1) “Wherefore, leaving the word of the beginning of the Christ, let us be brought on to maturity” (Heb. 6:1).
“The word of the beginning of the Christ” refers to the word in the gospel concerning Christ’s saving us and regenerating us, that is, the word in God’s salvation which initiates us in the spiritual life. This verse exhorts us to leave the word of the beginning, that is, to leave the beginning of our spiritual life, and to be brought on to perfection in the spiritual life. This is to grow and mature in the spiritual life.
2) “Not that I...am already perfected [full-grown in life], but I pursue, if also I may lay hold of that for which I also have been laid hold of by Christ Jesus [for me to gain Him]...I do not yet reckon myself to have laid hold [of Christ], but one thing—forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before, I pursue toward the goal [Christ] for the prize [Christ] of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are full-grown [in life], have this mind” (Phil. 3:12-15).
The Apostle Paul tells us in this passage how he pursued growth and maturity in the life of Christ. In this matter, he was never contented with himself but always pursued, forgetting the things which were behind and stretching forward to the things which were before, pressing toward Christ, who is the goal and the mark. This he did in order to gain Christ that he might grow and mature in His life. With his own pursuit as the pattern, he exhorted the believers whom he was leading and caring for to be like him, to pursue in the life of Christ, and to gain Christ fully in order that they might grow and mature. Finally, Paul said that as many of us as are (relatively) full-grown should have this mind and set this as the goal.
1) “As newborn babes, long for the guileless milk of the word, that by it you may grow unto salvation” (1 Pet. 2:2).
The prerequisite for maturity in the spiritual life is to grow continually in this life. As soon as a believer is regenerated and becomes a newborn babe spiritually, he should long for God’s word in the Bible as the guileless milk that he may grow in his spiritual life.
2) “I [Paul] planted, Apollos watered, but God made to grow” (1 Cor. 3:6).
In the spiritual life, a believer is, on the one hand, a person with the spiritual life and, on the other hand, like a plant cultivated on God’s farm (1 Cor. 3:5-9). Whether as a person or like a plant, a believer needs to grow that he may become mature. Therefore, continuing growth is a prerequisite for becoming full-grown and mature.
3) “But holding to truth [Christ] in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ” (Eph. 4:15).
We grow in the spiritual life by holding in love to Christ as the truth and growing up into Christ as the Head in all things. This kind of growth, which takes Christ as the truth and which grows into Christ, is a further prerequisite for our becoming full-grown and mature.
4) “...holding the Head [Christ], out from whom all the Body, by means of the joints and bands being supplied and knit together, grows with the growth of God” (Col. 2:19).
This verse indicates that the church as the Body of Christ grows with the growth of God by holding Christ as the Head, by receiving the rich supply from Him, the Head, through the joints of His Body, and by being knit together by the bands of His Body. This growth in the Body of Christ is also a prerequisite for our growth and maturity in the life of Christ. This prerequisite consummates in the growth of this Body of Christ.
1) “Until we all arrive...at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13).
The full-grown man here refers to the church as the Body of Christ growing into a mature man. The fullness of Christ indicates the Body of Christ becoming His expression. In brief, the measure of the stature is just the stature. This stature is the church as the Body of Christ growing into the stature of Christ. This is the ultimate and full issue of the believers’ growth and maturity by the life of Christ in His Body. Our transformation in the life of Christ makes us like Him in the image of His essence; our maturity in the life of Christ makes us like Him in the measure of His stature. Thus, on the one hand, we have His image, and, on the other hand, we have His stature.