritually, once we make it to the birth and are born again, we are immortal! No wonder Satan is urgent to take us out today if he can!
And the devil can succeed—if he just gets us to stop growing.
Are we truly growing spiritually?
Measure Your Growth
“Most of you just don’t get it,” Mr. Armstrong said in that 1985 Pentecost sermon. What didn’t they get? Much of it was about failing to understand the kind of spiritual growth we must have.
“You are students,” he said. “How much are you learning, and how much are you developing your life? To grow in grace is to grow in the character of God. That’s not only the knowledge, but it is living that way—to grow in love. That means in how you treat others in your own home. That means in how you treat neighbors and how you treat people. How kind are you? How loving are you? How much do you encourage others and try to help others? How much are you developing the character of God in your own life?”
We need to answer those questions honestly. That is hard; it is easy to give ourselves a pass. But we must see ourselves as we truly are. We need an accurate, honest perspective.
Thankfully, God is measuring these things! We need to let Him measure us (Revelation 11:1-2). Peak discusses the importance of having an expert coach or teacher provide feedback and show the path to improvement. We have that: We can ask God to show us whether we are growing and how to grow. He will provide that: through our Bible study, through a minister, boss, spouse, parent or friend. It is up to us to be receptive and then apply what God shows us.
James 1:21 paints a beautiful picture: “Therefore put away all filthiness and rank growth of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (Revised Standard Version). “God implants His Word in us for the purpose of growth!” Mr. Flurry writes. “As we nurture it, deep roots form and it grows even faster” (The Epistle of James). Why does God give us His Word? So we will grow! Why do ministers, parents and teachers instruct? It’s all to help us grow! And as we nurture that Word, it grows deep roots and we grow even faster.
“That is what God wants,” Mr. Flurry continues. “He wants growth—change—conversion! He wants us to be different today than we were yesterday. We won’t necessarily have explosive growth, but we should be growing every day! We must not remain static in our lives.”
Sadly, remaining static is our natural tendency. If you are not actively aiming to improve, you will start to let down. Stagnation is normal—and it is death.
“When you cease to learn, you cease to grow,” Albert Einstein said. “And when you cease to grow, you cease to improve, get better, move forward and just sort of begin to—exist. … Once you stop learning, you start dying.”
With a physical abortion, that baby in the womb is helpless. If the mother decides to take that step, it is over. Not so for us! Being aborted or stillborn spiritually can only happen with our consent! As Peter wrote, “If you do these things, you shall never fall”!
Be Passionate for Growth
“Just knowledge alone isn’t going to do any good,” Mr. Armstrong said in that sermon. “You can hear the Word of God. You can have the knowledge. But not the hearers, but the doers of the law are justified before God. Are you a doer? The only reason you need the knowledge is to learn what to do; and it does you no good until you put it to work and do it!”
That is truly challenging! We receive so much. But hearing and not doing is a bad habit. James 1:22 says it leads to self-deception. What a pernicious danger!
It is easy to assume you are growing and doing just fine. But it all comes down to that gigantic little two-letter word: do! If ye do these things, you will grow more and more in the image of your Father right up to the birth!
“If we ‘receive with meekness the implanted word,’ then it will grow to the point where we come to think and act like our Father—become perfect (Matthew 5:48). We regenerate our whole life!” Mr. Flurry writes. “… We must grow in grace, and in the knowledge of God (2 Peter 3:18). Maybe you have one deep problem that chokes your spiritual growth. Face that, so you can grow. We are all sinners, but if you let those sins stick around, they will choke your growth—your eternal life! One big sin can destroy the power of God’s Holy Spirit.”
We have to want to grow more than anything—certainly more than comfort, leisure, material things or approval from people. Are you excited to always keep growing?
Satan pushes us to be indifferent and lukewarm. God wants us zealous and passionate! Passion about something is a prod toward continual improvement. Zeal motivates! And as you improve, that zeal also grows.
When we are growing, that pleases God and makes life much more exciting. Growth is exhilarating. Pushing for excellence makes life more worth living. It is pursuing godliness—striving to think like God!
Become Weaned
The fetus analogy is powerful. Isaiah 28:9 uses a different but closely related analogy: It says God teaches people who “are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.” This is speaking of a child already born—but it is still talking about growth. We have to grow up and be weaned from the mother.
“This verse reveals the deadly Laodicean weakness,” Mr. Flurry wrote. After Mr. Armstrong died, the whole Church turned away from God. “Why? Because God was unable to teach them knowledge—His strong truth or doctrines. Why? Because most of the Laodiceans were never ‘weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.’ This is a picture of how we are fed through God’s Church, our spiritual mother!” (Trumpet, November 1995). We need that milk to start out—but we must grow beyond that.
“This is why Satan can deceive so many of the Laodiceans and turn virtually a whole Church away from God. The members cannot see beyond the Church, or mother. They are blind to God the Father! God can’t feed them strong meat, because they are still on milk! They refuse to grow up. We must ‘grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord’ (2 Peter 3:18). God accepts only mature sons into His Family” (ibid).
He then explained the Laodicean problem more specifically by quoting Isaiah 28:10-11. “They don’t get deeply into their Bibles and connect precepts and lines,” he wrote. “They don’t study deeply to get ‘here a little and there a little’ so that God’s magnificent truth becomes powerfully clear. If they would do so, then they would become stirred and inspired to mature!”
This article is built around Matthew 24:15-20, which says that when it is time to flee, we must be urgent. Verse 19 says woe to those who are suckling, still nursing. That is not talking about nursing babies but the spiritually immature. “This verse has the same spiritual meaning as Isaiah 28,” Mr. Flurry wrote. “God is warning His own Laodicean, spiritually immature Church. They shall lack the faith to flee when they see the abomination of desolation!” (ibid).
Think on this: If we haven’t grown enough, we will not make it! We must have strong faith and spiritual maturity to withstand the shocks ahead.
At the same time, we must also realize how vulnerable we are. Think about these analogies: We are fetuses, newborn babies and nursing infants. We must not have an overinflated view of ourselves! Christ tells us to become as little children (Matthew 18:3).
Even a weaned child still needs its mother! A child is generally weaned by about age 1 or 2—and is still quite dependent on Mom! We typically continue to receive our nourishment from Mom until we leave home as an adult.
How Will You Finish?
Here is a sad reality: “Human nature always seeks release or escape from physical and psychological hardship and pain. We commonly begin a fight with enthusiasm, but then weaken in the face of challenge and opposition. Even true Christians can grow ‘weary in well doing’” (Royal Vision, January-February 2023).
That article spoke of several kings of Judah who started strong but ended badly. Asa formed an alliance with a Gentile king and wouldn’t listen when God corrected him. When he then got a serious illness, he trusted the physicians rather than God. Joash performed well as long as the priest Jehoiada was there to advise him, but when Jehoiada died, the king allowed himself to be influenced by the wrong people and fell away. Uzziah sought God and was blessed, but then grew vain and disrespected God. These men became spiritually stillborn.
Ezekiel 18:20 says that the soul that sins shall die, then says that everyone lives or dies by his own choices. Verses 21-22 say that if the wicked repent, they will be saved. But verse 24 warns that when a righteous man turns from his righteousness, all his righteousness will be forgotten and he will die in his sins. It’s all about how you finish.
None of us knows how our story will end. A terrible sinner who repents and turns his life around at the end is a heroic story. A righteous man who becomes self-righteous and unteachable at the end is a tragedy. Whether your life story is heroic or tragic only becomes apparent once it is over. And it hinges on what you do at the end.
In drama and in storytelling, this is called the third act. The first two acts are the setup and development. The third act is the crux of the story.
Abraham Lincoln was a washed-up, third-rate former politician—until the last five years of his life, when he became one of the greatest men in history. If Winston Churchill had given up before World War ii, his life story would have been an unremarkable one, or a tragedy, about a talented man who was cast aside politically, never realizing his potential. But in his 60s, he became prime minister and saved Western civilization.
The biblical giants had impressive second and third acts. Everything Moses is known for started at age 80! The Apostle John wrote all his biblical books as an old man. Mr. Armstrong was in his 80s when he put God’s Church back on track and wrote several books; the capstone, Mystery of the Ages, he wrote in his 90s!
“When someone first comes into God’s Church, often he or she is on fire with ‘first love’—extremely stirred up about God’s truth. We who have been in the Church for some years should not be less excited than those individuals!” Mr. Flurry writes. “We should progress from first love, to second love, to the third, fourth and so on! That love should be GROWING right up to the moment we are born into God’s Family! We should be overflowing with excitement to be a part of this awesome plan orchestrated by our heavenly Father” (The Epistles of Peter).
Improve in Old Age
“In pretty much any area of human endeavor, people have a tremendous capacity to improve their performance, as long as they train in the right way,” Ericsson writes in Peak. “If you practice something for a few hundred hours, you will almost certainly see great improvement … but you have only scratched the surface. You can keep going and going and going, getting better and better and better. How much you improve is up to you. … There is no point at which performance maxes out and additional practice does not lead to further improvement.”
As true as that is physically, it is far truer spiritually! But it takes work!
Think of the Prophet Jeremiah’s third act. He blundered in faith, wrote Psalm 89, then repented, wrote Psalm 119, transported David’s throne to Ireland, and lived his best life at the end! And he wrote this: “I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil” (verse 162). This is a 60-year-old man still excited by God’s truth!
“The excitement of a man unexpectedly finding great wealth is far greater than that of a rich man who takes his riches for granted,” The Psalms of David and the Psalter of Tara says. “Jeremiah had lived his whole life with the spiritual wealth of God’s Word—yet he grew in his excitement for it. He had the fresh thrill of the man who finds great spoil. This should be the emotion we build in our daily Bible study and meditation of God’s Word.”
Naturally our body deteriorates physically as we age. In the general population, physical performance peaks around age 20. But it need not be so. “In fact, people can train effectively well into their 80s,” Ericsson writes. “Much of the age-related deterioration in various skills happens because people decrease or stop their training; older people who continue to train regularly see their performance decrease much less.”
In the masters divisions in track and field, there are athletes competing into age 80 and up! Obviously, you have to train differently at that age, with less volume, less intensity, more recovery. But sports scientists are realizing that age isn’t the limiting factor it was once thought to be. “During the last few decades, the performance of master athletes has improved at a much higher rate than that of younger athletes. Today, for example, a quarter of marathon runners in their 60s can be expected to outperform more than half of their competitors between the ages of 20 and 54” (ibid).
“The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat [or fresh] and flourishing” (Psalm 92:12-14). The rsv translates those final words, “they are ever full of sap and green.”
As we age, it becomes normal to want to sit back and rest, to give in to the forces of aging. God created us to need to fight harder as we age—to develop another level of character! More than anything, it helps us look to Him more and to rely on Him for strength.
In a sermon Mr. Armstrong gave when he was 89 years old—Oct. 15, 1981—he was talking about how we are in school, preparing to teach the world. “We have to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,” he said. “How much are you growing in knowledge? Do you know more now than you did when I spoke here three years ago? Well, I do! I’ve learned a lot. I’ve learned a lot since the first of this year. In my 90th year, I’ve learned a lot. How much are you learning every year? Are you growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ? Are you overcoming the ways that Satan got into you and the way of the world around you? You’ll never get into the Kingdom of God unless you are, brethren. You’re not already there! You’re on trial, and we’re coming to the time of final exams right now. We’re getting very close to the time of the Second Coming of Christ—very, very close.”
The Apostle Paul prayed that the love within God’s people would abound more and more, that they would keep growing (Philippians 1:9-11). And he said we should be “confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform [or finish] it until the day of Jesus Christ” (verse 6). God will continue working in you, helping you grow. So always keep growing—right to the birth!