Every Christian should have spiritual progress, but what is spiritual progress? How can one progress spiritually? What are the manifestations of a Christian making good spiritual progress? This is a big question, and we cannot cover everything here. We can merely treat it very briefly. According to the record of the Bible and the experience of the saints, spiritual progress is the increase of the element of God in us. God is Spirit, and if the Spirit of God dwells in us, we are in the spirit (Rom. 8:9). Spiritual progress is the increase of the element of God in us. Suppose the element of God was a hundred units at the time we were saved. If we have made any progress in spiritual matters, then the element of God has increased in us. If the element of God in us becomes two or three hundred units, it means that we have made some spiritual progress.
In the beginning when God created man, He made man His vessel. The eternal purpose of God is to enter into man, to mingle Himself with man so that man may be full of Him. The failure of Adam and Eve was that they did not allow God to fulfill this purpose. On the contrary, they were alienated from God. What does it mean to be alienated from God? It means that man does not yield the proper place within himself to God. What does it mean to not yield the proper place to God? It means certain things within have occupied a person's being. When Adam and Eve ate of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God's command did not occupy them; rather, they were occupied with how the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was good for food, how it was pleasing to the eyes, and how it enabled man to have wisdom. These usurped the place of God in them. As a result they fell. As long as there is one thing, one event, or one person that takes possession of you, you have fallen from the presence of God.
We should ask ourselves what our condition today is. From the day we were saved until now, how many things, events, and people are still occupying us and depriving God of His rightful place? We need to consider ourselves. Dear brothers and sisters, if God's Spirit opens our eyes a little from within, we will immediately see that many items within our whole being are occupying the place that belongs to God alone.
A brother once said that man's heart is like sticky gum; it sticks to anything that comes across its way, whether it is clothing or a table. Sometimes we are stuck to an easy life, and at other times, we are attached to personal ambition. Once we are attached to something, we cannot love God properly anymore. We attach ourselves not only to what we have, but also to what we do not have. We can become attached to our difficulty, imagination, or vainglory. No matter what our heart is attached to, as long as there is one thing usurping God's place in us, we have fallen. Whenever God's place in us is usurped, we become fallen people. A person may have been saved for ten years. During the first five years he may have done well, but during the next five years there was something in his heart usurping the place of God, and he became fallen. Although he continued to come to meetings, pray, and serve God, inwardly he has fallen. Brothers and sisters, God's goal is for man to become His vessel. As long as we are occupied by something other than God, and as long as we do not yield the proper place to God, we are fallen.
A brother may say that another brother loves his son too much and that his son has usurped God's place, but that his own son has not usurped God's place because his son is not that lovable. Actually, both are wrong. If your son is too lovable, he may usurp God's place. If he is not very lovable, he can also usurp God's place. You may fail to love God because your son is too lovable, and you may not love God because your son is not lovable. Whether or not something is occupying God's place in you is judged by whether you love God.
Therefore, it is very easy to find the meaning of spiritual progress and the ways and means to spiritual progress. We have mentioned the positive aspect of spiritual progress, which is the increase of the element of God in us. Now let us look at the negative aspect of spiritual progress. Spiritual progress on the negative side is the shedding of certain things from us, that is, from our inner being. As soon as something is shed from us, we have spiritual progress. When something that usurps God's place is shed from us, we have spiritual progress.