What does it mean for a Christian to grow in faith?

Answer

We are commanded in Scripture to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” «But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever. Amen.», (2 Peter 3:18). This growth pertains to spiritual development, advancing in faith.

Upon accepting Christ as our Savior, we experience spiritual rebirth into God’s family. Similar to how a newborn requires nourishing milk for growth and proper development, a new Christian needs spiritual nourishment for progression. “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good” (1 Peter 2:2-3). In the New Testament, milk symbolizes the fundamentals of the Christian life.

As a baby matures, their diet transitions to include solid foods. Keeping this in mind, consider how the writer of Hebrews advised the Christians: “In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil” (Hebrews 5:12-14). Paul encountered a similar issue with the Corinthian believers; they had not progressed in their faith, and he could only provide them with “milk” because they were not prepared for solid food (1 Corinthians 3:1-3).

The comparison between a human infant and a spiritual infant loses its validity when we

Realize how each baby matures. A human baby is fed by his parents, and growth is natural. But a baby Christian will only grow as much as he purposefully reads, obeys, and applies the Word to his life. Growth is up to him. There are Christians who have been saved for many years, but spiritually, they are still babies. They cannot understand the deeper truths of the Word of God.

What should a Christian’s diet consist of? The Word of God! The truths taught in the Bible are rich food for Christians. Peter wrote that God has given us everything we need for life through our (growing) knowledge of Him. Read carefully 2 Peter 1:3-11 where Peter lists character qualities that need to be added to our beginning point of faith in order for maturity to take place and to have a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.