What is “Spiritual Formation?”

Some would say that “Spiritual
Formation” is a synonym for Spiritual Growth, Discipleship, or Sanctification.

Yet, the best way to define “Spiritual
Formation” is to allow the Holy Bible to give us its definition. By reading what God has said, we begin to
gain an understanding of the importance and function of Spiritual Formation for
the individual follower of Jesus Christ.

The supreme consideration would be
passages of the Holy Bible that place the Holy Spirit in the context of forming
the individual’s life toward the likeness of Jesus Christ. For example:

• Galatians
  4:19
  speaks to the importance of forming one’s life toward the likeness of
  Christ … “until Christ is formed in you.”
• Ephesians
  4:11-16 show us the importance of equipping believers for the
  work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, to attain the unity of
  the faith and fullness of Christ which brings maturity in all matters of
  living.
• Romans
  8:27-29 further show us that the shaping (“forming”) function
  of God’s divine Holy Spirit is carried out according to the will of God
  the Father, for the purpose of conforming us to the image of His Son –
  Jesus Christ.
• 2 Corinthians 3:18 says
  that we are being transformed into Jesus Christ’s likeness with
  ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Holy Spirit.
• Romans 12:1-2
  encourage every believer to present themselves to the Lord as an act of
  spiritual worship and not to be conformed any longer to the pattern of
  this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind. Then, you will
  be able to test and approve what God’s will is-His good, pleasing and
  perfect will.

We are not bystanders in the spiritual
formation of our lives. We are to be active
participants with God, who is ever inviting us into a deeper relationship with
Him. 

In this way, Spiritual Formation is
both a process and a journey. It requires a commitment of each one who has put
their trust solely in the pure Gospel of Salvation by Grace through faith alone
in Jesus Christ to allow the work of God’s Holy Spirit to daily transform their
life based upon the truth of what God has said in His Holy Word.

Jesus has commissioned us to make disciples of
all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching
them to obey everything He has commanded. (Matthew
28:19-20; cf. Acts 14:21) 

Let each of us dedicate our lives to the transforming power of God’s Holy
Spirit to cause us to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying
world.