Study 9: The Christian Life and Growth in Grace
The Christian life does not end when we first come to Christ, it begins there. Salvation brings us into a new standing before God, and it also begins a new walk with God. The believer is called to live by faith, to grow in grace, and to learn what it means to follow Christ day by day.
This growth is often slower, more humbling, and more dependent than we expected. Yet it is real. God does not save His people and then leave them to themselves. He teaches, corrects, strengthens, and sanctifies them. The Christian life is one of dependence upon Christ, warfare against sin, and steady growth through grace.
Before you begin
New believers sometimes imagine that growth in holiness should be quick and almost effortless. Others, seeing their many failures, fear that they cannot be real Christians at all. Scripture gives us a wiser, steadier picture. The Christian life is real life with God, but it is lived in weakness, dependence, and continual need of grace.
To grow as a Christian is not to become self-sufficient, but more Christ-dependent. It is not to outgrow the gospel, but to sink more deeply into it. The same Saviour who justifies us also sanctifies us, and He does so patiently, faithfully, and wisely.
This study at a glance
The Christian life is a walk
It is a daily life of following Christ, not a single moment only.
Growth is real but gradual
God changes His people truly, though not all at once.
Grace is needed every day
We grow by abiding in Christ and using the means He has appointed.
Read these passages first
These passages help us see the shape of the Christian life and the way believers grow.
Core passages
- John 15:1-8
- Romans 6:1-14
- Galatians 5:16-25
- Philippians 2:12-13
Passages to compare
- Psalm 1
- Colossians 3:1-17
- Hebrews 12:1-11
- 2 Peter 1:3-11
The Christian life is a new walk
Scripture often describes the Christian life as a walk. This reminds us that it is practical, daily, and progressive. We are not merely to admire Christ from afar, but to follow Him. We are called to walk in the Spirit, walk in love, walk in truth, and walk worthy of the Lord.
This new walk flows from a new heart. We do not walk with God in order to become His children, but because by grace we already are His children in Christ. Obedience is not the price of acceptance, but the fruit of it. The Christian life therefore rests on grace and expresses itself in grateful obedience.
Sanctification: growing in holiness
Sanctification is the gracious work of God by which believers are more and more renewed after the image of Christ, and enabled more and more to die unto sin and live unto righteousness. It is not the ground of our acceptance with God, but it is the necessary fruit of union with Christ.
This growth is not sinless perfection in this life. The old nature does not disappear without conflict. Yet the Spirit is truly at work in every believer, producing repentance, new desires, increasing hatred of sin, and growing likeness to Christ. Sanctification is often uneven, but it is never meaningless where God is truly at work.
Real
God truly changes His people so that holiness begins to appear in their lives.
Gradual
Growth usually happens over time, through many small acts of grace and faithfulness.
Imperfect
Christians still struggle, yet they are no longer at peace with sin.
The struggle with sin
One of the surprises of the Christian life is that believers often become more aware of sin, not less. This does not necessarily mean they are growing worse. Often it means the light has become brighter. What once lay unnoticed in darkness now becomes painfully visible in the presence of God’s truth.
The Christian therefore lives in conflict. The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. Yet this warfare is not hopeless. The believer is no longer a willing slave of sin, but a servant of Christ who fights from grace, not for grace. Victory may be slow and humbling, but the battle itself is one mark of new life.
How believers grow
God has appointed means by which His people are strengthened. The Word of God, prayer, the fellowship of the church, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and the ordinary providences of life are all used by Him for our good. Growth in grace is not mystical self-improvement, but the Spirit’s work through the channels God has given.
This means that Christian growth is both active and dependent. We are to seek the Lord, read His Word, pray, resist sin, and pursue obedience. Yet all of this must be done in dependence upon the Spirit of Christ. We work because God worketh in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure.
Abide in Christ
Spiritual fruit does not grow by self-reliance, but by living union with the Lord Jesus.
Use the means of grace
God ordinarily grows His people through Scripture, prayer, worship, fellowship, and obedience.
What growth often looks like in real life
Growth in grace is not always dramatic. Sometimes it appears in quieter forms: a quicker turning back to God after sin, a deeper hatred of what once was cherished, a new tenderness of conscience, more patience under trial, greater love for Scripture, or increased humility about oneself. It may look less impressive to the world, but more precious in the sight of God.
Many believers are discouraged because they compare themselves with an imagined version of maturity. Yet true growth often includes feeling more needy, more dependent, and more amazed by grace. A tree may be growing even in winter when little seems visible above the ground. So it is with many souls under God’s patient care.
How this fits with the 1689 London Baptist Confession
In harmony with the 1689 Confession, we may say that those who are united to Christ and effectually called are also further sanctified, really and personally, through the virtue of Christ’s death and resurrection, by His Word and Spirit dwelling in them. The dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed, and the several lusts thereof are more and more weakened and mortified.
The Confession also teaches that sanctification is throughout in the whole man, yet imperfect in this life, there abiding still some remnants of corruption in every part. Hence ariseth a continual and irreconcilable war. Even so, through the continual supply of strength from the sanctifying Spirit of Christ, the regenerate part doth overcome, and the saints grow in grace.
Why perseverance matters
The Christian life is not a short burst of religious enthusiasm, but a continuing life of faith. True believers persevere, not because they are naturally strong, but because God preserves them. The path may include stumbles, tears, seasons of weakness, and painful lessons, but the Lord does not abandon the work of His hands.
This gives both humility and comfort. We must not be careless, for the Christian life is serious and watchful. Yet neither must we despair, for the God who began a good work in His people will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Our security lies not in ourselves, but in the faithfulness of God.
Why this matters personally
These truths matter because many Christians either become proud when they see progress, or crushed when they see weakness. The gospel guards us from both errors. It teaches us that all true growth is by grace, and that weakness itself need not cast us off, provided we are brought again and again to Christ.
The Christian life is not about pretending we are stronger than we are. It is about learning, often painfully and slowly, that Christ is stronger than we are. He is patient with His people, faithful in discipline, generous in mercy, and committed to finishing what He has begun.
You may be wondering
If I am still struggling so much, can I really be a Christian?
Ongoing struggle does not by itself disprove spiritual life. The question is whether you are content with sin, or fighting it and bringing it to God. Many true believers feel the battle keenly. The very grief over sin may be one mark that grace is present.
Why does growth seem so slow?
God often grows His people slowly in order to keep them humble, prayerful, and dependent. Slow growth may be real growth. He is forming not only outward change, but deep-rooted Christlikeness.
Do Christians ever stop needing the gospel?
No. We never outgrow our need of Christ. The gospel is not only the door into the Christian life, but the ground on which the whole Christian life stands. We live by the same grace by which we began.
What should I do when I fall into sin?
Do not hide from God as though Christ had ceased to be sufficient. Return in repentance, confess your sin honestly, and look again to the blood and righteousness of Christ. The believer’s failures are serious, but they do not overthrow the mercy of God in the gospel.
Reflection and response
These questions are here to help you think honestly and hopefully before the Lord.
- Do I think of the Christian life mainly as effort, or as dependent walking with Christ?
- Where do I see evidence, however small, of God’s sanctifying work in me?
- What sins or patterns do I especially need to bring into the light before the Lord?
- How am I using the means of grace God has given?
- What would it look like for me to lean more fully upon Christ in the ordinary struggles of daily life?
A simple prayer before moving on
Keep going
Having considered the Christian life and growth in grace, the next study turns to the eternal realities of Heaven and Hell, helping us think about the final destiny of every soul and why our response to Christ matters so deeply.
