As we are seeking to mature in Christ, and to know His voice so well that we can quickly and instantly distinguish it, we will consider the statements in Scripture that define maturity in Him, such as Ephesians 4:13, “until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”
Do you know anyone who has attained to “the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ”? I have been privileged to know some great saints, but there is none that I would say have attained to this. With the ones I would perhaps consider the greatest I have known, there is a common denominator—they are not overly consumed with what they are attaining to, and seem to be even unaware of it. This is because their attention is not on themselves, or others so much, but their attention is on the Lord.
Consider that the one who most seem to consider the greatest of the apostles, Paul. Near the end of his extraordinary life he still did not consider that he had attained to the high calling in Christ, as he expressed in Philippians 3:3-14. This is well worth reading carefully in its entirety, and studying as one of the great discourses on true maturity in Christ:
“For we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh,
“although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more:
“circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee;
“as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.
“But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
“More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,
“and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,
“that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;
“in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
“Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.
“Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,
“I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
As Paul writes here that he does not consider that he has yet attained, he was not talking about salvation, or eternal life, but he saw a “high calling” that was so high he could not presume that he had yet attained to it. If the one considered possibly the greatest missionary apostle of all time, near the end of his life still did not think that he had attained to the high calling of God in Christ, how could anyone know if they have attained if he did not know?
It seems that it is not for us to know in this life if we have yet attained, but it is for us to know that there is a high calling, and those who see it are called to run the race to attain it. However, it is my subjective experience that all who claim to have attained this are delusional, and instead seem to be walking more in the kind of pride that God says He will resist.
Consider that the King Himself is “gentle and humble in heart” (see Matthew 11:29). If He is gentle and humble how much more should we be if we are truly being conformed to His image?
© 2021 Rick Joyner. All Right Reserved.
