Paul challenges the Church of Ephesus , “ Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature , attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ ” ( Ephesians 4:13 , NIV ). Ephesus was a city of idolatry and immorality . Paul ’ s letter to them is powerful , as he was concerned with the progression of the people in the Ephesian church . Paul uses the words mature , measure and fullness to emphasize progression . Desire , devotion and determination are the backdrop of any relationship that is going to develop and progress . With this in mind , let us look at what I call Five Levels of Relationship with Christ .
The beginning level or phase of our relationship with the Lord is called being a believer . It is not about what we can do . Our good works are not good enough ( Ephesians 2:8-9 ) and our righteousness is dirty ( Isaiah 64:6 ). Jesus did all the work by sacrificing His righteous life for us . We must do the believing !
Believing in the Lord Jesus Christ is glorious , life-changing , and wonderful , but that is not the end-all . Believing is good , but the demons also believe in God and tremble ( James 2:19 ). If a Christian only remained in the believing phase of relationship with Christ , he too will tremble , that is , only see one facet of God –– a judge for his rebellion and sin . We must progress in our relationship with the Lord to know Him in all of His many facets . We must move on to a new level of relationship with Christ , called disciple .
As we desire to progress from believer to disciple , there must be a strong desire to get to know God through His Word . Jesus is the Word of God . In any relationship , words are important . If you desire to grow it will take more than a few words spoken once in a while . There must be a constant flow of communication for that relationship to have the potential to blossom . Jesus said in John 8:31 ( KJV ), “ If you continue in my word , then are you my disciples indeed .” There must be a continual , constant interaction with the Word of God to become true disciples of Christ . A disciple is one who is disciplined ; one who takes the time to get into God ’ s Word and lets God ’ s Word get into him ( or her ). Failure to discipline your life in the Word of God will stagnate you and slow down the progression of your relationship with Jesus . As we develop and grow from believers to disciples , the next phase of a deeper relationship with Christ is called a convert .
There is a beautiful story of an intimate dialogue between Jesus and His friend ,
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